My Little Sunshine

Chapter 28: A Break In

Arriving at her apartment's building, Adam parked the car and stepped out, going around the car to help Stella out. 

Stella handed him his coat back once she was out. "I am sorry about your shirt." She said looking at the slightly damp black spot on his white shirt.

"It's no big deal." Adam replied giving her a sincere smile.

Stella opened and closed her mouth a couple of times wanting to say something looking everywhere but at him. All the while Adam looked at her intently, waiting patiently for her to say whatever she wanted to.

"Thank you." Stella finally spoke up, her head bent down slightly, her eyes boring into the ground.

Adam didn't reply to her for a minute, taking in her fidgeting self. "It's alright. You don't have to thank me Stella." He finally spoke up.

"I will be going then." She said looking up at him.

Adam nodded without saying anything. Stella took it as a yes and turned towards the main entrance of the building only to be followed by him. 

Stella turned around looking at him with her brows furrowed and confusion written on her face in bold letters. 

"I will see you off till your door." Adam replied to her unspoken question. 

"You don't have to. I can go by myself. Moreover, I have troubled you enough already for today." She said, giving him an apologetic look.

'You could trouble me for the rest of my life Stella if you want to. I will have no problem with that too.' He thought to himself.

"It's no trouble for me and stop bringing up what happened earlier today." He said, giving her a Stern look. "In fact, I am the one who should be apologizing right now. I shouldn't have brought you to the event." Adam gave her a sad smile.

Before Stella could say anything in reply he continued, "How can I forget you had worked for the same company holding the event? I had read your resume, I should have remembered it."

"It's not your fault. Even if you would have remembered it, you could not foresee the future." She said, giving him a smile. "You can walk me in if you want to." She continued to divert his mind from blaming himself.

Adam nodded and followed her quietly inside the building. Taking the elevator, they arrived at the 4th floor. They headed towards her apartment door side by side.

Adam looked at the dark brown colored door with 4A carved on a golden plate that was fixed on the door. Adam felt something was not right. Looking at the door with his scrutinizing eyes, he found that the door was not completely shut.

"Did you lock your apartment before leaving?" Adam asked her, his voice devoid of the usual gentleness that Stella had grown used to.

"Yes! I did lock it. I have the keys right here with me." She replied with a pout.

"We won't be needing the keys anymore." Adam spoke as she was fishing the keys from her blazer's inner pocket.

"What do you mean?" She was at a loss.

Adam looked at her with a raised eyebrow, extended his hand and pushed the door open. "Stay close to me." He said moving in the house.

He observed the door lock only to find it broken. Looking at the surroundings he couldn't help but frown. The entire house was turned upside down. It was a mess.

"Looks like someone broke in." He said looking at Stella who was standing by the door, flabbergasted.

"Did you have anything valuable in the house?" Adam asked her, breaking her out of her trance.

"N-N-No." She said shaking her head sideways. "All of the important things are in the bank locker." She continued looking at the mess around her.

"Good." Adam said, heading further into her apartment only to find that the entire place depicted the same condition he had seen outside. Stella followed him quietly. She couldn't comprehend what had happened here to make the place look like this. 

"Go check all of your documents." Adam spoke, turning his attention to her, only to her nodding. 

She headed to her bedroom with Adam in tow. She rummaged through her closet and finally found the file bag she was looking for. She checked the file to find all her documents there in perfect condition.

"They are all in here." She told Adam who was looking at his surroundings.

'It's not a normal break in. No one in their right mind would do this to a place. They didn't even bother taking her documents.' He thought.

He turned his head to the little lady once again. "Do you have any idea who might have done this?"

Stella looked up at him, shaking her head slowly. "I really don't."