Chapter 3

Eleanor's POV

I waited outside the medical examiner's office for what felt like forever.

The autopsy results never came.

Instead, a medical examiner eventually emerged to inform me that the bodies had already been claimed by a family member. They were to be destroyed along with the recovered yacht using an industrial compactor. No further investigation into the cause of death would be pursued.

I stared at the signature on the authorization form.

Adrian.

A wave of grief washed over me.

I couldn't afford to waste another second. I drove straight to the industrial plant, speeding the entire way.

The remains had already been loaded into the yacht. The whole vessel was suspended from a crane, being carried toward the industrial press.

Adrian stood nearby, his expression eerily blank.

Maeve nestled against him, looking positively delighted.

I rushed forward and blocked their path.

"Stop!"

"Adrian, the cause of death hasn't even been established! You're destroying their remains now? Do you want them to die without justice?"

My repeated attempts to intervene finally exhausted his patience.

He ordered his bodyguards to seize me.

"Stop making trouble!"

"These were your mother and brother's final wishes. They both asked for this."

"You're lying! Why would I know nothing about my own mother and brother making such a request?"

Adrian sneered.

"Because you're too domineering. They were afraid to tell you anything. They told me everything."

"Ryan always said that once a person died, all that remained was bone. He didn't want his remains preserved. If possible, he wanted everything compressed and sent to the incinerator so he could leave this world cleanly."

He gave the order.

The machine roared to life.

I lunged forward, desperate to stop it, but Adrian held me back with an iron grip.

I looked him straight in the eye.

"You're destroying evidence while an investigation is still ongoing. That's illegal!"

Maeve reacted as though I'd gravely insulted her.

"Eleanor, I didn't want to say this, but you've forced me to."

"Your brother spent every day hanging around with drug addicts. He was already a lost cause."

"This time, he took too many drugs and insisted on going into the restricted zone. How is any of that our fault?"

I was about to protest when Adrian interrupted me.

He held up a report.

"The medical examiner found illegal substances in the victims' remains. You can't deny that."

"Your mother and brother are gone. I understand that you're grieving, but you can't hurt other people because of it. Maeve is innocent."

In just a few sentences, they had shifted all the blame for Maeve's reckless boating onto the dead.

The people around us erupted.

"Drugs? No wonder! Getting killed was too good for him. They should've hung him up to dry!"

"Serves him right!"

"Drug users deserve no sympathy. He got what was coming to him!"

The insults kept coming, each one cutting deeper than the last.

My chest tightened as I thought of the victims, whose identities and final moments were about to be erased.

Behind me, the industrial press continued its slow descent.

I broke free and rushed toward the machine.

"Adrian! The dead aren't my family! Stop this right now!"

He laughed contemptuously.

"Have you lost your mind?"

"Are you babbling nonsense because you're in shock? You'd make up something this ridiculous just to force me to stop?"

I thought of my brother's message and grew frantic.

"Just stop the machine! The people inside might be someone you care about!"

Adrian's expression grew even more disdainful.

"Your mother and your brother? I couldn't care less about them."

Maeve chimed in from beside him.

"Adrian, don't let her get to you. She's just using two dead people to threaten you because she can't stand seeing us happy."

His temper flared instantly.

He shoved me away.

"Say whatever you want. Nothing you do is going to stop me today!"

He gave a slight wave of his hand.

The machine began to descend.

Suddenly, the door behind us slammed open.

"Eleanor! I found out who stole my yacht!"

My brother's voice rang through the plant.

Adrian and Maeve spun around.

The moment they saw Ryan standing in the doorway, both of them went pale.

Their eyes widened in horror.