Episode 7: the woman who came back from the dead

The Woman Who Came Back from the Dead

"Grace is missing."

Adrian's words echoed through Isabella's mind.

For a moment, she couldn't breathe.

"What do you mean she's missing?" she demanded. "I spoke to her this morning!"

"Her phone is switched off. My security team checked your family home, and nobody has seen her since last night."

Isabella grabbed her handbag.

"I'm going to find my sister."

Adrian stepped in front of her.

"You're not going anywhere alone."

"Don't tell me what to do!"

"I'm trying to protect you."

"Protect me?" Her voice cracked. "You married me under a contract, kept secrets about your first wife, and now my sister has disappeared! Why should I trust you?"

Adrian didn't answer immediately.

Then he handed her his car keys.

"Because I know what it's like to lose someone you love."

For the first time, Isabella noticed the pain behind his cold expression.

But she wasn't ready to forgive him.

"Take me to my family home," she said. "Now."

The Mysterious Visitor

Forty minutes later, they arrived at the Hayes family home.

The front door was open.

Isabella rushed inside.

"Grace!"

Silence.

She searched the sitting room, the kitchen, and the upstairs bedrooms.

Nothing.

Then she noticed a white envelope on the dining table.

Her name was written across it.

She opened it.

Inside was a photograph of Grace sitting in a room she didn't recognize.

On the back, someone had written:

ASK ADRIAN WHAT HAPPENED THREE YEARS AGO.

Isabella slowly turned toward her husband.

"What happened three years ago?"

Adrian stared at the photograph.

His expression changed.

"Where did you find that?"

"On the table! Tell me what it means!"

Before he could respond, someone knocked on the front door.

Three slow knocks.

Adrian immediately moved in front of Isabella.

"Stay behind me."

He opened the door.

And froze.

A woman stood on the doorstep.

She wore a dark coat and sunglasses. Her hair fell over her shoulders, and her face was pale.

She removed her sunglasses.

Isabella gasped.

It was the woman from the photograph.

The woman whose wedding dress hung inside Adrian's locked room.

Eleanor Blackwood.

Adrian's first wife.

The woman everyone believed was dead.

"Hello, Adrian," Eleanor said quietly.

Adrian took a step backward.

"Eleanor?"

She smiled without warmth.

"Surprised to see me?"

Isabella stared between them.

"But you're supposed to be dead!"

Eleanor turned toward her.

"And you must be the woman who took my place."

"I'm his wife."

"No, darling." Eleanor's smile widened. "You're a woman who signed a piece of paper without knowing the truth."

She stepped into the house.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to speak to my husband."

Adrian's jaw tightened.

"You have no right to come here."

"Perhaps not. But I have every right to tell Isabella why you married her."

Eleanor reached into her handbag and removed a folded document.

She placed it on the table.

"Your father and Adrian made a deal long before you ever met him."

Isabella felt her stomach twist.

"My father?"

Eleanor nodded.

"Your father promised Adrian something in exchange for protecting your family. But when he failed to keep that promise, Adrian decided to collect his debt another way."

She looked directly at Isabella.

"By marrying you."

Isabella turned toward Adrian.

"Is this true?"

Adrian remained silent.

And somehow, his silence hurt more than any answer could have.

The Secret in the Letter

"Tell her," Eleanor demanded.

Adrian's eyes hardened.

"Not another word."

"Why? Are you afraid she'll discover that her mother knew everything?"

Isabella stepped forward.

"Leave my mother out of this!"

Eleanor's expression suddenly became serious.

"Your mother was the only person who tried to stop what happened three years ago."

She removed another photograph from her bag.

It showed Isabella's mother standing beside Eleanor and a much younger Adrian.

On the back was a date.

October 14 — three years earlier.

Beneath it were four words:

The night everything changed.

Isabella took the photograph.

"What's so special about this date?"

Eleanor looked at Adrian.

"Tell her what happened that night."

Adrian's hands curled into fists.

"I made a mistake."

"What mistake?" Isabella whispered.

Before he could answer, Eleanor's phone rang.

She checked the screen, and her expression changed.

"Where is she?" Eleanor asked urgently.

A pause.

Then she whispered, "Don't let anyone touch her. I'm coming."

She ended the call.

Isabella grabbed her arm.

"Was that about Grace? Where is my sister?"

Eleanor pulled away.

"If you want to see Grace again, Isabella, you need to stop asking questions and start listening."

She moved toward the door.

"Come with me."

Adrian immediately blocked her path.

"She's not going anywhere with you."

Eleanor laughed bitterly.

"Still pretending to be her protector, Adrian?"

She leaned closer to him.

"Tell Isabella the truth, or I will."

Then she looked at Isabella one last time.

"Your sister is alive. But if you want to save her, you must discover what your father hid before midnight."

And with that, Eleanor walked away.

Isabella stood motionless, clutching the photograph.

Adrian approached her carefully.

"Isabella, listen to me—"

She raised her hand.

"No."

Her eyes filled with tears.

"I don't want another promise. I don't want another secret."

She looked directly at him.

"I want the truth."

Adrian stared at her for a long moment.

Then he finally spoke.

"Three years ago, your father came to me with a secret that could destroy both our families."

He paused.

"And your mother helped him hide it."

Isabella's heart pounded.

"What was the secret?"

Adrian looked toward the door Eleanor had just walked through.

"Your father was the last person to see Eleanor before she disappeared."