Rain continued falling heavily over the Cole mansion deep into the night.
Inside Adrian's bedroom, silence surrounded him completely.
The city lights reflected faintly against the tall glass windows while the unfinished whiskey beside him remained untouched now.
Adrian stood near the window quietly, his expression cold but distant.
Vanessa's behavior earlier still lingered inside his thoughts.
The nervous look in her eyes.
The hesitation before speaking.
The strange tension around her lately.
Something felt wrong.
Not obvious enough to explain.
But enough to bother him.
Adrian slowly rubbed his fingers against his forehead as exhaustion settled heavily over him again.
Then the nightmare returned briefly inside his head.
Rain.
Fear.
A woman crying.
Blood spreading across marble floors.
Adrian shut his eyes tightly for one moment.
The memories always came in broken pieces.
Never complete.
Never clear enough.
Only fear remained afterward.
Outside, thunder echoed softly across the stormy sky.
Meanwhile—
Inside her private office upstairs, Vivian sat alone in silence.
A dim golden lamp illuminated the elegant room while rain echoed softly outside the tall windows.
Several business documents rested untouched on the desk before her.
But Vivian was no longer reading them.
Her thoughts had drifted elsewhere tonight.
Lina.
Again.
Vivian frowned slightly.
Why had Lina suddenly been appearing inside her thoughts these past few days?
It irritated her deeply.
For years, that woman had remained buried in the past.
Forgotten.
Gone.
Yet recently—
The memories kept returning unexpectedly.
Vivian slowly leaned back in her chair, her sharp eyes darkening slightly.
She could still remember Lina's face clearly that night.
The tears.
The fear.
The betrayal.
Vivian's fingers tightened slowly against the armrest.
"No," she whispered softly to herself.
"She's dead."
Still—
The mansion no longer felt completely calm to her anymore.
Something had changed.
She could feel it.
Almost like Lina's shadow still lingered somewhere inside these walls.
Watching.
Waiting.
Vivian immediately pushed the thought away coldly.
Ridiculous.
Ghosts did not exist.
The dead stayed buried.
Yet for the first time in years—
Uneasiness settled quietly inside her chest.
Elsewhere inside the mansion, Vanessa stood alone before her bedroom mirror.
The soft golden lights reflected across her face while she slowly removed the last of her jewelry.
Her expression remained calm outwardly.
But inside—
Her thoughts were restless.
Adrian had started changing lately.
More distant.
More observant.
And that bothered her deeply.
Vanessa slowly lowered her eyes toward the sink.
She could not allow Adrian to become suspicious.
Not now.
Everything she worked for could collapse completely.
Her jaw tightened slightly.
No matter what happened—
She would never lose her place inside this family.
Never.
Vanessa stared carefully at her reflection.
Beautiful.
Perfect.
Controlled.
That was how people saw her.
And that was exactly how she intended to keep it.
Even if darkness hid underneath.
Meanwhile—
Inside the servant quarters, Elena remained unable to sleep.
The room felt colder tonight.
Quieter.
Her thoughts returned once again toward the black car outside the gates.
And the shadowy figure standing beside it beneath the rain.
The memory sent another chill through her body.
Who were they?
Why did it feel connected to her somehow?
Elena slowly stood from the bed and walked toward the small window again.
Carefully, she pulled the curtain aside slightly.
Outside—
Rain still poured heavily across the grounds.
The gates remained visible from a distance.
But now—
The black car was gone.
Elena frowned slightly.
A strange emptiness settled inside her chest immediately.
Had she imagined everything earlier?
No.
She knew what she saw.
The shadow beside the car.
The feeling of being watched.
The footsteps behind her near the archive room.
None of it felt normal.
Elena slowly released the curtain and stepped away from the window.
Exhaustion slowly crashed over her afterward.
The sleepless night.
The fear.
The stress.
Everything finally became too heavy.
Elena slowly laid down on the bed and closed her eyes.
And eventually—
She fell asleep.
Morning arrived slowly over the Cole mansion.
Dark clouds still covered the sky while servants moved quietly through the halls preparing breakfast.
The atmosphere inside the mansion felt strangely heavy today.
Even the servants spoke less than usual.
Elena finally stepped out of her room looking exhausted from lack of sleep.
Her eyes still carried traces of fear from the previous night.
As she walked toward the main hallway carrying fresh linens—
"Why do you look like you barely slept?"
Elena flinched slightly.
She turned quickly.
Madam Martha stood nearby holding a cleaning clipboard, her sharp eyes carefully observing Elena's pale expression.
Elena lowered her gaze politely.
"I'm fine."
Madam Martha did not look convinced.
Her eyes briefly moved toward Elena's faintly swollen cheek from Vanessa's slap the previous night.
But she said nothing about it.
Instead, she spoke calmly.
"Madam Vivian wants the west wing cleaned this afternoon."
Elena's heartbeat skipped instantly.
The west wing.
The archive hallway.
Fear flickered briefly inside her chest again.
Madam Martha noticed the hesitation immediately.
"You have a problem with that?"
Elena quickly shook her head.
"No, Madam."
Madam Martha continued staring at her for a few more seconds before finally walking away.
Elena remained standing there quietly afterward.
The morning sunlight barely entered the mansion through the heavy curtains.
And somehow—
The mansion itself still felt darker than before.Elena adjusted the linens slowly against her chest before continuing down the hallway.
The mansion felt unusually quiet this morning.
Almost tense.
As though something invisible lingered inside the walls.
Servants moved carefully around each other, avoiding unnecessary conversation while preparing for the day. Even the sound of footsteps seemed softer than usual.
Elena finally reached the west wing corridor later that afternoon.
The long hallway stretched endlessly beneath dim golden lights.
Her heartbeat slowed uneasily.
The archive room stood farther ahead exactly where she remembered.
Locked.
Silent.
Yet merely looking at it again made her chest tighten.
"Elena."
She turned immediately.
Madam Martha approached calmly with her usual composed expression.
"Finish cleaning this hallway before evening," she instructed. "Madam Vivian dislikes dust."
"Yes, Madam."
Madam Martha paused briefly before lowering her voice slightly.
"And stay out of trouble."
Elena blinked softly.
"I understand."
Madam Martha walked away afterward, leaving Elena alone again in the corridor.
Silence returned immediately.
Elena slowly began dusting the expensive frames hanging along the walls.
But after several minutes—
She suddenly stopped.
A strange feeling crawled through her chest again.
Like someone was watching her.
Slowly, Elena turned her head toward the far end of the hallway.
Nothing.
Only silence.
Still—
Her grip tightened slightly around the cleaning cloth.
Because near the archive room door—
She noticed something strange.
The lock had changed.