Eva had been behaving strangely lately, an unsettling veil of secrecy hanging over her like a chilling shadow. Adrian couldn’t shake the feeling that she was concealing something—something that had the potential to shake their world to its core. As he confronted the servant, the air crackled with tension. The man’s face turned ghostly pale under the intensity of Adrian’s gaze. “Mr. Blackwood, are you looking for that report?” the servant stammered desperately. His lips tightened into a thin line as he demanded, “What did you just say?” The servant’s voice quivered, nearly breaking. “I’m sorry, Mr. Blackwood, I didn’t mean to dispose of it. But it was in such bad condition that I thought it was best to get rid of it…” His words hung heavily in the air, enveloped by Adrian's growing frustration. The gnawing suspicion in his gut intensified. Eva was indeed hiding something! Before he could delve further into his thoughts, the butler interjected, concern etched on his face. “Mr. Blackwood, could Mrs. Blackwood be feeling unwell?” Without a word, Adrian thrust the car keys and his coat into the butler’s hands. “I’m going upstairs,” he declared, his voice a low rumble of authority. When he entered the room, he found Eva poised on the brink of rest, exhaustion evident beneath her delicate features. Her phone buzzed, shattering the stillness, as the deputy secretary of the Hall Group’s voice crackled through the line, recounting the chaos of the recent project. Eva’s absence had cast a shadow over operations, and now looming deadlines began to clamor for her attention. Once she hung up, a frown creased her forehead as the weight of uncompleted tasks pressed heavily upon her. Just one day of absence had caused an avalanche of work to pile up, and the thought of returning to the office sent a shiver of urgency through her veins. She flicked open her laptop, just settling into her work when the sound of footsteps crept in from outside. Assuming it was just another servant, she focused on her emails, hoping to drown out the chaos of thought swirling in her mind. But when the footsteps paused just outside her door, a sudden jolt of awareness coursed through her. A familiar scent wafted in—a mix of mint and something distinctly him. She looked up, and her breath caught in her throat. Adrian stood there, an imposing figure with eyes dark as a tempest, locking her in place. His presence was like a storm crashing into her quiet routine. “What are you doing here?” she gasped, startled by his sudden intrusion. “This is my room,” he replied, his tone cool and unyielding, as his lips pressed into a fine line. Eva blinked, momentarily struck dumb, before instinctively replying, “Shouldn’t you be out by now?” “Is my presence here a problem?” Adrian retorted, a hint of reproach lacing his words. “I was home last night.” Surprise flickered across Eva’s face, a silent testament to her astonishment. “You were home?” she murmured, the realization crashing down like waves. He had been in bed with her, and yet she had presumed he was absent, his side of the mattress cold when she awoke. “I thought you wouldn’t come back,” she said softly, the weight of unspoken emotions filling the space between them. The moment hung suspended in the air, heavy and uncertain, fraught with tension. Their relationship, fractured and awkward, had deteriorated to this—mere ghosts of what they once were. Adrian’s gaze did not falter. “Why aren’t you taking your medicine?” The weight of his question bore down on her. She turned back to her computer screen. “I didn’t feel like taking it yesterday, and today I feel much better, so I don’t need it.” “I see,” he replied, skepticism threading through his voice. “Then why is it that you received a report?” At the mention of the ‘report,’ Eva froze, her hand pausing mid-scroll. Anxiety bubbled inside her; he had seen it! The pregnancy report—how was it possible that he knew? After a beat, she composed herself, meeting his intense gaze with feigned ignorance. “What report?” she asked, her voice steady despite the turmoil twisting within her. Adrian’s stare bore into her, reading the subtleties of her reaction. His silence spoke volumes, revealing the chasms of mistrust that whispered between them. “I’m asking you again, Eva. What report?” Despite the rising tide of anxiety within, she forced a calm exterior. She had lived through tumultuous storms in the past two years; this was just another tempest to weather. Even if the remnants of the report were scattered, the rain had blurred their meaning, rendering them illegible—a safeguard against discovery. Adrian took a seat across from her, their eyes locked in a silent war. “Do you think I don’t know you?” He sneered, clearly agitated. “You’re lying. Do you think I can’t tell?” Holding his gaze, Eva felt a surge of defiance. “Really? Do you know me well?” she asked, a sly smile tugging at her lips. In a swift movement, Adrian’s hand found her neck, drawing her closer until their foreheads touched, breaths dancing in an intimate embrace. “We’ve known each other for over twenty years, shared a bed for two. If I don’t know you, then who does?” The charged atmosphere around them hummed with unspoken truths, igniting the air like dry kindling. Eva blinked, caught off guard. “So, we’ve known each other for that long,” she breathed, lost in his proximity. “You claim to know me, yet you never knew who I liked…” Her heart raced as she revealed the words that had lingered on the tip of her tongue for years, trapped by fear and hesitation. The person she had harbored feelings for—a secret love buried under the weight of time and unspoken affection. Did he truly remain oblivious all this time? At her admission, Adrian’s face morphed, his expression shifting to one of stark disbelief. “The person you like?” he echoed, confusion etching deeper in his features. “Who is it?” The silence thickened, the answer hanging uncanvassed in the air, reverberating between them like a charged static before a lightning storm.