Chapter 3 - THE SECRET HIDDEN IN MY PAST

I should have been angry.

I should have stood up.

I should have walked away.

But I didn’t.

Because Adrian Viscari was looking at me like he had just discovered something impossible.

“What did you find?” I asked.

He didn’t answer immediately.

That worried me more.

Dangerous people usually spoke quickly.

Honest people thought before they spoke.

Adrian looked at his sleeping son.

Then back at me.

“You were a nurse.”

I stayed silent.

“I already know that.”

“So?”

“So you weren’t just any nurse.”

My heartbeat slowed.

“What does that mean?”

His eyes narrowed.

“You worked at St. Mary’s Women’s Hospital in Ohio.”

I felt my stomach drop.

“How do you know that?”

“I told you.”

His voice was calm.

“I have people who find information.”

“That’s not normal.”

“No.”

He didn’t deny it.

“It isn’t.”

I looked away.

Suddenly, the airplane felt smaller.

The walls felt closer.

Because the man sitting across from me wasn’t just a wealthy businessman.

He was someone who could uncover my entire life in minutes.

Including the parts I wanted buried.

Including Mark.

Including the night I escaped.

Adrian noticed my reaction.

“Who hurt you?”

The question surprised me.

I looked at him.

“What?”

“Someone scared you.”

I said nothing.

“You move like someone who expects danger.”

My throat tightened.

“You don’t know me.”

“No.”

His voice became softer.

“But I know fear.”

That answer caught me off guard.

For a moment, neither of us spoke.

Then Maya woke up.

“Mommy?”

I immediately turned.

“I’m here, sweetheart.”

She rubbed her eyes.

Then she saw the baby.

“Who’s that?”

I smiled gently.

“His name is Leo.”

Maya looked at him.

“He was sad.”

The innocence of her words almost broke me.

“Yes.”

“He needed his mommy?”

I nodded.

“Yeah.”

Maya looked at Adrian.

“You should hug him more.”

The cabin became completely silent.

I expected Adrian to be offended.

Instead…

He looked at my daughter.

And something in his face changed.

“Maybe you’re right.”

Maya smiled.

Then she fell asleep again.

I looked at Adrian.

“You’re different with him.”

He looked confused.

“Different?”

“You can control everything around you.”

A pause.

“But not him.”

His eyes dropped.

“No.”

His voice was quiet.

“Not him.”

For the first time, I saw the man behind the reputation.

A lonely man.

A tired man.

A father carrying a burden nobody else understood.

Then the plane shook.

A sudden drop.

Passengers gasped.

The lights flickered.

And Adrian’s body reacted instantly.

His hand moved toward his jacket.

Not to protect himself.

To protect his son.

I saw it.

A hidden weapon.

A man trained for violence.

My heart raced.

The plane stabilized.

But something else happened.

One of Adrian’s men rushed forward.

“Boss.”

Adrian looked up.

“What?”

The man leaned close.

His expression was serious.

“Someone accessed your private files.”

Adrian’s face turned cold.

“Which files?”

The bodyguard looked at me.

Then answered.

“Her files.”

My blood turned cold.

Adrian slowly looked at me.

Someone was digging into my past.

Someone knew I was on this plane.

Someone knew I had helped his son.

And suddenly I understood.

I wasn’t just a random passenger anymore.

I was connected to something dangerous.

Adrian leaned closer.

His voice was barely a whisper.

“Emily…”

“Who are you really running from?”

I opened my mouth.

But before I could answer…

My phone rang.

A number I hadn’t seen in four days.

A number I prayed I would never see again.

Mark.

My husband.

The man I escaped from.

Adrian looked at the screen.

Then at me.

And the expression in his eyes changed.

Because he finally understood.

The woman who saved his son…

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TO BE CONTINUED…