Before Morning

PART 3 — THE WOMAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH

By noon, I had made three decisions.

I wouldn’t return to Vale House.

I wouldn’t answer Adrian’s calls.

And I wouldn’t let anyone convince me that I was imagining what had happened.

Daniel arranged for his attorney to review the documents Marcus had sent.

There was something particularly troubling about the residency agreement.

Vanessa hadn’t merely been given a guest room.

She had been granted access to the private east wing, the security elevator, and several restricted areas connected to Adrian’s business operations.

“Why would she need access to those places?” Daniel asked.

“I don’t know.”

But I remembered Adrian’s words from the previous night.

Keep her away from the east wing.

He had been giving instructions before I even left.

At 2:30 p.m., Marcus called.

“Miss Elena, I need to tell you something.”

“Go ahead.”

“Mr. Vale has asked everyone to say you left because you were upset about Vanessa’s situation.”

I laughed bitterly.

“Of course he has.”

“There’s another issue. Vanessa told the staff that she and Mr. Vale are getting back together.”

My fingers tightened around the phone.

“Did Adrian correct her?”

Marcus hesitated.

“No, ma’am.”

That answer hurt more than I expected.

After ten months together, I had thought Adrian understood what loyalty meant.

Apparently, I had misunderstood him.

“Marcus, send me everything you have. Every photograph, document, and recording.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Before ending the call, he added something.

“There’s one more thing. Vanessa asked the housekeeper to remove your photographs from the main hallway this morning.”

I stared at the wall.

My photographs.

The pictures from our engagement dinner, our vacation in Italy, and the evening Adrian had promised that Vale House would always be our home.

She had already started replacing me.

And Adrian had allowed it.

At 4:15 p.m., my phone rang again.

This time, it was Vanessa.

I almost ignored it.

But curiosity made me answer.

“Hello, Vanessa.”

“Elena.” Her voice sounded sweet. “I hope you’re feeling better.”

“I’m fine.”

“I wanted to apologize for last night. Things have been difficult for me.”

“Then why are you calling?”

She paused.

“I think we should talk woman to woman.”

I almost smiled.

“About what?”

“Adrian.”

I said nothing.

“He and I shared five years together,” she continued. “You probably know that. But there are things about him you haven’t experienced.”

“Such as?”

“He doesn’t forget the people he loves.”

I looked out the window.

“That’s interesting. Because he told me your relationship was over.”

“It was. But some relationships don’t really end.”

I let the silence stretch.

Then I asked quietly, “Did you bring that residency agreement yourself, or did Adrian prepare it for you?”

Her breathing changed.

Only slightly.

But I noticed.

“Who told you about that?”

“So it exists.”

“Elena, you should be careful. Adrian has a complicated life. You don’t want to get involved in things you don’t understand.”

I laughed softly.

“Vanessa, I think you should be more careful. You’re living in a house that isn’t yours, wearing a man’s shirt that isn’t yours, and making promises on behalf of a man who hasn’t even called to tell me the truth.”

Her voice became cold.

“You really think he’ll choose you?”

“No.”

I paused.

“I think I no longer care.”

I ended the call.

A moment later, Daniel walked into the room holding a folder.

“Elena, you need to see this.”

Inside were several printed emails recovered from Marcus’s records.

One was dated three days before Vanessa’s arrival.

The sender was Adrian.

The recipient was Vanessa.

The message was short.

Come to Vale House on Thursday. I’ll make sure Elena doesn’t interfere. We need to settle the arrangements before the board meeting.

I read it twice.

Then I turned to the next page.

It was an attachment containing a proposal to appoint Vanessa as director of a new division within Vale Holdings.

My name appeared in the same document.

My position was marked for review.

I slowly lowered the papers.

“So that’s what this was about.”

Daniel nodded.

“It looks like they wanted you out of the way before the board meeting.”

Before I could respond, my phone lit up.

A message from Adrian.

Elena, I know you’re angry. But Vanessa is not the problem. We need to talk about the company. Please come to the Vale Holdings board meeting tomorrow.

I stared at the screen.

For the first time, his request didn’t make me sad.

It made me curious.

Because Adrian had forgotten something important.

Before I became his fiancée, I had been the financial strategist who helped restructure Vale Holdings during its worst crisis.

I knew every major contract, every hidden liability, and every shareholder agreement.

And tomorrow, I would walk into that boardroom.

Not as Adrian Vale’s future wife.

But as the woman who knew exactly how much of his empire depended on her.

He wanted to discuss business.

Fine.

We would discuss business.

And this time, I wouldn’t leave before the truth came out.