Collision Of The Past And Present
Country: Eldoria
Adrian
The office was quiet.
Too quiet.
The kind of silence that should have been calming but instead pressed against the walls like something waiting to break.
I sat behind my desk, staring at the glowing numbers on the report in front of me, but they refused to mean anything.
Rows of figures blurred together, meaningless, distant. My mind was somewhere else entirely.
The last month has been exhausting.
Not physically. Strategically.
I leaned back in my chair slowly, letting the leather creak beneath my weight, fingers steepled beneath my chin as I stared at the glass wall overlooking the city of Eldoria.
The skyline stretched endlessly…silver towers cutting through the afternoon haze, sunlight bouncing off mirrored buildings like shards of glass.
All of it belonged to men like my father.
Men who never lost control.
And the past few weeks had been a reminder that I wasn’t quite there yet.
The confrontation with him replayed in my mind again.
I had pushed harder than usual that day. Too hard. I wanted things done immediately…my way, on my timeline.
I wanted the marriage finalized quickly, the situation contained before anyone outside the family could begin asking questions.
But my father had shut it down instantly.
He didn’t shout. He didn’t need to.
The calm authority in his voice had been enough to crush the argument before it could even properly begin.
I could still remember the way he looked at me across the room…
disappointed, unimpressed, as if I were a child throwing a tantrum instead of a man discussing family strategy.
In the end, I had done what I rarely did.
I backed down.
Swallowed my pride.
Apologized.
The memory still tasted bitter.
I shifted slightly in my chair, my jaw tightening.
Eloria had been the one to remind me afterward that fighting him head-on was pointless. She had said it gently, but the truth behind it had been obvious.
“You don’t win against your father by force,” she had told me that night. “You win by waiting until he believes the decision was his.”
She had been right.
She was often right about things like that.
And so I waited.
Patiently rebuilding the favor I had nearly lost.
It took weeks.
Careful conversations.
Measured obedience.
Strategic silence.
But slowly, the balance returned.
My father’s approval was a quiet currency in this family, and I had earned enough of it back to regain my standing. The tension inside the house had cooled. Meetings returned to normal. Decisions passed through my hands again.
From the outside, everything looked exactly the way it always had.
Perfect.
Controlled.
But there was one thing that hadn’t returned to normal.
Isla.
My sister had become… unbearable.
I exhaled slowly, rubbing a hand across my jaw.
Her attitude had changed completely after everything that happened with Alvara.
Before that, she barely acknowledged the girl’s existence. Alvara had been just another servant moving silently through the house, someone invisible unless she was needed.
Now suddenly Isla acted as if she had been some great defender of her.
The hostility in her eyes whenever she looked at me had grown impossible to ignore.
Cold.
Sharp.
Accusing.
And I didn’t understand it.
Alvara had meant nothing to her before.
So why now?
Why the sudden sympathy?
The question lingered in the back of my mind like a puzzle piece that refused to fit.
My fingers tapped once against the desk.
Then there was the other problem.
Alvara herself.
She had disappeared completely.
No calls.
No messages.
Nothing.
The first week after she vanished, I expected her to return eventually. People like her didn’t have the resources to disappear forever.
But weeks turned into months.
And the silence stayed.
Hilliard had managed to track a brief signal from her phone once. A faint ping that appeared for barely a few minutes before vanishing again.
By the time the team reached the location, it was already gone.
Like smoke.
After that, there was nothing else.
No bank activity.
No confirmed sightings.
No trace.
The entire situation irritated me more than anything else.
Not because I missed her.
I didn’t.
But because she had managed to remove herself from the board entirely.
And I hated losing control of a situation.
Still… there were more important matters now.
I had regained my father’s trust.
My position within the company was stable again.
And Eloria remained at my side…quiet, composed, patient as always.
She understood the kind of world we lived in.
The kind where strategy mattered more than emotion.
A sharp vibration rattled across the surface of my desk.
My phone.
I glanced down.
A message.
Lunch with Eloria.
Right.
I had almost forgotten.
I picked up the phone and skimmed the message quickly. The reservation had already been confirmed at one of our restaurants.
Good.
I stood, adjusting the cuffs of my shirt before slipping into my jacket. The familiar rhythm of routine settled around me as I walked out of the office.
The elevator ride down the tower was silent.
Eldoria was a city built on wealth and ambition.
And the Vale family stood near the top of it.
My car door opened the moment I stepped outside.
The driver nodded respectfully as I slid into the back seat.
The ride was smooth, quick.
The flagship restaurant owned by the Vale Company sat along one of the most prestigious avenues in the country. It was the kind of place where powerful people held quiet conversations away from curious ears.
Discretion was part of the brand.
Inside, the lighting was warm and expensive.
Soft music drifted through the room.
The staff greeted me instantly, guiding me toward the VVIP section without needing instructions.
Our usual table waited near the far window.
I sat down, loosening my tie slightly as I glanced toward the entrance.
A few minutes passed.
Then she walked in.
Eloria.
She moved through the room with effortless confidence, her heels clicking softly against the polished floor. Her dress was elegant but understated, perfectly tailored to draw attention without appearing desperate for it.
As always, she looked flawless.
My eyes followed her until she reached the table.
“You’re late,” I said casually.
“Two minutes,” she replied with a faint smile as she took the seat across from me.
I studied her for a moment.
“You look stunning.”
She lifted one eyebrow slightly.
“Flattery before lunch?” she teased.
“I’m serious.”
Her smile softened just a little.
The waiter appeared soon after, placing the dishes we had already ordered onto the table with precise timing.
Lunch began quietly.
Conversation flowed easily…business gossip, small remarks about upcoming events, light observations about people in our social circle.
It was comfortable.
Then my phone rang.
The sound cut sharply through the calm atmosphere.
I frowned slightly as I reached for it.
Mother.
That was unusual.
I answered immediately.
“Yes?”
Her voice came through the speaker tight and urgent.
“Adrian, where are you right now?”
“At lunch. Why?”
A pause.
Then….
“Check social media.”
I frowned.
“What happened?”
“Just look.”
The line went dead.
Eloria tilted her head slightly.
“What is it?”
I didn’t answer.
Instead, I unlocked my phone and opened the notifications.
There were dozens of them.
Messages.
Tags.
Articles.
My name.
Everywhere.
My stomach sank slightly as I tapped one of the links.
The screen filled with a video.
My voice.
Clear.
Sharp.
Angry.
Calling Alvara a useless maid.
Calling the child she was carrying a bastard.
Another clip followed.
A slap.
The sound echoed through the phone speakers.
Another recording.
More insults.
More accusations.
My grip tightened around the phone.
Scrolling only made it worse.
Article after article dissecting every moment.
Every word.
Every piece of evidence.
The recordings had been edited together perfectly.
A complete picture of everything that happened inside the Vale house.
My chest felt strangely tight.
Across the table, Eloria had gone completely silent.
The restaurant suddenly felt much smaller.
The air is heavier.
I leaned back slowly in my chair, staring at the screen.
For the first time in a long while…
Something inside me felt dangerously close to slipping out of control.