Chapter 2: The Sound Inside

For a few seconds, neither of us moved.

The hallway was silent except for the rain tapping against the windows and the faint vibration coming from inside the teddy bear.

Adrian held it tighter.

Too tight.

As if I had tried to steal a living person from his arms.

'Give it to me,' I said.

His eyes narrowed. 'No.'

'Something is inside it.'

'You're imagining things.'

Another soft buzz came from beneath the bear's stitched chest.

This time, Adrian couldn't pretend he hadn't heard it.

I took one step forward.

'Adrian, what is that?'

'Go to bed, Lena.'

'Stop treating me like I'm stupid.'

His jaw flexed.

'Then stop acting like a child.'

The words hurt, but I didn't back down.

'A child would ignore this. A wife asks questions when her husband hides a vibrating object inside a teddy bear.'

For a moment, anger flashed across his face.

Then something colder replaced it.

'This conversation is over.'

He turned toward his study.

I followed.

'No, it isn't.'

'Lena.'

'Who is she?'

He stopped.

The question landed between us like broken glass.

Slowly, Adrian looked back.

'What did you say?'

'I said, who is she?'

His expression did not change, but his silence answered too much.

My stomach twisted.

'So there is someone.'

'You don't know what you're talking about.'

'Then explain it.'

'I don't owe you an explanation.'

I laughed once, but there was no humor in it.

'You are my husband.'

'On paper.'

The hallway seemed to tilt.

On paper.

Two small words, and somehow they managed to destroy two years of patience.

I stared at him, waiting for regret to appear.

It didn't.

'Fine,' I whispered.

His gaze flickered.

Maybe he expected tears.

Maybe he expected me to beg.

Maybe the old Lena would have done exactly that.

Instead, I stepped aside.

'Go protect your bear.'

For the first time, Adrian looked unsettled.

But he still walked into the study.

And he still locked the door behind him.

That night, I did not sleep.

I sat on the floor of the guest room with my laptop open, searching for anything connected to Adrian, teddy bears, hidden devices, or old scandals involving the Blackwood family.

Most results were useless.

Business articles.

Charity photos.

Interviews.

Rumors about his cold personality.

Then I found an old photograph from seven years ago.

Adrian was younger in it, standing outside a university building in Boston. Beside him stood a blonde woman with bright eyes and a soft smile. She held a small teddy bear keychain in one hand.

The caption read:

'Adrian Blackwood and Celeste Monroe at the Ravenhill Foundation fundraiser.'

Celeste Monroe.

I clicked her name.

Dozens of articles appeared.

Some called her a violin prodigy.

Some called her a rising socialite.

Then the headlines changed.

'Heiress Celeste Monroe Disappears After Charity Gala.'

'Police Question Blackwood Heir After Monroe Case.'

'No Evidence Found in Celeste Monroe Disappearance.'

My blood went cold.

Celeste Monroe had disappeared six years ago.

Adrian had known her.

More than known her, judging by the photographs.

There were images of them laughing at events, leaving restaurants, standing close beneath streetlights.

The internet called them young love.

The articles said Adrian was the last known person to see her alive.

No charges were filed.

No body was ever found.

The case went cold.

I sat back slowly.

The teddy bear suddenly felt less like proof of an affair and more like the door to something much darker.

At dawn, I heard Adrian leave the house.

His car disappeared through the gates.

This time, he did not take the teddy bear.

That was his mistake.

I waited ten minutes.

Then I went to his study.

The door was locked, of course.

But two years inside Blackwood Manor had taught me one useful thing.

Adrian was careful with people.

Not with keys.

The spare study key was hidden behind the old grandfather clock in the library. I had discovered it months ago and never used it.

Until now.

My hands trembled as I unlocked the door.

The study smelled like leather, smoke, and Adrian's expensive cologne.

The teddy bear sat on the sofa.

Watching me.

I hated that it made me nervous.

I crossed the room and picked it up.

It was heavier than it looked.

Too heavy.

My fingers searched the seams. Nothing near the back. Nothing under the arms. Then I felt it near the chest.

A hidden zipper beneath the fur.

My heart pounded.

Slowly, I opened it.

Inside was a small black phone wrapped in silk cloth.

The screen lit up the moment I touched it.

There were no apps except one messaging icon.

No password.

No contact name.

Just a single thread.

The latest message had arrived last night.

'She is getting suspicious.'

My breath stopped.

She.

Me.

Another message above it read:

'Keep the bear close. It's the only safe place left.'

I scrolled upward.

Most messages were short.

'Did she touch it?'

'Not yet.'

'Don't let Lena open it.'

'If she finds the recording, everything ends.'

The recording.

My thumb hovered over the screen.

Then I saw an audio file at the top of the chat.

Dated six years ago.

The night Celeste Monroe disappeared.

I pressed play.

Static filled the room.

Then a woman's voice whispered through the speaker.

'Adrian, if anything happens to me, don't trust my brother.'

I froze.

Celeste.

Her voice shook with fear.

'He knows about the foundation accounts. He knows I was going to expose him. I hid the proof where only you would understand.'

A door slammed in the recording.

Celeste gasped.

'No. Please, Marcus, don't—'

The audio cut off.

I stared at the phone, unable to breathe.

This wasn't a love message.

It was evidence.

A dead woman's final warning.

Suddenly the study door opened behind me.

'Lena.'

Adrian stood in the doorway.

His face was pale.

For the first time since I had known him, he looked truly afraid.

Not angry.

Afraid.

I held up the phone.

'What happened to Celeste?'

He closed the door slowly.

'You shouldn't have opened that.'

'Did you love her?'

His silence cut deeper than I expected.

'Yes,' he said finally.

The word was quiet.

Honest.

Devastating.

I swallowed the pain.

'Did you kill her?'

His eyes snapped to mine.

'No.'

'Then why hide this?'

'Because the man who killed her is still alive.'

My grip tightened around the phone.

'Marcus Monroe?'

Adrian's expression changed.

'You researched her.'

'I researched you.'

'Then you know enough to understand how dangerous this is.'

'No, Adrian. I know enough to understand you've been lying to me.'

He took a step closer.

'I was trying to protect you.'

'Don't use that excuse.'

'It isn't an excuse.'

'You let me think there was another woman.'

'There was another woman.'

The honesty struck hard.

Adrian looked at the teddy bear, then back at me.

'Celeste was my first love. She trusted me with evidence before she disappeared. I failed her once. I won't fail her again.'

I laughed bitterly.

'And me? What am I in this story?'

His face tightened.

'Lena—'

'A wife on paper?'

He flinched.

Good.

I wanted him to feel at least one fraction of what I felt.

'You brought her ghost into our bedroom,' I whispered. 'You protected her secret. You whispered apologies to her. You pushed me away for a dead woman and expected me to understand nothing.'

Adrian said nothing.

Because there was nothing he could say.

The phone buzzed in my hand.

A new message appeared.

'Tell your wife to stop digging, Adrian.'

My blood turned to ice.

Another message followed.

'Or she will disappear like Celeste.'

Adrian grabbed the phone from my hand.

His face went deadly calm.

But I had already read it.

The secret inside the teddy bear was no longer only Adrian's past.

Now it was my danger too.