For several seconds, Clara and Adrian remained completely still.
The envelope lay beneath the desk where someone had deliberately placed it. Her married name was written across the front in dark ink.
Clara Reyes.
Not Clara Hart.
Not the name used on her financial records.
Not the name known by most of the people who had attended the wedding.
Adrian crouched beside the desk but did not touch the envelope.
“Who knew?” he asked.
Clara swallowed.
“My grandfather.”
“Anyone else?”
“June.”
“Your parents?”
“No.”
“Sophie?”
Clara shook her head.
“She knew I was married. She didn't know my legal name.”
Adrian looked at the envelope again.
“Daniel?”
“I don't think so.”
“That leaves someone who had access to the marriage records.”
Clara's mind immediately returned to the documents they had found on the flash drive.
Her father's network had access to lawyers, accountants, corporate filings, private investigators, and financial records.
Someone could have discovered the marriage.
But there was another possibility.
Someone had known before the marriage became public.
Clara reached toward the envelope.
Adrian caught her wrist gently.
“Gloves.”
She gave him a tired look.
“You have gloves?”
“Of course.”
He retrieved a pair from his briefcase.
Clara almost smiled despite herself.
“Do you carry those everywhere?”
“After the last forty-eight hours, I'm beginning to think I should.”
They put on the gloves.
Clara lifted the envelope carefully.
There was no stamp.
No address.
Only her name.
Inside was a single sheet of paper.
She unfolded it.
The handwriting was unfamiliar.
You were warned once.
The second warning will not be private.
Clara's chest tightened.
Beneath the sentence was another.
Do not open drawer 417.
Adrian read it over her shoulder.
“That's interesting.”
“Interesting?”
“They knew exactly where we were going.”
Clara looked around the office.
For the first time, she noticed how untouched everything appeared.
There was no dust on the desk.
No old papers.
No sign that the room had been abandoned.
Someone had been here recently.
Adrian walked toward the filing cabinet.
“Clara.”
She followed.
A thin line of dust surrounded the cabinet except for one section.
Drawer 417 had been opened recently.
He pointed to the lock.
“Someone used this.”
Clara stared at it.
“Then whatever is inside may already be gone.”
“Maybe.”
He examined the cabinet.
Then he noticed a tiny scratch near the bottom edge.
“This isn't the original lock.”
Clara's eyes narrowed.
“Can you open it?”
“Yes.”
“Then do it.”
Adrian used a small tool from his case.
The lock clicked.
The drawer opened.
Inside were three folders.
The first contained old legal agreements.
The second contained tax documents.
The third was empty.
Clara looked at Adrian.
“Which one matters?”
He opened the first.
Nothing.
The second.
Nothing.
Then he turned the folders over.
A narrow compartment had been built beneath the drawer.
Clara stared.
“That's where it was.”
Adrian lifted the false bottom.
Empty.
Except for a small strip of paper.
Clara picked it up.
One sentence.
You are looking in the wrong office.
She closed her eyes.
“They're moving us.”
“Or they want us to believe they are.”
Adrian studied the handwriting.
“This is the same person who wrote the envelope.”
“You're sure?”
“Same pressure. Same spacing. Same distinctive way of crossing the letter t.”
Clara looked toward the door.
“Then they knew we would come here.”
“Yes.”
“Which means someone followed us.”
“Probably.”
She walked toward the window.
The street below was almost empty.
Then she saw it.
A dark sedan.
Parked across the street.
Clara recognized it from the storage facility.
“The same car.”
Adrian stepped beside her.
“Don't look directly at it.”
“Too late.”
The sedan remained still.
Then the engine started.
It pulled away slowly.
Clara watched until it disappeared.
“We should leave.”
They took the documents and returned to Adrian's apartment.
For the next several hours, they examined everything Daniel had given them.
At last, Adrian discovered something buried inside one of the digital folders.
A spreadsheet contained a series of coded references.
Not account numbers.
Initials.
C.H.
G.H.
M.B.
P.L.
And another set.
C.R.
Clara stared at it.
“C.R.”
“Clara Reyes,” Adrian said.
“But this was created before we married.”
He checked the metadata.
The file had been modified two years before their wedding.
Clara felt a chill.
Someone had already created a financial profile under her married name.
That meant someone had known.
Adrian opened another file.
A legal database entry appeared.
The information was incomplete, but one line stood out.
Marriage record pending verification.
Clara remembered the date.
It was six months before she and Adrian had married.
She looked at him.
“I never filed anything six months before our wedding.”
“No.”
“Did you?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Then someone was preparing the record.”
Adrian leaned back.
“This changes everything.”
Clara looked at him.
“How?”
“Because the person behind this wasn't reacting to your marriage.”
He pointed to the date.
“They anticipated it.”
Clara's thoughts raced.
Someone had expected her to marry Adrian.
Someone had known enough about their relationship to prepare documents.
Someone inside her family had been watching her long before the wedding.
She suddenly remembered Marian's behavior during that period.
Marian had asked questions.
Where Clara worked.
Whether she planned to stay in the city.
Whether she was seeing anyone.
At the time, the questions had seemed harmless.
Now they did not.
Clara called June.
“Did Marian ever ask you about Adrian?”
June hesitated.
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Before the wedding.”
“What exactly did she ask?”
“She wanted to know whether you were planning to marry him.”
Clara closed her eyes.
“Did you tell her?”
“No.”
“Did anyone else?”
June was silent.
“June?”
“I don't know.”
Clara ended the call.
A few minutes later, Sophie called.
“I know something.”
Clara sat up.
“What?”
“Marian knew about Adrian.”
“How?”
“I don't know.”
“Did Dad know?”
“Yes.”
“Before the wedding?”
“Yes.”
Clara looked at Adrian.
“How long?”
Sophie began crying.
“Months.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because Dad told me Adrian was dangerous.”
Clara frowned.
“Dangerous?”
“He said Adrian wanted control of your money.”
Clara almost laughed.
“That's what he told you?”
“Yes.”
“Did you believe him?”
“I did.”
Clara was silent.
Sophie continued.
“I found something in Dad's office.”
“What?”
“A folder with your name.”
“Where?”
“In the old office.”
“417?”
“Yes.”
Clara's heart accelerated.
“What was inside?”
“I don't know. I only saw the folder.”
“Why didn't you take it?”
“Because Dad came in.”
Clara stood.
“What happened?”
“He asked me why I was there.”
“And?”
“I lied.”
“About what?”
“I said I was looking for wedding photographs.”
Clara closed her eyes.
“Does Dad know you know?”
“I don't think so.”
“Good.”
There was a pause.
Then Sophie whispered:
“Clara, there's something else.”
“What?”
“Mom wasn't telling the truth about Daniel.”
Clara went still.
“What do you mean?”
“She knows where he is.”
The call ended before Clara could ask another question.
Adrian immediately stood.
“We need to find Daniel.”
Clara nodded.
But before they could move, another message appeared on her phone.
You are getting closer.
Then a second.
Ask your mother why Daniel disappeared.
Clara stared at the screen.
Adrian's expression changed.
“Your mother.”
“Yes.”
“That's the next piece.”
Clara picked up her coat.
“Then we go to her.”
Click here to continue reading: PART 10: What Elaine Had Hidden
I Came Home Before Christmas Was Supposed to Begin, Yet the First Thing I Saw Was My Wife Crying Alone Outside
Part 9 of 15
