Chapter 3: Behind the Wall
The photograph stayed on my screen long after the message stopped glowing.
Dorian stared at it.
His face had become frighteningly calm.
“Give me your phone.””
“No.””
“Alina.””
“You already have enough control over my life.””
“Someone has been photographing you while you sleep.””
“I know.””
“Give me the phone.””
I locked the screen.
“No.””
He stared at me.
Then, unexpectedly, he stepped back.
“Fine.””
Mara looked between us.
“We can't stay here.””
Dorian nodded.
“I know.””
The hospital administrator entered the room.
“Mrs. Cross, we've arranged a private examination area.””
Dorian immediately asked, “Who requested it?””
The administrator blinked.
“I did.””
“No, you didn't.””
“I’m sorry?””
Dorian pointed at the door.
“Who called you?””
The administrator hesitated.
“A member of your security team.””
“No one from my security team contacted you.””
Her face went pale.
“I received a call from someone identifying himself as Noah Bennett.””
Dorian looked at his phone.
Noah was still on the line.
He spoke immediately.
“Sir?””
“Did you call hospital administration?””
“No.””
Dorian ended the call.
The administrator backed away.
“I didn't know.””
“You couldn't have known,” Dorian said.
Then he turned to me.
“We leave now.””
This time, I didn't argue.
We exited through a private corridor.
Two security vehicles waited outside.
Mara followed us.
Dorian looked at her.
“You're coming too.””
“Why?””
“Because your brother is missing.””
She crossed her arms.
“And?””
“And you may be the only person who knows where he was looking.””
Mara studied him.
“You think I'm going to help you?””
“I think you want your brother alive.””
That silenced her.
We got into the SUV.
The doors locked.
Rain hammered the roof.
I sat beside the window.
Dorian sat opposite me.
Mara sat beside him.
Nobody spoke for nearly a minute.
Then Mara asked,
“Why were you getting divorced?””
Dorian looked at me.
I answered.
“Because I stopped recognizing the man I married.””
Mara's eyes stayed on Dorian.
“What happened?””
“He accused me of leaking company information.””
Dorian's expression tightened.
“You did.””
I turned toward him.
“I did not.””
“The documents came from your computer.””
“Because someone used my password.””
“You never told me anyone had access.””
“Because I didn't know.””
Mara frowned.
“Wait.””
She looked at Dorian.
“What documents?””
“Internal acquisition files.””
“Which acquisition?””
Dorian hesitated.
“The Mercer Biomedical deal.””
Mara's face drained of color.
“What?””
I noticed.
“What?””
She looked down.
“Adrian was investigating Mercer Biomedical.””
Dorian leaned forward.
“Why?””
“He thought the company was laundering money through medical research.””
My stomach tightened.
“Medical research?””
Mara nodded.
“Fertility research.””
The car went silent.
Dorian's eyes met mine.
The same thought passed between us.
The medication.
The forged consultation.
The pregnancy.
The hidden room.
The camera.
They weren't separate.
They were connected.
But how?
Twenty minutes later, we reached a temporary property Dorian owned outside the city.
It wasn't listed under his name.
There were no neighboring houses.
No visible cameras.
No staff.
Dorian had apparently prepared for threats I hadn't known existed.
He opened the front door.
“Stay here.””
I stopped.
“You're going inside alone?””
“Yes.””
“With Mara?””
“No.””
Mara stepped forward.
“I’m going with him.””
Dorian shook his head.
“Absolutely not.””
“Your house has a hidden room. My brother disappeared. And somehow my name is connected to all of this. I'm going.””
I looked at Dorian.
“She stays.””
He looked like he wanted to argue.
Instead, he nodded.
“Fine.””
He disappeared through the hallway.
Mara sat across from me.
For a while, neither of us spoke.
Then she said quietly,
“I’m sorry.””
“For what?””
“For what Adrian did.””
I frowned.
“You said someone paid him.””
“He accepted.””
“That doesn't make it better.””
“No.””
She looked down.
“But he regretted it.””
“Regretted what?””
Mara's eyes filled with tears.
“He told me he changed your records because they were trying to make it look like you had fertility problems.””
I stared at her.
“Why?””
“So if you became pregnant, everyone would believe it was unexpected.””
My skin prickled.
“Everyone?””
“Your husband.””
I stood.
“Why would anyone care what Dorian believed?””
Mara opened her mouth.
Before she could answer, Dorian appeared in the doorway.
He was holding a small black box.
His knuckles were bleeding.
“What happened?””
“Nothing.””
“Your hand.””
“It's fine.””
Mara stood.
“What did you find?””
Dorian looked at me.
“Your bedroom.””
My stomach dropped.
“The camera?””
“One of three.””
Three.
He placed the box on the table.
Inside was a hard drive.
“We found this behind the wall.””
Mara whispered,
“That's Adrian's handwriting.””
There were several labels on the drive.
Names.
Dates.
Medical codes.
I recognized one name immediately.
Mine.
Dorian plugged it into the laptop.
A folder opened.
*CROSS, ALINA — MEDICAL OBSERVATION*
I stared.
“Observation?””
Dorian clicked it.
Videos appeared.
Dozens.
Then hundreds.
Dates stretched back nearly a year.
My hands began to shake.
Dorian opened the first file.
The screen showed me entering my own bedroom.
I watched myself walk toward the mirror.
Then I froze.
Someone had been standing behind me.
A man.
Half-hidden.
I turned around in the video.
Nobody was there.
Mara covered her mouth.
“That's impossible.””
Dorian opened another file.
This one showed me asleep.
Another showed me taking medication.
Another showed me speaking to my mother.
Another showed me crying in the kitchen after Dorian and I had our worst fight.
I looked at him.
“You watched these?””
“No.””
“But someone did.””
“Yes.””
“Who?””
“I don't know.””
Dorian opened a document.
It contained a list of dates.
At the bottom was a sentence:
*SUBJECT MUST REMAIN UNAWARE UNTIL WEEK NINE.*
My blood went cold.
“Subject?””
Dorian's eyes darkened.
He scrolled.
A second sentence appeared.
*PREGNANCY CONFIRMATION EXPECTED OCTOBER 16.*
Today's date.
I backed away from the screen.
“No.””
Mara whispered,
“They knew.””
Dorian looked at the timestamp.
The file had been created eleven months earlier.
Before I was pregnant.
Before I knew anything was wrong.
I pressed a hand against my stomach.
“Someone planned this.””
Dorian stood.
“We need to find Adrian.””
A new file appeared on the screen.
It wasn't labeled with my name.
It was labeled:
*DORIAN CROSS — PHASE TWO*
He clicked it.
A video loaded.
Dorian appeared on the screen.
But it wasn't recent.
It showed him sitting in a doctor's office.
He looked younger.
Confused.
Across from him sat Dr. Adrian Vale.
I turned toward my husband.
“What is this?””
Dorian stared at the screen.
“I've never seen that.””
On the recording, Adrian leaned toward Dorian.
His voice was low.
“If you remember nothing else, remember this.””
Dorian on the screen looked terrified.
“Remember what?””
Adrian glanced toward the camera.
Then he said,
“They're going to make you believe Alina betrayed you.””
The recording stopped.
Nobody breathed.
Dorian slowly turned toward me.
“I don't remember this.””
I looked at the frozen screen.
Then the laptop chimed.
A new file had appeared.
No one had touched the keyboard.
Its title was simple.
*PHASE THREE — BABY DELIVERED*
The date beside it was eleven months from now.
I felt the blood drain from my face.
Mara whispered,
“Alina…”
Then Dorian's phone rang.
Noah.
Dorian answered.
“What?””
Noah's voice came through, urgent and breathless.
“Sir, we found Adrian.””
Dorian closed his eyes.
“Where?””
Noah hesitated.
“Under your old penthouse.””
Dorian's eyes snapped open.
“Alive?””
A long silence.
“No.””
Then Noah added,
“Sir… he left one message.””
“What message?””
May you like
Noah's voice dropped.
“He said the baby isn't yours.””
