but Adrian saw it.
“RUN!” he shouted.
The girl grabbed his hand and both of them sprinted through the burning summer traffic as horns exploded around them.
Behind them, Elena screamed:
“STOP HER!”
Not stop him.
Stop her.
Adrian pulled the girl into a narrow alley behind a nightclub. Both were breathing violently.
“What the hell is happening?” he demanded.
The girl looked terrified.
“My name is Liana,” she whispered. “My mother told me you ruined her life.”
Adrian stared at her in disbelief.
“She stole everything from me.”
Liana shook her head immediately.
“No. She said YOU betrayed HER.”
Adrian laughed bitterly.
“That woman disappeared with half a million dollars.”
Liana’s expression changed.
“She never stole it.”
Silence.
The city noise faded around them.
“What?”
Liana reached into her bag with trembling hands and pulled out an old envelope.
Inside were photographs.
Adrian.
Elena.
And another man.
Victor Hale.
Adrian’s former business partner.
Dead for ten years.
Liana pointed at the photo.
“He’s my father.”
Adrian’s face lost all color.
“No…”
Liana’s eyes filled with tears.
“My mother said Victor framed her for the theft… then tried to kill both of us after he found out she was pregnant.”
Adrian’s breathing became uneven.
“That’s impossible. Victor died in a car accident.”
Liana looked directly into his eyes.
“That’s what he wanted everyone to think.”
At that exact moment—
a black car slowly entered the alley behind them.
The window rolled down.
And Victor Hale smiled from the back seat.
Alive.
“Get in,” he said calmly.
“It’s time you both learned who really betrayed who.”
The screen cuts to black.
