I stared at Adrian’s name on the screen.

For three years, I had tried to forget it.

Three years of convincing myself that the man who rejected me countless times had never truly cared.

But now…

The same man had saved my research.

The same man was warning me not to visit my father’s grave.

My hands tightened around the phone.

Maya looked at me.

“Elena, are you okay?”

I didn’t answer immediately.

Because the hardest truth was not that Adrian had hurt me.

It was that maybe…

I had never known him at all.

The next morning, I went to the cemetery.

Not because I trusted Adrian.

Because I needed answers.

My father’s grave was quiet.

Too quiet.

I stood in front of the stone for several minutes before noticing something strange.

The flowers.

Someone had placed fresh white roses there recently.

My father hated roses.

He always said they were too ordinary.

But someone else knew that.

Someone who remembered.

I touched the flowers.

A small card was hidden beneath them.

Only one sentence was written.

“Ask your sister why she changed the date of your father’s last meeting.”

My heart stopped.

My sister.

Isabella.

The same sister who married Adrian.

The same sister who smiled while I left the country broken.

The same sister who told me:

“Elena, you need to accept that some people simply don’t love you back.”

I immediately called her.

She answered after three rings.

“Elena.”

Her voice was calm.

Too calm.

“Why did you change the date of Dad’s last appointment?”

Silence.

Only two seconds.

But enough.

“You shouldn’t listen to strangers.”

“So it’s true.”

“Elena…”

“No.”

My voice became colder.

“I want the truth.”

She sighed.

“You always make everything complicated.”

That sentence hurt more than I expected.

Because it was the same sentence everyone used when I asked for something I deserved.

“The appointment was moved because Adrian couldn’t attend.”

I froze.

“What?”

“You didn’t know?”

“No.”

She laughed softly.

Not kindly.

“You really didn’t know.”

My fingers trembled.

“Know what?”

“Adrian never rejected you because he didn’t care.”

The world became silent.

“He rejected you because Dad asked him to.”

I couldn’t breathe.

“What are you talking about?”

Isabella continued.

“Three years ago, before you left, Adrian was going to tell you everything.”

“Everything?”

“That he loved you.”

I closed my eyes.

“No.”

“Yes.”

“Then why did he marry you?”

Another silence.

This time longer.

And when she answered…

Her voice changed.

“He didn’t.”

I froze.

“What?”

“I forced the wedding.”

The phone almost slipped from my hand.

“Isabella…”

“Do you really think Adrian would choose me after eight years of choosing you?”

My heart was pounding.

“Then why did he stand at the altar?”

“Because he thought you were gone forever.”

I remembered the wedding photos.

Adrian standing there.

Expressionless.

Everyone saying he looked like a man fulfilling an obligation.

Not a man getting married.

“Your father was sick,” Isabella continued.

“He wanted to protect the family.”

“So he asked Adrian to take care of me?”

“No.”

Her voice became bitter.

“He asked Adrian to protect you.”

I felt dizzy.

“Protect me from what?”

Before she answered…

Someone knocked on my apartment door.

Maya looked through the security screen.

Her face changed.

“Elena…”

“Who is it?”

She turned around slowly.

“It’s Adrian.”

I walked toward the door.

My heart told me not to open it.

My past told me to run.

But my hand still reached for the handle.

When the door opened…

Adrian was standing there.

Rain covered his black coat.

His eyes were exhausted.

But this time…

He wasn’t looking away.

“I know you hate me.”

His voice was quiet.

“But before you leave again…”

“I need you to know the truth.”

I stared at him.

“Why did you marry my sister?”

His expression broke.

“I didn’t.”

A cold feeling passed through me.

“Then what was that wedding?”

Adrian looked down.

“The woman standing beside me that day…”

“Was not the person I was supposed to marry.”

My breath stopped.

Then he handed me an old envelope.

One I recognized immediately.

My father’s handwriting.

The same handwriting I hadn’t seen since his death.

Adrian whispered:

“Your father left this for you.”

I opened it with shaking hands.

The first line made my entire body go cold.

“Elena, if you are reading this, it means I failed to protect you.”

And below that…

Was the truth about why Adrian rejected me for eight years.

And why my sister had spent three years pretending to be his wife.