I read the message again.
Adrian didn't disappear. He was hiding.
My heart pounded.
Then I read the last line.
And he knows who started the fire.
I immediately called him.
This time, someone answered.
But nobody spoke.
"Adrian?"
Silence.
"Please."
A faint breath came through the phone.
Then his voice.
"Where are you?"
Tears filled my eyes.
"At home."
"Are you alone?"
"Yes."
"Don't tell anyone we spoke."
"Where are you?"
"I can't tell you."
"Why?"
"Because your father is looking for me."
"I know."
There was a pause.
"Did he hurt you?"
"No."
I hesitated.
"Adrian, what happened?"
"I found something."
"What?"
"The truth about the fire."
My heart raced.
"What did you find?"
"Your father wasn't responsible."
I closed my eyes.
"Then who was?"
"I don't know yet."
"But someone does?"
"Yes."
"Who?"
He went silent.
"Adrian?"
"There's someone inside your father's house who knows everything."
My stomach tightened.
"Who?"
"I don't know if I can trust them."
"Tell me."
"I need you to be careful."
"I am."
"No, you're not."
His voice became urgent.
"You're marrying Daniel."
"I don't have a choice."
"You always have a choice."
"You don't understand what my father is capable of."
"I understand more than you think."
I swallowed.
"What does Daniel have to do with the fire?"
Another silence.
Then Adrian said quietly:
"Everything."
My heart stopped.
"How?"
"I can't explain over the phone."
"Then come to me."
"I will."
"When?"
"Soon."
Before I could ask anything else, he said:
"There's one thing you need to know."
"What?"
"Don't trust Daniel."
The call ended.
I stared at my phone.
For months, I had believed Daniel was simply the man my father had chosen to replace Adrian.
Now I wasn't sure what he was.
That afternoon, Daniel came to the house.
I watched him from the upstairs landing.
He was speaking to my father.
They looked like business partners.
Not a father and future son-in-law.
Not two families preparing for a wedding.
Something darker was happening.
Then Daniel looked up.
Our eyes met.
He smiled.
I forced myself to smile back.
But inside, I was terrified.
Later, he found me alone in the garden.
"You've been avoiding me."
"I've been busy."
"With Adrian?"
I froze.
He smiled.
"You don't have to answer."
"What do you want?"
"To know whether you're going to make our marriage difficult."
"I don't want to marry you."
"I know."
"Then why are you still doing this?"
He stepped closer.
"Because neither of us gets everything we want."
I stared at him.
"What happened ten years ago?"
His smile disappeared.
"Who told you to ask?"
"Nobody."
"You're lying."
I stepped back.
"I know about the fire."
His face became unreadable.
"What exactly do you know?"
"That your family, my family, and the Blackwoods were connected."
He said nothing.
"That someone died."
Still nothing.
"And that my father has been hiding the truth."
Daniel looked around before speaking.
"Some truths destroy the people who discover them."
"Is that a threat?"
"No."
He leaned closer.
"It's a warning."
He walked away.
I watched him disappear into the house.
Then I noticed something on the garden bench.
A small envelope.
My name was written on it.
I opened it with trembling fingers.
Inside was a single photograph.
It showed the warehouse on the night of the fire.
Three men stood outside.
My father.
Richard Blackwood.
Samuel Morgan.
But there was a fourth person in the photograph.
Someone standing in the shadows.
Someone whose face had been carefully crossed out with black ink.
On the back, four words were written:
YOU KNOW THIS PERSON.
I stared at the photograph.
My mind raced through every face I had known growing up.
Then one possibility came to me.
And I suddenly wished I had never opened the envelope.