Chapter 40 A darker History
Evelyn's Pov
“I found the picture suspicious ma'am, that's why I brought it to you,” Dera said, still in a low tune.
I took that picture before I met Adrian, before the incident with the store manager at that mall.
My fingers tightened around the photo.
Eva and I had never posted it anywhere, and the angle of the picture was far behind us, that made my skin crawl.
Someone had been watching us.
The thought settled slowly, heavily..
If this picture existed, then the mall incident wouldn't have been a coincidence. Adrian hadn’t crossed my path by accident.
Nicolas Reid
I knew that name.
I tried to recall where I had heard that name and soon, it all came back to me. My breath hitched at the sudden realisations. My knees weakened and I lost balance, hitting my back on the wall.
Nicholas Reid was a criminal. Not a small one. The kind that turned the internet upside down a few years ago.
And…Adrian has relations with him. This medical report cannot possibly be a coincidence.
Adrian's world was darker than I had thought. I thought he was just a cold hearted man but things were becoming more complicated.
“Are you okay, ma'am?” Dera’s voice drew me out of my thoughts.
“I'm fine,” I said, forcing a smile.
“Thank you Dera. I owe you one,” I said politely.
She bowed her head.
“I brought these things because they are suspicious.” She whispered. “I think there are more suspicious things in his study.”
I stared at her, getting invested in what she had to offer.
“There are safes in his study but there's one particular safe that's always locked,” she said.
I want to decipher him so badly. I need to know if he had been following me around, if the meeting at the mall was a coincidence or whether or not I'm overthinking a mere photo.
I dismissed Dera and walked into the room with the pictures and papers.
I sat on the bed and looked through the papers again. A sigh escaped my lips as I picked my phone and called Eva.
She picked up on the first ring. Her voice rang out from the other end, cheerful as always.
“Hey, sis!” She called. “I saw the articles just now. You had lunch out with your husband!”
She sounded so loud but I wasn't in the mood to match her energy.
“Eva,” I called. My voice was low and stern, a way of telling her to stop being elated over things that aren't worth it.
She replied. “Huh?”
“Remember the last time we went to the beach together?” I asked.
Normally, she would have recalled the memory like a kid but she could tell from my tone that she needed to respond to me without making a joke out of it.
“Yes, is something wrong?” She asked.
“The pictures we took. Did you post any?” I asked.
“I have just one social media and you know that.”
That was a rude way of telling me I've been seeing her post and the pictures from the beach weren't there.
“Did you send them to anyone?” I asked again.
“No,” she responded simply and sharply.
I took a deep breath.
“The driver!” My voice went up as I suddenly remembered the driver who took us there. “Ask the driver if he took any photos.”
Eva didn't respond right away.
“Wait, is something wrong? Tell me,” she said. “What's all this fuss about a photo?”
“Just do what I ask of you, Eva!” I snapped at her.
It has been a long time since I’d snapped at Eva but I was too exhausted mentally to go easy on her.
“Alright, I’ll do that,” Eva replied. Her voice was low and her tone showed she was sad and disappointed.
I ended the call and once again, stared at the papers.
After dragging in a long breath like I had been doing, I went to take a bath. When I got out of the bathroom, I checked my phone. There were missed calls from Eva.
I called her back and she picked immediately.
She didn't let me say a word before she quickly spoke.
“He didn't take any,” she said. “He said he only stepped out of the car to get something to drink.”
She ended the call without letting me give a reply and I dropped the phone. She's upset.
I changed and walked downstairs with the photo and papers. Mira was not in sight and I was thankful for that.
Dera passed by with the vacuum cleaner and I called her attention.
“Hey, Dera, “ I called. “We need to get these returned so he doesn't notice that something had been tampered with.”
She gave a small smile and bowed slightly. “Yes ma’am.”
We walked together to his study and she left the papers where she had taken them.
Adrian's study was organized. I looked around and I saw the collection of safe she talked about. Among them was one that looked unique, with a code lock.
Dera was right.
There were things hidden carefully in here, things that I'm sure could reveal some of the secrets Adrian was trying so hard to hide from the world.
I returned to my room and the rest of the day was spent on my phone. The rumors that were online about Adrian and I had been replaced with the pictures of the lunch.
By evening, Adrian returned home. I heard the screeching of tires and I knew he was one.
I didn't go outside my room, I had no reason to.
A few minutes later, there was a knock on my door.
It was Mira. I let her in.
“Ma’am, there's something you need to see,” she said.
Her face looked concerned and restless.
I followed her downstairs and my eyes widened in shock, seeing Dera kneeling down in front of Adrian who stood with his hands tucked in his pocket.
There were papers scattered on the floor and I suspected those were things that belonged to Adrian.