The call ended.
Adrian slipped his phone back into his suit pocket. His gaze remained fixed on the grand mansion standing imposingly behind him. For years, those white walls and tall pillars had been a place that always made him feel safe. But this morning, for the first time, the house felt unfamiliar.
He knew Gabriel Giordano better than anyone.
His father was not the kind of man who was easily influenced. Especially after his wife's death, Gabriel had nearly closed his heart to every woman who tried to get close to him. Time and again, Adrian had watched socialites, business associates, and even wealthy widows try to win his father's attention. Not one of them had succeeded.
Then Mariana came along.
A simple woman who had only been working for two weeks.
And his father had suddenly decided to get married.
The more Adrian thought about it, the less sense the decision made.
"Something's wrong," Adrian murmured.
He opened the car door but stopped himself from getting in. His thoughts kept spinning, connecting fragments that had yet to take shape.
If Mariana really was innocent, why was Gabriel being so secretive?
Why did his father keep avoiding questions that were actually simple?
A decision as significant as marriage should have a clear reason behind it. Yet Gabriel had chosen to keep that reason tightly concealed.
And that was exactly what made Adrian even more suspicious.
Inside the mansion, the atmosphere had yet to improve.
Mariana was still standing in the same spot. Even though Adrian had left, his words seemed to echo through the room.
"I will never acknowledge Mariana Hayes as part of the Giordano family."
The sentence kept repeating in her mind.
She had been insulted for being poor.
She had been looked down on because of her job.
Yet for some reason, Adrian's words hurt far more.
Maybe it was because, for the first time, she had truly hoped she could start a better life.
"Mariana."
Gabriel's voice broke through her reverie.
The woman immediately raised her head.
"I'm sorry."
Mariana quickly shook her head.
"You did nothing wrong, sir."
"I allowed you to be treated that way."
Regret filled Gabriel's eyes.
"I should have stopped Adrian sooner."
Mariana offered a faint smile.
"You know your son better than I do."
"He's stubborn."
"He just loves his father."
Her answer drew a hollow smile from Gabriel.
"That's what makes it hardest for me to be angry with him."
Liliana, who had been silent until then, finally approached them.
She studied Gabriel for a moment, as if considering something.
"May I ask you something?"
"Of course."
Liliana drew a deep breath.
"Why did it have to be my mother?"
The question plunged the room into silence once more.
Mariana turned to her instinctively.
"Liliana..."
"It's all right." Gabriel raised a hand, signaling Mariana not to stop her daughter.
The man then walked toward the window.
His back was turned to both of them.
Several seconds passed without a word.
"I can't answer that right now."
Liliana frowned.
"Why not?"
"Because the time isn't right yet."
That answer only raised more questions.
Liliana looked at her mother.
Mariana was just as confused.
Neither of them understood Gabriel's way of thinking.
Yet from his tone, Liliana could sense one thing.
The man was hiding something.
Something he deliberately did not want Adrian to know.
Meanwhile, Adrian's black sedan sped away from the upscale neighborhood where the Giordano family lived.
He was not headed to the office.
Nor was he going to the company.
The car stopped at a five-story glass building that looked from the outside like an ordinary consulting firm.
In reality, only a handful of people knew the place's true purpose.
Adrian got out without wasting any time.
A man around fifty years old immediately came to greet him.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Adrian."
"I need the results as soon as possible."
The man nodded.
"Information on Mariana Hayes?"
"Not just Mariana."
Adrian stopped in front of the elevator doors.
"Investigate her daughter too."
"Her daughter?"
"Liliana Hayes."
The man looked slightly puzzled.
"Is the girl suspicious too?"
Adrian did not answer immediately.
The image of Liliana standing up for her mother flashed through his mind again.
That look in the girl's eyes...
It was not filled with fear.
Nor hatred.
It was conviction.
And Adrian did not like things he could not read.
"I don't want a single piece of information overlooked."
"Yes, sir."
"Their jobs, friends, education, even their neighbors."
The man quickly entered notes on his tablet.
"How much time do I have?"
"Three days."
The man lifted his head.
"Three days?"
"Is that too long?"
"No... It's just that an investigation this detailed usually takes at least a week."
Adrian stared at him impassively.
"I didn't ask for your opinion."
The room immediately fell silent.
The man swallowed.
"I understand."
Adrian resumed walking toward the elevator.
Before the doors closed, he uttered a sentence that made the man freeze.
Adrian's eyes turned cold as ice.
"There is nowhere in this world far enough to hide their secrets from me. You chose the wrong prey!" he thought, his hands clenching into fists.
The elevator doors closed slowly.
Meanwhile, elsewhere...
Mariana had no idea that from that day forward, every step of her life would be watched.
Not by a stranger.
But by the heir of the Giordano family, who had vowed to uncover every secret of her life.