Chapter 56- Tricking Adrian


    #Chaptér 56 Tricking Adrian


    Ste


    I sit inside Sebastian''s car, my foot rapidly tapping the ground. He calmly sits beside me, a pair of expensive ck sunsses sitting on his face while he takes a sip of coffee from his cup. I look out of the windows, scanning the area for his familiar face and someone that fits the description Sebastian gave me.


    "It''s going to be okay, Ste," Sebastian coos, gently taking one of my hands in his. I look at him and he squeezes my hand. Reassurance floods my body with his


    kind gesture


    "I''m nervous," I admit to him, watching as lie takes his sunsses off of his face.


    "It''s okay to be nervous," he casually says it with a shrug, setting down his to go coffee up. "I''m nervous too but it''s okay. I have your back and you have mine, that''s all that matters at the end of the day."


    I nod and the air that once escaped my lungses back to me. It feels as if a weight has been lifted off of my shoulders. While there is still a possibility of Adrian finding out about Tracer''s true identity and exposing me, which would most likely make my divorce with him even moreplicated, will only cause problems in the long


    run.


    Thankfully, I have Sebastian and my family at my side to protect me.


    A woman approaches the doors of the cafe and gives a hidden signal to the car. Sebastian adjusts in his seat and turns to me, putting his sunsses back onto his face and his hoodie over his head.


    "Are you ready?" He asks. I nod. We get out of the car and cross the street, stepping inside of the cafe.


    Sebastian and I keep our distance from the woman he hired. We watch as she approaches a table where Adrian sits. His back is to us, thankfully, and I watch as the woman casually sits across from him.


    Sebastian slips a listening device into my ear, their conversation filling my ears, as he passes off a tinymunication device to me. I begin to talk into the microphone. The woman wlessly trantes the words for me, acting as if they are her own and not mine.


    "Adrian," the woman coldly greets him. She makes herselffortable in her seat, acting in apletely different manner than I do. "Do you have it?"


    "Tracer," Adrian clears his throat. I watch as he straightens his posture. "The next part of the project needs to be as secure as possible."


    He pushes a thick stack of papers across the table. The woman casually brings them close to her, lifting open the top folder to take a small look inside.


    "What''s this?" She asks my question for me.


    36


    "Patient information. They''ll need to be typed in manually. I couldn''t risk someone getting a hold of them by digitally sending them to you," Adrian''s voice is tense, a hint of surprise behind every word.


    I can tell that he wasn''t expecting to see her face. He was probably expecting to see me, to see the look of disappointment on my face as his so called foolproof n came to fruition.


    "This is for your troubles," Adrian slides something across the table. I can''t see what it is but the woman is quick to fill us in on it.


    "Is this incentive for me to work faster?" She asks. Ah, so it''s money.


    "Money for your troubles. Your hand will be hurting after you get through with this first stack," Adrian says.


    #Chapter 56 Tricking Adrian


    Sebastian and I share a nce. Adrian has bought the decoy and I am safe to work for another day in peace.


    "Well, I''ll get going now. These numbers won''t input themselves," the woman stands up and gathers the box of papers into her arms..


    As she leaves, I move to follow but Sebastian keeps me down, shaking his head. "Not yet,” he whispers, turning me around so Adrian doesn''t catch a glimpse of us.


    Adrian


    My eyes never leave the woman as she exits the coffee shop. She is quick to turn the corner, putting something inside of her ear as she leaves my sight. I turn back around and face the table, staring at my half filled coffee cup.


    So... Tracer and Ste are not the same person.


    I have to admit that I am relieved by this revtion. I don''t know what I would


    have done with myself if Ste turned out to be someone with a hidden side to her. It''s good to know that she is staying out of the troubles of the dark web and all that it has to offer..


    I turn my phone over and turn it on. My wallpaper pops up. It''s the photo Sebastian took of Ste, my mother, and


    1.


    The only reason that it is of the three of us and not something else is to help dispel any concerns that my mother may have whenever I visit her in her nursing home. She''s always so nosy and ims that my phone is better to use despite the brand new one I bought for her the day after she woke up.


    My mother always asks me about Ste. I hate having to lie to her about me not knowing how she''s doing. A small portion of my mind wonders what the truth is.


    I wonder if Ste is taking care of herself in her fragile state. Is she eating regrly and is she drinking plenty of water?


    My finger hover over her face on my wallpaper. The phone shuts off from inactivity, her face fading into darkness. I let out a sigh and close my eyes.


    I can''t think about her. She has brought me nothing but drama and trouble into my life. Ste is not someone I should think about.


    And yet, I can''t help but turn on my phone. I press the contact button and find her name. Tapping on it, I stare at her contact information.


    Unlike ra''s contact information, Ste''s ispletely bare in my phone except for her phone number and name. I didn''t even put a contact photo in her ce, just a gray image that the phone has in its stead.


    Should I call her? I know my mom will ask about her the next time I see her. My mother deserves an honest update instead of a lie. She loves Ste and deserves to have a piece of the truth, a break from the smoke and mirrors that Ste and I have set up to distract her.


    I suck in a breath and swipe out of Ste''s contact. I move through the different contacts and fine. photo, one from the tide pools we visited the previous weekend, and press her number.


    ?


    mother''s


    I bring the phone to my ear and listen to the dial tone, slight anxiety bubbling inside my chest. After a while, I almost give up, but my mother answers the call at thest second.


    "Adrian? Is that you?" Her voice soothes my anxious soul. stand from my seat and begin to head towards the cafe doors, leaving the shop.


    “Hi, mom,” I let out a quiet chuckle, loving how old she is when ites to technology. "Did you not see my


    #Chapter 56 Tricking Adrian


    name on the screen?"


    "I don''t see much these days," she jokes.


    "We should get your vision checked then," Iugh with her. When ourughter dies down, the silence isfortable yet there is a lingering sense of unanswered questions.


    "How are things with Ste?" My mother doesn''t beat around the bush. I hesitate to respond. "Adrian, you better answer me truthfully."


    "Things are still a bit tense. It''s nothing that I can''t handle though," I sigh as I reach my parked car.


    "You foolish boy," she says, "you need to go get her forgiveness before it''s toote. I don''t know what you did or what she said, but you shouldn''t let her go. You''ll regret it if you do."


    ''What if things are meant to end between us?" I ask the question before I can raven realize it. "What if we aren''t meant to be?"


    "Then I would say that you''re looking for excuses to leave just because things got hard," she says, "now go find her. Ask for forgiveness before it''s toote."