Chapter 7 - THE GHOST RETURNS"It's a lie," I insisted, pacing the perimeter of Adrian's private study while storm clouds gathered outside the high floor-to-ceiling windows. "Elena died three years ago! You identified her body! The police confirmed the DNA!"
"The DNA was verified by a lab in Milan that was funded by Gabriel Rusk," Adrian said, his voice terrifyingly hollow. He was sitting in his leather armchair, staring blankly at the silver pendant resting on his desk. "If Rusk faked her death... if she helped him..."
"Why would a mother fake her own death and leave her three-year-old child with a man she supposedly loved?!" I argued, stopping in front of his desk and slamming my hands down. "Adrian, look at me!"
He slowly raised his eyes to meet mine. They were filled with a dark, torturous agony—the pain of a man whose scars had just been ripped open all over again.
"What if she didn't leave voluntarily, Maya?" Adrian whispered. "What if Rusk took her, hidden her away all these years, and used her to play the ultimate game against me?"
Before I could answer, the mansion's main security alarms shattered the heavy silence of the evening. Red emergency lights began strobing through the hallways.
"Boss!" Victor’s voice blared through the intercom. "Perimeter breach at the front gate! A single vehicle passed through the automated checkpoints using a high-level master security clearance!"
"Which clearance?!" Adrian roared, standing up instantly.
"Clearance Alpha-Zero," Victor replied, his voice shaking. "The code assigned exclusively to Elena Moretti."
I looked at Adrian, my heart dropping into my stomach.
"Stay here with Lilia," Adrian ordered me, reaching into his desk drawer and pulling out his gun.
"No!" I said, stepping in front of him. "If that is really her... if Lilia’s mother is alive... I need to be there. Lilia cannot see this until we know the truth!"
Adrian looked at me for a fraction of a second, seeing the unyielding determination in my eyes, and nodded once. "Behind me. Always."
We rushed down the grand staircase into the main foyer. The massive oak doors were standing wide open, letting in the cool night wind and misty rain.
Standing in the center of the foyer, illuminated by the crystal chandelier above, was a woman.
She wore a long, tailored white coat. Her dark hair fell in soft, elegant waves over her shoulders, and her striking features were an exact, terrifying match to the portraits hanging in the upper gallery.
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Elena Moretti was standing in the house she had abandoned three years ago.
"Hello, Adrian," the woman said, her voice smooth, melodic, and completely devoid of warmth. She looked at him, then her gaze drifted slowly over to me, her eyes narrowing into cold, predatory slits. "I see you didn't take long to replace me."
