MasukSophia's POV The following morning arrived far too quickly. After getting dressed, I caught my reflection in the hallway mirror, looking professional and composed. London greeted me with another grey morning. The city was already alive when I stepped out of the taxi in front of Hart global headquarters. The building towered over everything around it, its glass façade reflecting the cloudy sky like polished steel. Employees streamed through the revolving doors with the confidence of people who knew exactly where they belonged.I hesitated for a brief second before I reminded myself that I wasn't here as someone's daughter. I was here as myself. I straightened my shoulders and walked inside. The reception area was every bit as impressive as the exterior. Marble floors stretched beneath my feet, sunlight poured through the enormous windows, and the quiet efficiency of the place was almost intimidating. No one raised their voice. No one appeared rushed. Everything seemed to move with
Sophia's POV The first lesson I learnt after my father's disappearance was that, life didn't stop because your world fell apart. For two days, I lived between hope and exhaustion. Every morning, I woke up expecting a call from the police telling me they had found him. Every night, I went to bed with the same unanswered questions circling my mind. Nothing changed, but the investigation continued. Detective Collins called whenever there was an update, but every conversation ended the same way. ‘we are still following leads’. I hated that word ‘leads’ so much. It sounded like progress, yet it brought us nowhere. The notebook my father had hidden remained locked inside the safe in my apartment. I went through it over and over, searching for anything I might have overlooked. The entries all pointed in one direction. Dad noticed the inconsistencies and started documenting them quietly. But he never wrote down any name, waiting for proof. Now he's nowhere to be found. And whoever that
Sophia's POV The words hung in the air. I stared at Damien, momentarily forgetting the notebook in my hands.His gaze remained fixed on the worn leather cover, as though it awoke the memory he spent years trying to bury. “You know this notebook?” I asked He didn't answer. Instead, he walked around the office, his polished shoes silent against the hardwood floor. He stopped a few feet away from me, his eyes never leaving the notebook. The calm expression he'd worn since I met him hasn't changed, but there was something different about his eyes. “Mr. Hart?”That finally drew his attention to me. His face returned to its usual unreadable expression. “Where did you find it?” I hesitated before answering. “In my father's drawer.” He gave a slow nod, almost as if the answer confirmed something he already suspected. “I thought as much.”I frowned. “You were expecting this?”Before he could respond, his phone vibrated. The sharp sound sliced through the silence.He glanced at the screen
Sophia's POV No one spoke while we drove back to Bennett accounting. The drive felt longer than it should have. Ethan sat beside me, his elbow resting against the window, staring blankly at the city outside. He had not said more than three words since we left Canary Wharf. Every now and then, he would unlock his phone, check for a message from dad, then lock it again. I couldn't blame him, cos I was doing the exact same thing. Dad left the hospital willingly, that much was clear from the CCTV footage. But why? He looked calm, he didn't look frightened neither did he look threatened. He simply got into a stranger’s SUV as if he expected a meeting all along. All these thought refused to leave my mind. What is inside that briefcase? And why did the stranger try to return it before driving away? None of it made sense. The Bentley rolled into the underground garage beneath Bennett accounting. As soon as I lifted the door open, Claire hurried toward us, looking as though she had been
Sophia's POV The drive back to Bennett Accounting was silent. The unanswered questions seemed to fill every corner of the car. Dad disappeared from a hospital room after receiving a mysterious message. Someone searched the company's old records. The missing pages from a twenty-year-old agreement were suddenly more valuable than $800,000None of these made sense to me, yet somehow, every road seemed to lead back to the same place. I looked out of the window as the rain streaked across the glass. The familiar streets, the towering office buildings, the crowds weaving through the pavement… they all felt strangely distant as if I was seeing them through someone else's eyes. Damien's voice broke the silence “What are you thinking?”I let out a quiet breath “I'm trying to remember”. “Remember what?”“Everything”. He glanced at me “the past few days?”“No” I turned to him “ the years before all of this”. “I grew up inside that company. I know every employee by name. I know who stays l
Sophia's POV The photograph slipped from my fingers and landed on my lap. I couldn't stop staring at it. The grainy security footage wasn't clear enough to identify the man's face, but the silver walking cane stood out unmistakably.I knew that cane, I have seen it countless times leaning against the wall of my father's office during late-night meetings. It became such a familiar sight that I even stopped noticing it years ago.“Derek…” I whispered, the name barely left my lips.Damien's eyes shifted from the photograph to me. “You know him?”I nodded slowly. “He belongs to my father's business partner.”“Belongs to?” he asked evenly.“The cane. Derek never goes anywhere without it.”The car fell silent as rain drummed steadily against the windows, but my thoughts were racing too fast to notice the traffic.No, this didn't make sense.Derek has been with my family for as long as I could remember. He attended my university graduation. He stood beside my father at every company anni







