The elevator chimed.
I looked toward it.
Adrian stepped out alone.
No jacket now.
No polished public smile.
Just a white shirt with the sleeves rolled to his forearms and the exhausted expression of a man who had been dragged back into something he had spent years trying to leave behind.
“I have to go,” I told Ethan.
“Elena.”
I almost disconnected.
Then he said, “Whatever you think of me, keep Lily close.”
I looked at my daughter through the open doorway.
“I always do.”
Then I ended the call.
Adrian saw the photograph in my hand.
He stopped walking.
For the first time since I met him, genuine shock crossed his face without any attempt to hide it.
“Where did you get that?”
“That was delivered downstairs.”
He looked at Daniel.
Daniel explained in a few sentences.
No drama.
No speculation.
Adrian listened until
