Chapter 5

The number belonged to one of the men who had kidnapped me back then.

I sat there for a long time without moving.

Seven years ago, I was ten weeks pregnant.

Because of one estate execution, a few heirs who hadn't gotten their money grabbed me. They tied stones to my feet and pushed me into the sea.

By the time Adrian found me, I was already unconscious.

They saved me, but the baby was gone.

For years I had believed the men had traced my schedule themselves.

They hadn't.

I kept scrolling. That backend record had been deleted once, seven years ago.

The deletion happened three days after I was discharged. The account belonged to Adrian.

I looked at his name, and suddenly my hands weren't even shaking anymore.

Then I restored the original record, and right after that, I stripped Adrian of his backend deletion rights.

Seven years ago, he deleted it once for Cecily.

This time, I wouldn't give him a second chance.

Only when it was done did I close the laptop and go straight to his office.

Cecily was there too, her face still a little pale, and Adrian was handing her medicine.

He saw me and frowned. "What's wrong?"

I set the laptop in front of him. He glanced down, and his expression changed in an instant.

That one look told me everything.

Cecily stood up.

"Yvonne, let me explain, I didn't mean for it to happen."

I didn't look at her. "I'm asking Adrian. When did you find out it was her who sent the kidnappers my route?"

Adrian's brow knotted tight. "Yvonne, Cecily was only nineteen at the time. She didn't know those men would kidnap you."

Cecily was still sniffling. I finally looked at her. "So I nearly died, and my baby died, and it was the two of you."

She cried harder. Adrian moved her behind him.

"It's been seven years. The men who actually took you are already in prison. Cecily didn't do it on purpose."

I laughed. "Then what about my baby?"

He faltered. "The baby's gone, and it hurts me too, but it already happened. What am I supposed to do? Destroy a living person over a child who can't be brought back?"

I looked at him, and suddenly I didn't even want to argue anymore.

Just then a commotion broke out beyond the office, and the next second the door was shoved open.

"Cecily Sutton!" The man was held back at the door by security, but I recognized him at a glance.

One of the four who had kidnapped me seven years ago. Released from prison just last year.

Cecily went white in an instant. "Why are you here?"

The moment the words left her mouth, she froze.

The man laughed. "Weren't you saying you didn't know me? Two hundred grand seven years ago to keep me quiet, and now that the money's spent, you turn around and pretend you never saw my face?"

Adrian's face changed too. "What two hundred grand?"

"There wasn't any!" Cecily denied it almost instantly. "Adrian, he's a kidnapper. He came here to get back at me on purpose!"

Security had the man pinned hard, but he kept shouting.

Cecily was clearly panicking. "That money wasn't for them to kidnap you!"

I was about to speak, but Adrian had already picked up the phone.

"Security, come up."

I looked at him.

The man grew frantic too. "Adrian, you don't dare look into it, do you?"

Adrian's face went cold. "A kidnapper fresh out of prison suddenly shows up here talking about two hundred grand from seven years ago. You think I'd believe that?"

Cecily visibly relaxed, red-eyed as she grabbed his sleeve. "Adrian, I really didn't."

"I know."

Adrian didn't even hesitate. He finished the words and turned to the security guards who'd rushed in. "Take him out."

The man began struggling. "Adrian, you're an idiot! Ask her who told us Yvonne Carrigan's route back then! Ask her who paid us up front!"

Two guards hoisted him up and dragged him toward the door.

I looked at Adrian. "You're not going to check?"

He frowned. "What's worth checking about a man like that? Cecily did something wrong at nineteen, but that doesn't mean anyone can dump every kind of filth on her. I believe her."

Two words, cleaner than every explanation before it.

I laughed.

Cecily still wanted to say something. I had already turned to go.

On the way home, the hospital called once, telling me to come back for a follow-up as soon as possible. I didn't go.

I went first to the house I'd lived in for seven years. Adrian wasn't there.

Still with Cecily, probably.

I dragged down the luggage I'd already packed the night before. This time I didn't hesitate.

Last, I went into the study.

The death program on the computer was still counting down. Four days, twenty-three hours.

I clicked the final confirmation, then set the divorce agreement I'd prepared on the desk.

I'd signed it long ago.

The asset division and share trusteeship on the lawyer's end had all been submitted that afternoon.

I didn't leave Adrian a single word. He understood last wishes better than anyone; he didn't need me to teach him what a final word was.

At two in the morning, I dragged my suitcase downstairs.

The driver was already waiting outside.

As the car pulled out of the courtyard, I didn't look back, but my phone kept ringing.

The first call was the hospital.

The second was Adrian. I didn't answer.

A few minutes later he called again. Still didn't answer.

When it rang the third time, a message from the tech department came in.

"Ms. Carrigan, Mr. Prescott just tried to access the top-level backend. The system flagged him as unauthorized."

The system sent one last alert too: "Client 0963's death program has entered the irreversible stage."

I looked at it for two seconds, then turned the phone off.

I reached the airport just as the boarding announcement came on. I picked up my suitcase and walked through the gate.

Adrian wanted Cecily to live my life.

But he would find out soon enough.

The wife he had registered dead with his own hands had already left first.