A former employee of one of the companies connected to Adrian Vale had disappeared several months earlier after agreeing to provide information about suspicious transactions.
The employee’s disappearance was being examined separately, and there was no confirmed evidence linking Richard to any physical harm.
But the timing and the anonymous photograph were concerning enough that the investigators were looking into whether the events were connected.
I asked Margaret whether I should leave the house.
She advised me to follow the safety plan already in place and not make the decision based on fear alone. We reviewed my options, and I arranged to stay elsewhere temporarily while the authorities assessed the threat.
Before leaving, I walked through every room.
The living room where Richard had once proposed to me.
The kitchen where he had announced that his mistress would be moving in.
The guest suite he had chosen for Vesna.
I remembered how confidently he had told me to make everything ready.
