Chapter 5 - Whispers in the DarkBy Wednesday, the tension in the Vance family had reached a boiling point. My phone had been ringing incessantly with frantic calls from Marcus and my mother, but I ignored them all, choosing instead to spend my days in the quiet sanctuary of Adrian's estate, preparing the final financial trap.
But Marcus was not a man to go quietly.
At 10:00 PM, while Adrian was in the basement gym, the security alarm of the estate's rear library chirped. I walked down the dark hallway, a small flashlight in my hand, and froze when I saw the shadow of a man standing by the open glass doors.
"Looking for these, Marcus?" I asked, turning on the overhead lights.
Marcus spun around, his face distorted with a wild, desperate rage. He was holding a crowbar, his expensive suit rumpled, his eyes bloodshot. "You little bitch! You're the one who told Alden about the Panama accounts! You're trying to ruin us!"
"You ruined yourself, Marcus, the moment you siphoned four million dollars of company money to pay off your Macau debts," I said, keeping my voice completely calm. "The default is on Friday. You can't cover it."
"I’ll cover it with your blood if I have to!" Marcus snarled, lunging toward me with the crowbar raised.
I didn't have time to scream. But before Marcus could even take a second step, a powerful shadow burst from the hallway.
Adrian, wearing only a gray workout shirt that showed his muscular build, tackled Marcus to the floor with explosive force. The crowbar clattered across the marble. Adrian pinned Marcus down, his hand wrapping around my brother's throat with a grip of absolute steel.
"Touch her again," Adrian whispered, his voice holding a deadly, terrifying coldness that made Marcus's eyes go wide with genuine fear, "and I will bury you in the concrete of your own construction site. Do you understand me?"
Marcus choked, his face turning blue, before nodding frantically.
Adrian threw him toward the door, where the estate's security guards were already waiting with weapons drawn. "Throw this trash out of my gates. And if he steps foot on this property again, shoot him."
As the guards dragged my brother away, screaming obscenities, Adrian turned to me, his breathing slightly heavy. He grabbed my shoulders, his hands warm and steady. "Are you alright? Did he touch you?"
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"I'm fine, Adrian," I said, looking into his eyes. My heart was pounding, not from fear of Marcus, but from the realization of how fiercely Adrian had moved to protect me. "Thank you."
He stared at me for a long moment, his thumb gently brushing my cheek. "You're my partner, Evelyn. No one hurts my partner."
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