(Adrian's POV continues)
Nick arrived just after 2 a.m.
Adrian heard the car pull into the driveway before the headlights even fully swept across the window. He'd been sitting on the edge of the sofa this whole time. Elbows on his knees, hands dangling, body wired from hours of fear and helplessness. He stood the second the engine shut off.
The front door opened, and Nick stepped in, still in his jacket, breath uneven, eyes sharp with panic.
Shit!
"Where is she?" he demanded. No greeting. No warmth. No pause.
Adrian nodded once. "Upstairs."
He led him quietly through the hallway, each step heavier than the last. When they reached her door, Adrian pushed it open just enough for Nick to see inside.
Elena lay curled on her side, wrapped in blankets, her hair spreading over the pillow, her face turned slightly toward them. In the dim light, Nick could see the dried tears on her cheeks, thin, uneven streaks that looked like they'd burned her skin.
Nick froze.
His chest rose sharply… then fell even sharper.
He closed the door quietly, slower than necessary, as if any sound might break her further.
They walked downstairs in silence.
Into the library.
Nick shut the door behind them, turned away, and then—
SLAM.
His fist crashed against the table so hard the wood rattled.
"Fuck," he growled. "Fuck fuck fuck—"
Yeah right, fuck!
Adrian leaned against the wall, letting him spill some of it out. Nick's anger wasn't the dangerous kind, it was the helpless kind. The kind that burned from the inside.
Nick dragged both hands through his hair, gripping it tightly. He looked like a man whose world had tilted off its axis.
"What did you find?" he finally asked, breathing hard.
Adrian pulled out his phone and handed it over — the screenshots he'd saved from the file. The ones he had shown Elena in a way he regretted every minute since.
Nick scrolled.
One photo after another.
One line after another.
His jaw clenched harder with each piece of information.
"Tell me everything," Nick said.
So Adrian did.
He told him about the office.
The confrontation.
How Elena reacted.
How she screamed at him.
How she defended Nathan.
How she left.
"After seeing all of this?" Nick shook his head when Adrian nodded.
And then he told him about tonight.
What Elena confessed.
How broken she was.
How she cried until she couldn't breathe.
How she tried to find Nathan's penthouse like a lost child trying to confirm reality.
When Adrian finished, Nick looked at him like the oxygen had been punched out of his lungs.
"Man… she's too disturbed," Adrian muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. "She doesn't even know what he did. She defended him. She kept saying it was in the heat of the moment."
Nick frowned. "What do you mean?"
Adrian's jaw tightened. "I mean he took advantage of her vulnerability. She wasn't in the right state. She told him she wasn't ready. She tried to stop him."
He swallowed hard, voice lowering into a cold, controlled whisper.
"And he didn't."
Nick's face shifted — shock first.
Then horror.
Then rage.
"Adrian…" His voice was shaking. "What did you just say?"
Adrian lifted his eyes.
"She doesn't know it yet. But yes. He—"
Nick cut him off, voice erupting.
"He raped her?"
His voice cracked on the word.
"I'll kill him," Nick snapped, chest heaving. "I swear to God I will kill that bastard with my own fucking hands."
Adrian scoffed — not mocking, but exhausted.
"Yeah, do that. Go. Kill him. And sit in jail for the rest of your life while she's left alone with the fallout."
Nick's hands flew to his hair again, gripping until his knuckles turned white.
"I'll call the cops," he hissed, pacing.
Adrian shot back immediately. "Yeah? Call them. And what exactly do you think she's gonna say? She'll defend him. She'll tell them it was consensual. She'll protect him."
Nick stopped pacing.
"She's finally opening up," Adrian added, voice low but firm. "You call the cops now, you shove her into deep shit she's not emotionally ready to face."
Nick stared at the floor, chest rising and falling too fast.
"Then what the hell do we do?" he whispered, frustration breaking into his voice. "What do we do, Adrian?"
Adrian looked at him — eyes exhausted, jaw tight, heart breaking.
"I don't know," he said softly. "God,Nick… I don't know."
They sat in silence for a few minutes.
The kind of silence that hummed, heavy, tired, restless. Nick stared at the floor, fingers still tangled in his hair, breathing too loud for the quiet room.
Adrian leaned against the opposite wall, mind racing in circles, chasing the same thoughts until they blurred.
Finally, he pushed himself off the wall and walked over, dropping down into the seat next to Nick.
"Nick," he said quietly, "we're still missing something."
Nick didn't move, just shifted his eyes toward him.
"It doesn't add up," Adrian went on. "It feels like a puzzle with a few missing pieces."
Nick frowned. "What are you talking about?"
Adrian exhaled through his nose, trying to string together what had been bothering him since the file.
"You've seen the screenshots," he said. "You've seen his pattern. We know he followed the same pattern he's… good at."
Nick's head snapped fully toward him, eyes dark.
"That bastard made a complete mess of my sister," he bit out, "and you're sitting here calling his techniques a fucking masterpiece?"
Adrian lifted a hand quickly. "Hey. Calm down for a second. That's not what I meant."
Nick's nostrils flared.
"If you just go all in on rage, we're going nowhere," Adrian said, voice low but firm. "We need to think. Carefully. If you'd just listen to me for two minutes, we might actually find something we can use. Anger on its own won't save her."
Nick dragged in a long breath, jaw tight. After a few seconds, he nodded once.
"Fine," he muttered. "Go on."
Adrian leaned forward, elbows on his knees.
"Your families are intertwined," he started. "Your businesses depend on each other. The connection between the Hamiltons and the Browns goes way back. You know that. I know that. Judith and Robert built half of this with your parents."
Nick's eyes narrowed.
"So Nathan…" Adrian continued, "do you really think he'd still do this to her, knowing all that? Knowing the history, knowing the future business deals, knowing what's at stake? Do you really think he'd risk all of that, his reputation, his parents' work, just for some sick trick he pulls on girls?"
Nick stayed quiet.
"The rest of the girls were nobodies to him," Adrian said bluntly. "Elena isn't. She's Hamilton. That changes everything. The stakes are higher. Too high for this to be just… his usual hobby."
Nick stared at the far wall, replaying all the years he'd seen Nathan operate.
He'd always been calculated.
Disciplined.
A perfectionist.
He didn't make big, messy mistakes.
"But then why would he do it?" Nick asked finally, voice flat, exhausted.
"How would I know?" Adrian replied honestly. "I don't have that answer yet. But I know this much, it's a puzzle piece. It can't be just a sick game this time. There's something else here."
He rubbed his thumb over his palm, thinking.
"Also," he added softly, "the timing of everything is just… too perfect, man."
Nick turned his head slowly. "What do you mean, 'perfect'?"
Adrian looked at him.
"Think about it," he said. "We've all been busy. Your parents. You. Me. Everyone that usually surrounds her. And while we were all stretched thin, he got all the space he needed to play with her head."
Nick's throat bobbed.
"Too much of a coincidence?" Adrian asked quietly. "Or was it planned?"
Nick let out a harsh breath and stood up halfway before dropping back down, palms pressing into his face.
"I can't think straight," he snapped. "What kind of sick plan, Dree? What are you implying? Fuck, I'm not in the state of mind to solve riddles."
Adrian's gaze hardened.
"It feels like ever since Nathan came here," he said slowly, "we've all been put to work."
Nick looked at him again.
"On that phone call," Adrian continued, "Nathan practically ordered me to step aside… because he's made a partnership deal with your parents… on the very project you were leading."
Nick's brow furrowed.
"Your parents got pulled into new ventures. Travelling. Busy. Always away from home. You were sent to handle business in another city. I got sent around like a damn courier. Who was left?"
Elena.
"She was abandoned on all sides," Adrian said quietly. "Purposefully."
Nick swallowed, eyes unfocusing as his mind replayed the last months.
Missed dinners.
Cancelled flights.
New deals.
Urgent calls.
Delayed returns.
"Whenever Mom and Dad tried to come back," he murmured slowly, "something came up. Whenever I tried to fly back, there was always another issue. Another fire to put out."
"Judith and Robert buried you all in work," Adrian said. "Deadlines. Pressure. Expansion. It's like someone was… keeping all of you away just enough."
Nick sat back, staring blankly ahead now, the pieces clicking into place one by one, leaving a sour taste.
"Yes," he whispered. "Too many coincidences."
He swallowed, anger flaring again.
"It could be," he admitted. "But why? Why pick Elena out of all London? Out of every girl, every family, every social circle… why her?"
Adrian shook his head.
"That's what I'm saying," he replied.
He hesitated for a second, then added:
"I've already got my men pulling everything they can on him. Background, connections, anything tied to your families. They'll come up with something soon."
Nick nodded faintly, though his shoulders remained tense.
"But for now," he said, voice rough, "what do we do with Elena?"
He squeezed his eyes shut briefly.
"We can't tell her," he rasped. "We can't kill him. He'll come back. And we can't pull them apart without losing her in the process. So what the fuck do we do?"
Adrian stared at the floor for a moment, then lifted his gaze.
"Can you make your parents come back?" he asked. "Elena's terrified of them, yeah. But their presence might slow things down. Ground her. Put external pressure on her time. It might keep Nathan from having full access while we figure this out."
Nick looked up, eyes still damp, expression deadly serious.
"I'll make them come back from the dead if it helps Elena," he said.
Adrian nodded once.
"But don't tell them what happened," he added. "Not yet. I don't want them cornering her or forcing her into something we can't undo. One wrong move from them and we might push her straight off the edge."
Nick exhaled, a humorless huff.
"I know how to force them home for a while," he said. "I'll handle that."
He looked at Adrian, jaw tightening again.
"But your men need to speed up. Whatever this is, we're running out of time."
Adrian nodded.
"In the meantime," Nick went on, voice low, "I'll do my own digging. I want to know what the fuck is going on in Nathan's head. And why is my sister stuck in the middle of it."
Adrian leaned back in the chair, closing his eyes for a moment.
So did I, he thought.
So do I…
Before it gets too late!