Chapter 6 - Emma's Warning
By late afternoon, the media frenzy had consumed the city. Headlines blasted Julian Blackwood’s arrest and the shocking miraculous recovery of the city's youngest billionaire across every digital billboard.
Back at Blackwood Manor, the sprawling estate felt eerily quiet. The domestic staff had been temporarily suspended pending background checks, leaving only Adrian, Emma, and a private security detail stationed at the outer gates.
Emma sat in the library, a cold compress resting against her swollen knee. She was staring blankly at the crackling fireplace when Adrian entered, carrying two cups of steaming tea. He wore a simple cashmere sweater and dark trousers, looking less like a titan of industry and more like the man she had known in private.
He placed a cup on the side table next to her and sat down in the opposite armchair.
"The doctor said you should keep off that leg for at least a week," Adrian said quietly.
"I have work to do, Mr. Blackwood," Emma replied stiffly, deliberately using his formal title.
Adrian winced slightly at the coldness in her tone. "Emma, stop. We are alone."
"Are we?" Emma asked, turning her sharp eyes toward him. "Because for three months, I thought we were alone in this house. I thought you depended on me. I cried in the bathroom every night thinking you were suffering in silence, while all along you were walking around this house when I went to sleep!"
"I walked to stay alive!" Adrian said, leaning forward, his voice raw with sudden passion. "Do you think it was easy? Pretending to be helpless while Vanessa mocked me? Letting Julian look down on me with pity? Every instinct I had screamed to snap their necks. But I had to know the full extent of the network. If I had exposed myself too soon, they would have used a sniper or poisoned my food directly. Emma, the only person I couldn't bear to see hurt was you."
"Well, you failed," she said softly, touching her bruised knee. "Because this hurts. But what hurts worse is knowing you couldn't trust me to keep your secret."
Before Adrian could answer, the security phone on his desk chimed with an urgent triple tone.
May you like
Adrian crossed the room and picked up the receiver. "What is it?"
"Mr. Blackwood," the security chief’s voice came through, strained and urgent. "We just reviewed the perimeter sensors on the south garden wing. Someone breached the secondary cellar doors twenty minutes ago. They aren't trying to break out, sir. Someone broke *in*."
