Chapter 3: The Man Who Was Supposed to Be Dead
The photograph slipped from Enzo Marchetti’s fingers.
It landed on the polished wooden floor of the library.
But neither of them moved to pick it up.
Adeline couldn’t.
Her entire body had forgotten how.
The face staring back at her was impossible.
A face she had kissed goodbye.
A face she had seen beneath funeral lights.
A face she had watched disappear behind a curtain before the world told her she would never see it again.
Her father.
Daniel Croft.
Alive.
The room felt smaller.
The walls seemed to move closer.
“No.””
The word escaped her before she realized she had spoken.
Enzo watched her carefully.
“Adeline—”
“No.””
Her voice cracked.
She stepped backward.
“No, that’s not him.””
The man in the gray suit looked uncomfortable.
“Miss Croft—”
“That’s not my father.””
She pointed at the photograph with shaking fingers.
“My father died.””
Nobody answered.
Because they knew.
They knew the kind of answer she was about to hear.
And they knew there was no gentle way to give it.
Enzo bent down and picked up the photograph.
“Where did you get this?””
The man swallowed.
“It came from a private security archive.””
“Whose?””
A pause.
Then:
“Someone connected to the Ashford family.””
Adeline’s head snapped toward him.
“Camilla?””
“No,” Enzo said immediately.
The certainty in his voice surprised her.
“Then who?””
Enzo looked back at the photograph.
“That’s what we need to find out.””
She laughed quietly.
A broken sound.
“You’re telling me my dead father has been alive for five years, and the first person to find out is the man my father supposedly wrote a secret letter to?””
Enzo didn’t respond.
Because she was right.
And that frightened her more than anything.
“What else are you hiding from me?””
The question hung between them.
The man in the gray suit looked away.
Everyone in the Marchetti estate knew one rule.
Never demand truth from Enzo Marchetti.
Because sometimes the truth was more dangerous than the lie.
But Adeline had already crossed that line.
Enzo placed the photograph on the desk.
“I don’t know everything.””
“That’s not an answer.””
“It’s the truth.””
She stared at him.
For the first time, she saw something beneath his controlled expression.
Frustration.
Not at her.
At himself.
“You think I knew your father was alive?””
“Didn’t you?””
“No.””
The answer came instantly.
Too instantly.
Adeline searched his face.
“You expect me to believe that?””
“I don’t expect you to believe anything.””
His voice lowered.
“But if I knew Daniel Croft was alive, I would have found him years ago.””
“Why?””
The question escaped before she could stop it.
Enzo went quiet.
The silence told her there was more.
Much more.
“Why?”” she repeated.
He looked toward the fireplace.
“Because your father was the last person who tried to save my brother.””
Adeline froze.
The name had never appeared in any newspaper.
She had never heard about Enzo Marchetti having a brother.
“What happened to him?””
Enzo’s jaw tightened.
“He disappeared.””
“When?””
“Eleven years ago.””
The same number.
The same year as the missing shipment.
The same year her father apparently became involved with the Marchetti family.
Adeline felt the pieces shifting.
Not fitting.
Not yet.
But moving.
“My father knew your brother.””
“Yes.””
“How?””
“I don’t know.””
“You don’t know?””
Enzo looked at her.
“That is the reason I need answers.””
A cold silence settled.
Then Adeline noticed something.
The photograph.
She picked it up.
The image showed Daniel standing outside a building.
Older.
Different.
His hair had more gray.
His face had deeper lines.
But it was him.
Behind him was a sign.
A small detail.
Almost invisible.
She moved closer to the window light.
“Wait.””
Enzo watched her.
“What?””
She pointed.
“The date.””
The photograph had a timestamp printed in the corner.
March 14th.
Three months ago.
But something else caught her attention.
The location.
A street name.
Her breathing stopped.
“I know this place.””
Enzo stepped closer.
“Where?””
Adeline looked at him.
“It’s not possible.””
“Where?””
She swallowed.
“My father’s old office.””
The room went silent.
Daniel Croft had closed that office five years ago.
After his death, everything had been cleared out.
Or so she thought.
Two hours later, Adeline sat in the back seat of a black vehicle moving through downtown Chicago.
She hated that she was there.
She hated that she had agreed.
But more than that—
She hated that she needed answers.
Enzo sat beside her, silent.
The city passed outside the window.
Neon signs.
Busy streets.
People living ordinary lives.
Adeline wondered what it felt like to have an ordinary problem.
A broken phone.
A bad day at work.
A fight with a friend.
Not discovering your dead father might be alive.
Not learning the person who supposedly knew your father was a powerful criminal.
Not realizing your entire childhood might have been built on a lie.
“You’re quiet.””
She looked at Enzo.
“So are you.””
“I’m usually quiet.””
“That’s not true.””
His eyebrow lifted.
“You’ve known me eleven days.””
“And in those eleven days, you’ve threatened three people without raising your voice.””
A faint expression crossed his face.
“Four.””
Adeline blinked.
“What?””
“Four people.””
Despite everything, she almost smiled.
Almost.
Then she remembered who he was.
And why they were there.
“What happened to your brother?””
Enzo looked out the window.
“He was supposed to become the next head of the family.””
“You?””
“No.””
The answer surprised her.
“My father wanted him.””
“What changed?””
Enzo’s expression hardened.
“He vanished.””
“And you took his place.””
“Yes.””
“Because you wanted power?””
The question was blunt.
But Enzo didn’t react.
“No.””
The honesty made her look at him.
“Then why?””
A long pause.
“Because someone had to.””
She looked away.
For a moment, she almost forgot the rumors.
Almost forgot the fear.
Because that answer sounded less like ambition.
And more like responsibility.
The car stopped.
The building in front of them was old.
Forgotten.
Nothing like the grand Marchetti estate.
The sign above the entrance was faded.
CROFT ACCOUNTING SERVICES.
Adeline stared.
Her father’s office.
She hadn’t been here since she was sixteen.
Before the accident.
Before everything changed.
The driver opened the door.
Enzo stepped out first.
Adeline followed.
The building looked abandoned.
But the lock on the front door was new.
Someone had been here recently.
Enzo noticed it too.
He pulled out his phone.
“Call security.””
Adeline grabbed his arm.
“Wait.””
He looked at her.
“This was my father’s office.””
“And?””
“And if someone wanted to hide something here, they would know someone like you would come looking.””
Enzo studied her.
“You think it’s a trap.””
“Yes.””
“Good.””
She frowned.
“Good?””
“You’re finally thinking like someone who wants to survive.””
Before she could respond, the sound of footsteps echoed inside the building.
Someone was moving.
Someone was already there.
Enzo immediately pulled Adeline behind him.
The door creaked open.
A figure appeared in the darkness.
Adeline held her breath.
The person stepped into the light.
And her heart nearly stopped.
Because she knew that face.
Not from a photograph.
Not from a memory.
From her childhood.
“Adeline?””
Her lips parted.
The voice was older.
Weaker.
But unmistakable.
The man standing in front of her looked at her with tears filling his eyes.
“Adeline… you’re alive.””
She couldn’t move.
Because the man standing inside her father’s abandoned office was not Daniel Croft.
It was someone else she had buried five years ago.
Her father’s best friend.
The man who had supposedly died in the same accident.
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And in his hand was a document with one name written across the top.
Daniel Croft.
