Chapter 3

Natalie's POV

Early the next morning, an uninvited guest arrived.

Kyle.

My brother.

After our parents died, Kyle was my only concern. He was in college, normally living on campus. He must have heard about my death and rushed back like crazy.

The door was kicked open.

Kyle gripped a fruit knife, his eyes bloodshot, like a wounded beast out of control.

"Adrian! I'm going to kill you!"

He charged into the living room and lunged at Adrian, who was eating breakfast.

Melissa shrieked, spilling milk everywhere.

Adrian didn't even change his sitting position.

The instant before the blade touched his chest, he shot to his feet and kicked Kyle's wrist.

The fruit knife clattered to the floor.

Then with a grappling move, Kyle was slammed onto the coffee table, face pressed against the cold glass, unable to move.

"Let go of me! Adrian, you bastard! You killed Natalie! It was you!"

Kyle struggled desperately, screaming.

I floated beside them, frantic.

"Kyle! Run! You can't beat him!"

But he couldn't hear me.

Adrian held Kyle's neck down with one hand while leisurely pulling out a tissue with the other to wipe the milk that had splashed on his hand.

"Natalie died of heart failure. The medical examiner's report is already out."

"Bullshit! She was perfectly healthy, how could she have heart failure! It was definitely you! You and this bitch killed her!"

Kyle spat toward Melissa.

Melissa shrieked and dodged, pointing at Kyle and cursing.

"Adrian! He tried to murder someone! Call the police! Or... cripple him!"

Melissa's eyes were vicious.

The two bodyguards behind her were already reaching for their waists.

I knew. Those were guns.

The Lincoln family did shady business. Their bodyguards carried guns at all times. If Kyle kept making trouble, he'd really die.

"Adrian! Please! Let him go!"

I knelt before Adrian, though I knew he couldn't see me.

Adrian's eyes shifted.

He glanced at the two bodyguards, then at Kyle still struggling beneath him.

"Cripple him?"

Adrian laughed softly and picked up the fruit knife from the floor.

He spun it in his hand, the blade flashing cold light.

"For something this small, I'll handle it."

Before the words finished, the knife in his hand plunged down hard.

The sound of blade entering flesh.

"Ahh-!!!"

Kyle's agonized scream filled the room.

That stab went straight through Kyle's thigh.

Blood gushed out instantly, staining the carpet red.

I collapsed to the floor, watching my brother's face contort in pain, watching that blood pour out continuously.

"Kyle..."

I tried to cover the wound, but my hand passed through the warm liquid.

Adrian pulled out the knife, bringing with it a spray of blood drops.

He stood up, looking down at Kyle curled in pain.

"This stab is to teach you a lesson. Learn to be smarter. Don't stand up for Natalie again. Her life was short-you want to follow her?"

Kyle was drenched in cold sweat from the pain but still stared at Adrian.

"Adrian... even as a ghost... I won't let you go..."

"Fine, I'll wait."

Adrian threw the bloody knife on the table and pulled out a wet wipe to clean his hands.

"Call 911. Drag him out."

He told the bodyguards.

The bodyguards glanced at Melissa. She seemed pleased by the bloody scene and nodded.

Kyle was dragged out like a dead dog.

A long trail of blood remained on the floor.

I chased after them, following until the ambulance arrived.

Watching Kyle being loaded in, the paramedic said no artery was hit, just flesh wounds that would heal in a few months.

I slumped by the roadside.

No artery hit?

Adrian had stabbed so viciously, straight through the thigh, yet just happened to miss the artery?

Was it coincidence?

I floated back to the apartment.

Bodyguards were cleaning the blood from the carpet.

Melissa nestled in Adrian's arms, her finger tracing circles on his chest.

"Adrian, you were so handsome just now. That stab was so clean."

Adrian looked down at her, a smile on his lips but no warmth in his eyes.

"As long as you're happy."

Melissa pulled a document from her bag and handed it to him.

"This is a gift from my father. He says from now on, the Deputy Director position at Lincoln Group's Security Department is yours."

Adrian took the document and flipped through it.

"Thank Mr. Lincoln for me."

He closed the document, his gaze sweeping over where Kyle had bled.

His eyes were as deep as stagnant water.

In that moment, I suddenly felt I couldn't read him.

To curry favor with the Lincoln family, to climb the ladder, he could even be ruthless to Kyle.

But that stab... why did it specifically avoid vital areas?

If it was the old Adrian, that sharpshooter detective captain, he knew human anatomy inside and out.

He did it on purpose.

Deliberately stabbed where the flesh was thick-looked scary but wouldn't kill.

Why?

Was it to avoid suspicion? Or to spare Kyle's life?

Those two bodyguards had their hands on their guns.

If Kyle hadn't gone down, would that bullet have blown his head off?

I shook my head.

Natalie, have you lost your mind?

He stabbed your brother like that, and you're still making excuses for him?

He's a bastard.

A complete and utter scumbag.