What Exactly Happened?

The bright light was stinging as Adeline sat up on the bed, rubbing her eyes. A soft breath fled her nose, and she glanced around the room, her face wrinkling into a frown.

She'd been hit with the recollection of last night's incident.

A deep groan exited her throat, and she settled her feet down on the floor, standing up from the bed. She stripped off her dress, took a relaxing bath, and wore a nice outfit consisting of simple gray sweatpants and a white T-shirt.

Adeline left the bedroom and walked down the hallway. Her brows couldn't help but furrow a bit in confusion.

Looking through the huge glass window, she could barely glimpse more than five bodyguards.

Why? There were usually more than twenty bodyguards patrolling the compound, so why were there less than ten bodyguards today? Did something she wasn't aware of happen? Mr. Petrov wasn't around, and neither was Dimitri.

She quickly hurried downstairs and rushed out of the mansion towards Sokolov, who was examining one of the cars.

"Sokolov!"

Sokolov turned and immediately bowed at the sight of her. "Good morning, Mrs. Adeline."

"Good morning." Adeline offered a blooming smile. "Where is everyone?" she asked.

Sokolov responded, "They left for a conference meeting."

"Conference meeting?" What conference meeting? Adeline pondered but shook the thought off. She had bigger problems.

"Is everything alright?" Sokolov inquired.

Adeline bit her fingernail, remained silent for a few thoughtful seconds and shook her head. "There is something that I want you to do for me." She took a few steps closer to him. "I need you to help me buy a new phone and a brand new SIM." Her voice was more of a whisper, enough for only Sokolov to hear.

Sokolov didn't need to ask questions. He knew why she needed a new one, so he nodded with a polite smile. "Alright. I won't take too long."

"Let me get my credit card." Adeline turned around to leave but came to a sudden stop. She said with a wary expression, "Keep this a secret, though. We don't want them finding out about it."

"I know, Mrs. Adeline. Please be rest assured, I won't do such a thing," Sokolov assured, his hands placed behind his back.

"You're so reliable." Adeline chuckled heartily and made her way back into the mansion.

By noon, Sokolov had returned home.

As though bringing in an ordered fast food, he'd delivered the brand new phone to her and left as soon as he could.

Adeline sat on the bed in the guest room, unboxing it. The door was shut and locked, not wanting to risk having the likes of Dimitri barge in on her.

She turned on the phone, fixed the SIM card, and proceeded to set the entire thing up. Her gaze shifted from Caesar's business card in her grip to the phone, and she smiled the next moment, having successfully added him to her messages.

This would make contacting Caesar much easier. But she would have to be careful, otherwise, it would be game over if Dimitri or Mr. Petrov discovered the phone.

She exhaled deeply and cleared everything away, making sure that Sokolov disposed of them.

Now she waited.

Dimitri would definitely not let what happened last night pass by like it was nothing. There would be trouble once he returned home, and she ought to be ready for it.

Mr. Petrov might unfortunately get involved.

…

It clocked four p.m. in the evening before the sound of running cars reverberated.

Adeline, who was in the boxing room, quickly got off the staff she had pinned to the floor of the ring and took off her boxing gloves. She rushed to the window and glanced down at the compound to confirm if it was Dimitri and Mr. Petrov.

And indeed, it was them.

She turned, immediately taking a deep breath and wiping off her sweat with a clean white towel.

Outside, in the hallway, was where she met them the moment they stepped out of the elevator.

Her eyes landed on Dimitri, who had met her gaze. She could see the band-aid on the side of his cheek where she'd hit him.

He definitely told his father about everything that happened, because, knowing Mr. Petrov, he must have asked about the bruise.

"Follow me." Mr. Petrov's sudden, raspy voice snapped her out of her drifting thoughts.

Adeline diverted her gaze toward him. Obediently, she followed after him to his office, well aware that Dimitri was staring at her.

Why? Should she expect the worst from Mr. Petrov? Would he hurt her?

The door slammed shut behind her as she entered the office. She watched as Mr. Petrov strolled over and plopped down into his office chair.

"Where were you last night?" Mr. Petrov asked, dropping his legs on the table.

Adeline stared at him, vigilance in her brown eyes.

"I was at the nightclub. Dimitri is aware of that."

Mr. Petrov intently peered into her eyes, searching for any hint of lies, but he found none. She was as calm as she'd always been—too calm to be honest, and it wasn't sitting well with him.

If she was truly at the nightclub, then what happened to the two men he'd sent to trail her last night? There had been no sight of them, and even after a thorough search and scoping, they were nowhere to be found. They were not reachable either.

He couldn't exactly explain how, but he knew deep down that the sudden disappearance of the two men had something to do with Adeline.

Sure, she wasn't that strong to be able to fight off two men, assuming something had gone wrong, but his hunch was still pinpointing her.

What really happened? What did she do to them? Was there something he wasn't aware of?

"Father, is there anything else? If not, I would like to leave now," Adeline said with a light smile, like a little child.

Mr. Petrov met her gaze for a few seconds. He stood up from the chair and began to advance toward her. "Why did you go to a nightclub last night?"

Adeline rolled her shoulders, shrugging. "Dimitri and I are in an open marriage, you are aware of that," she said. "He made it clear that I could do whatever I want with it and you agreed to it too. What is the issue?"

Mr. Petrov keenly narrowed his eyes on her and took out a cigarette. "I don't like you going out at night. If possible, it'd be best if you could stay inside and just stop leaving the mansion." He lit the cigarette. "You are up to something, and I can smell it from miles away."

Adeline's expression changed for the worse, and she secretly balled her fists. 

"Aren't you being a little bit too unfair?"