📖 Bound by Fate, Tied by Love
🌹 Chapter 11: Cracks in the Mask
The guards rushed past, searching the shadows for the stranger who had already vanished like smoke in the wind. Their footsteps echoed into silence, leaving only Adrian and Isabella in the corridor, the air thick with everything unsaid.
Isabella pulled her hand from his grasp. "Don't tell me to trust you if you won't tell me the truth, Adrian. Not anymore."
Her voice trembled, not with fear—but with anger.
Adrian studied her, his gray eyes unreadable, as if calculating whether she could bear the weight of what he carried. Then, at last, he exhaled a slow breath and spoke.
"There are things about me, Isabella… about my family… that would put you in even greater danger if you knew them."
Her chest tightened. "Greater danger than tonight? Greater than chandeliers falling, whispers at every corner, and men who appear out of nowhere to remind me I don't belong here?"
He flinched at her words, just barely, but it was enough. She saw it—the crack in the mask he always wore.
"Who was he?" she pressed, her tone softer but desperate. "That man… he spoke as if he knew you. As if he knew what you'd done."
Adrian's gaze darkened, his voice lower than a whisper.
"He was once… someone I trusted. Someone I should never have."
Isabella's pulse quickened. "And what happened?"
Adrian stepped closer, his presence overwhelming, but his touch—when his fingers brushed against her arm—was almost pleading.
"He betrayed me. He betrayed everything I stood for. And because of that, lives were lost."
Her breath caught. The weight in his voice was undeniable. This wasn't just business rivalry. This was blood.
She wanted to ask more, to demand names and truths, but before she could, Adrian lifted her chin gently, forcing her eyes to meet his. His gray gaze was fierce, almost pained.
"If you dig into my past, Isabella, you won't like what you find. And once you see it, you'll never see me the same again."
Her heart twisted. Fear warred with longing inside her. She wanted to step back, to run from the shadows pressing closer—but instead, she whispered, "Then give me the choice, Adrian. Don't steal it from me."
Silence.
His jaw clenched, his eyes burning with something raw and unspoken. For the first time, Adrian Cole looked less like the unshakable man of power and more like a soul haunted by his own ghosts.
Then, footsteps echoed again—lighter this time. When Isabella glanced over Adrian's shoulder, her stomach dropped.
Chloe.
She stood at the end of the corridor, her smile sharp, eyes glittering with satisfaction. "Well, isn't this intimate?" she drawled. "Secrets whispered in dark hallways… no wonder the guests are starting to wonder."
Isabella's blood ran cold. Chloe had seen them. Heard enough. And the look on her face said one thing clearly: she would use this moment to her advantage.
Adrian straightened immediately, his mask snapping back into place. "You should leave," he said flatly.
But Chloe only stepped closer, her laugh soft and venomous. "Oh no, Adrian. I think I'll stay. After all… the night is still young, and shadows have such interesting stories to tell."
Her words lingered like poison, weaving doubt tighter around Isabella's heart.
And in that moment, Isabella realized the truth wasn't only hidden in Adrian's past—it was also in the hands of those who wanted to destroy him.