The morning after our wedding was colder than the night before and it wasn't because of the weather.
Adrian had already left the bed by the time I opened my eyes.The space beside me was cool, untouched, like he'd never been there at all.
I sat up slowly, letting the silk sheets slide down my shoulders. My head still buzzed with fragments of last night Ethan's voice, the shattering glass, Adrian's hard grip on my arm. None of it felt real.
But the heavy diamond ring on my finger was real enough.
A faint clink drew my attention. Adrian was in the corner of the room, pouring black coffee into a glass mug. He was already dressed white shirt crisp, black slacks perfectly pressed, sleeves rolled to his forearms.
"Get dressed," he said without looking at me.
I frowned. "Good morning to you too."
His gaze flicked toward me, sharp and unreadable. "From now on, you don't leave this house without me."
I blinked. "What?"
"You heard me." He set the coffee down and walked toward the bed, stopping at the foot. "You'll have access to every room here, but the gates remain locked unless I say otherwise. I'll have security stationed outside your door at night."
I stared at him, stunned. "You can't be serious."
His jaw tightened. "After last night, do you really want to test me on this?"
I clenched my fists under the sheets. "I'm not a prisoner, Adrian."
"Then stop acting like one and follow the rules," he replied, his tone as smooth as it was merciless.
I opened my mouth to argue, but he cut me off.
"And another thing if Ethan contacts you in any way, you come to me immediately. No conversations. No meetings. Nothing."
My pulse quickened. "You think I'd"
"I think he'll try," Adrian interrupted. His eyes softened for half a second, but it was gone before I could be sure I'd seen it. "And I think you don't understand how dangerous he really is."
Dangerous. The word sank into my chest like a stone, but before I could ask what he meant, he was already reaching for his jacket.
"I have a meeting. Stay inside."
He left without another word, the heavy sound of the front door closing echoing through the house.
The silence after he was gone was deafening.
I slid out of bed and moved toward the tall windows. Beyond the manicured garden, the high iron gates gleamed under the morning sun. From this distance, they looked like something from a fairy tale. But I knew better. They were a cage.
I spent most of the morning wandering the house, half-expecting to see Adrian's presence in every corner his cologne lingering in the hallways, his shadow just beyond the door. But the rooms felt empty. Too empty.
By midday, I found myself in the library, running my fingers over the spines of books I doubted anyone had touched in years. That's when I heard it a faint buzz from the desk by the window.
A phone.
Adrian's? No. It was a sleek black device I didn't recognize, sitting on the polished surface as if it had been left there for me to find.
My stomach tightened.
I picked it up. The screen lit with a single message.
Unknown Number:Do you think he can protect you forever?
My breath caught. The message bubble popped again.
Unknown Number:Meet me at the old pier. Sunset.
I didn't need to guess who it was.Only one person would dare to send this.
Ethan.
My grip tightened around the phone, my heart pounding so hard I could barely breathe.
I knew what Adrian had said. I knew the rules.But the truth was, I didn't even understand what I was supposed to be protected from and Ethan might be the only one willing to tell me.
I stared at the phone as if it might burn through my skin.The words on the screen were simple, but they felt like they carried the weight of everything I'd been avoiding since I walked down that aisle yesterday.
Do you think he can protect you forever?Meet me at the old pier. Sunset.
Ethan's voice echoed in my head cold, sharp, unforgettable.
I set the phone down quickly, as if by not touching it I could erase the temptation. My fingers curled into fists, nails biting into my palms. I should tell Adrian. That's what he'd want. That's what I promised him no conversations, no meetings, nothing.
But the questions gnawed at me. What did Ethan mean by "protect you"? Protect me from what?
The clock in the corner of the library ticked, every second loud enough to burrow under my skin. I paced between the shelves, trying to convince myself that I could ignore this. That I should ignore this.
Then I remembered the look in Ethan's eyes last night half fury, half something I couldn't name. It hadn't been the look of a man who was finished with me.
The temptation was a living thing now, pressing at the edges of my mind.
I picked up the phone again. It was still unlocked. My thumb hovered over the screen. I could reply, demand to know why he was doing this, tell him to stay away something.
Before I could type a word, I heard it. The faint, deliberate sound of footsteps outside the library. My head snapped toward the door.
A soft knock.
"Elena?"
It wasn't Adrian. The voice was lighter, almost hesitant.
I set the phone down, screen darkening instantly, and smoothed my hair before opening the door.
A woman stood there, dressed in a neat black uniform one of the staff, I guessed. She looked to be in her forties, with kind eyes that darted nervously toward the hallway.
"Mr. Whitmore asked me to bring you lunch," she said, her tone polite but guarded. "You haven't eaten all morning."
I forced a smile. "Thank you. What's your name?"
"Claire." She hesitated before adding, "If you need anything… you can ask me. Anything at all."
There was something in the way she said it, something that made me wonder if she knew more than she was letting on.
"Claire," I said slowly, "how long have you worked for Adrian?"
"Long enough." Her gaze flickered to the phone on the desk, then back to me. "Just… be careful, Mrs. Whitmore."
Before I could ask what she meant, she gave a small nod and left, closing the door softly behind her.
I stood there, my heart pounding. Be careful. Of what? Of Adrian? Of Ethan? Of both?
The phone seemed louder in its silence now, a black mirror reflecting my own uncertainty.
By the time I sat down to eat, my appetite had vanished. I picked at the food, my mind already replaying Ethan's message over and over. The old pier. Sunset.
The memory of that place stirred in me a forgotten part of the city, where the water was dark and the wooden boards creaked under your feet. Ethan had taken me there once, long before Adrian entered the picture. We'd watched the lights shimmer on the surface and talked about running away.
Now, he wanted me to meet him there again.
I closed my eyes and leaned back in the chair. I could hear Adrian's voice in my head, low and unyielding: You will not see him again. You will not speak to him again.
But something inside me whispered that maybe I needed to. Not because I missed Ethan not exactly but because I was tired of being left in the dark.
By late afternoon, I was pacing the library again, chewing on my lip, checking the phone every few minutes like a guilty secret. No more messages came, but that only made my chest feel tighter.
The sun began to sink lower, spilling golden light through the tall windows. My pulse matched the slow, inevitable movement of the clock's hands.
I told myself I wouldn't go. That I was stronger than this. That I could wait for answers to come some other way.
But when the clock struck five, I found myself standing at the edge of the garden, the high gates looming ahead, security nowhere in sight. The phone was in my pocket. My hands trembled as I pressed my palm against the cold iron.
Somewhere beyond this gate, Ethan was waiting.And every step I took toward him was one further away from the man I had just married.