Chapter 22 Secrets
That night, Eva couldn't sleep.
She lay in bed, staring at the ceiling as her father's revelation kept running through her mind.
Reena was her sister.
Her sister.
The woman who had drugged her, betrayed her, and tried to destroy her now turned out to share the same blood.
It was sickening.
Eva tossed aside the covers and got out of bed. She needed air, space, anything to calm the storm in her mind.
She walked downstairs, moving quietly through the dark house.
To her surprise, a light was on in the living room.
Adrian.
He sat on the couch where he'd slept the night before, a laptop on his knees and a glass of whiskey in his hand. His jacket was off, sleeves rolled up, and his hair a bit messy.
He looked up when she entered.
"Can't sleep either?"
Eva shook her head.
Adrian set aside the laptop and gestured to the space beside him. "Join me?"
Eva paused for just a moment, then crossed the room and sat down on the couch. The leather was still warm from where Adrian had been, and sitting next to him felt strangely comforting.
"What are you working on?" Eva asked, nodding toward the laptop.
"I'm looking through Reena's files." Adrian's expression darkened. "My team has been digging into her background. Finances, connections, secrets. Anything they could get their hands on."
"Oh, did they find anything useful?"
"Yeah, they found some." He took a sip of whiskey. "She's been spending much more money than she really has for years. The penthouse Derek bought her, her fancy clothes, her expensive lifestyle—none of it comes from any real job or her own money."
"So she's been using my money from Derek's hand."
"Yes, among other things." Adrian set down his glass. "We also found proof she's been blackmailing some well-known businessmen and even politicians to get what she wants."
Adrian scrolled on his laptop, "I have a few records of what she did. One of them is when she found out about a Minister's affair and used it to get a government contract for one of her fake companies."
Eva was surprised, "Even the Minister's?"
"Yes, that man was terrified of his wife finding out the truth and of the press getting the news. To save his career and his marriage, he did everything Reena asked. That's just one example. She's good at finding secrets and using them for her benefit."
Eva felt a chill. "God, I never imagined that. She's more dangerous than I thought."
"I think she is born that way. You are not the only one suffering from her hand. There is a very big list of people who fell into her schemes." Adrian turned to face her.
"She has a twisted way of thinking. She believes anyone who gets in her way should be gone. She will do anything to make that happen. She is desperate. And desperate people make mistakes. I'm just waiting for her to mess up." Adrian continued.
Eva nodded slowly as she tried to take it all in.
Then, before she could stop herself, she asked the question that had been burning in her mind all day.
"Adrian... that night. At the hotel." She swallowed hard. "Did you know who I was?"
Adrian was silent for a long moment.
"No," he said finally. "Not at first. I just thought you were a lost girl who was in trouble, and I just wanted to help."
For a moment, memories flickered across Adrian's face—hesitation, a flicker of guilt.
He remembered the strange pull he had felt that night, the urge to protect her even though he knew nothing about who she was.
He had told himself it was just kindness, but the truth was more complicated, mixed up with feelings he was still trying to understand.
"But later? After we..." Eva's cheeks flushed. "You know, after everything happened?"
Adrian's gaze dropped to his hands.
"When I woke up that morning and really looked at you, I knew you were someone important." His voice was soft. "Not because of your family or your name. Just because of who you were. I saw you that night, the way you held yourself, even when you were hurting. The strength I saw under all that pain."
Eva's heart stuttered.
"I wanted to stay until you woke up. I thought of having breakfast with you. To get to know you better," Adrian went on. "God, Eva, I wanted to stay so much. But then the call came, and I knew if I didn't leave, you'd be in danger. The people after me would have used you to get to me. I couldn't let that happen."
"So you left."
"So I left." His jaw tightened. "And I've regretted it every day since."
Silence stretched between them.
Eva turned away, blinking back tears.
"I hated you," she whispered. "Well, I couldn't remember you, so for years, I hated the faceless stranger who took something from me and then disappeared. I told myself you were a monster. And everything that happened on that night was entirely your fault."
"Maybe it was."
"No. It wasn't" Eva shook her head. "I know that now. You saved me that night, Adrian. If you hadn't found me in that hallway, someone else might have. Someone who wouldn't have been as... kind."
She turned back to face him, her eyes shining with tears.
"You were gentle with me. You held me while I cried. And when we... when it happened..." She swallowed. "You asked if I was sure. You let me choose."
Adrian's expression was pained. "You were drugged. You couldn't have—"
"Don't blame it on drugs. That night, I was clear enough to decide." Eva's voice was steady. "I knew what I was doing. I chose you, Adrian. Maybe it was foolish. But it was my choice."
Adrian stared at her, something shifting in his eyes.
"You don't blame me?"
"I blamed you for years because it was easier than blaming myself." Eva let out a shaky breath. "But I get it now. We were both trapped by things we couldn't control. The only real villains here are Reena, my stepmother, and Derek."
"Derek." Adrian's voice hardened at the name. "I still owe him for what he's done to you."
"You'll get your chance." Eva managed a small smile. "But right now, I just... I need to know something."
"Anything."
Eva looked at him, really seeing him—the sharp lines of his face, the intensity in his eyes, and the way he seemed to carry so much on his shoulders.
"If things had been different," she said softly, "if you hadn't had to leave that morning... what would you have done?"