Chapter Sixty Eight

Emily had spent years wishing her parents had left her one final explanation; now that one might exist, she was afraid of what it would reveal.

The car pulled up in front of the Knight Global secret archive just after dusk. The security lights made the surrounding structures seem cold and desolate as the pavement glimmered with rain.

Damian alighted first and extended his hand to Emily. She took his hand.

Ryan, who had arrived in a different car with Sophia, observed it from the entrance even though it was a little action. He hardened his expression before he could conceal it. Emily used to spontaneously grab his hand without thinking. She was now beside a different guy, accepting the solace that Ryan had renounced.

With a controlled smile, he came up to them.

"I'm grateful you brought her here safely," Ryan told Damian. "I wouldn't want anything to happen to my wife."

Emily quickly removed her hand from Damian's.

"I'm only your wife on paper, Ryan," Emily said. And you know the divorce is going ahead.

At the corners of Ryan's lips, his smile faltered. "I haven't forgotten."

"Then stop speaking as if I belong to you," Emily retorted.

Even if he didn't reach for her this time, Damian drew closer to her. "We need to enter. Victor has more time to eliminate anything beneficial the longer we postpone."

Ryan drew his gaze to him and said, "When it comes to Emily, you seem quite relaxed giving instructions."

"I'm trying to keep her safe," Damian said.

"Me too," Ryan replied.

Damian's glance hardened. "You had your chance to do that," he said.

Damian's words hit him exactly where he meant them to. For an instant, it appeared that the two men's longstanding rivalry may come out in the open as Ryan's complexion became flushed.

Emily moved in between them.

"I'll leave the two of you to argue if either of you turns this into a competition over me," Emily said.

And immediately two of them stopped talking.

Ryan wanted to explain to her that seeing Damian touch her was like witnessing someone else live the existence that he had destroyed. Damian wanted Ryan to understand that Emily isn't a trophy to be won. But none of them said what they really wanted to say.

Sophia approached them holding the copies of Thomas's reports.

"Can we focus on the reason we're here?" she said. And they all entered the building.

___

The archive room was almost completely vacant. The musty fragrance of dust lingered below the more pungent aroma of cleaning supplies, and the metal shelves were empty. Someone had acted quickly to remove the files, but not cautiously enough to erase every indication.

They were led to a locked cabinet near the back wall by Damian's security chief.

"Right here," he said, "is where the envelope was found." "Even if the document appears to be untouched, the lock has been tampered with."

He gave Damian a sealed envelope bearing Emily's entire name.

She gazed at it. After her parents passed away, the few letters she had retained, school notes, and birthday cards all carried her father's handwriting. And it made the handwriting on the envelope easy to recognize.

Her hands trembled as she tried to grasp it.

Damian saw it. "Can I open it for you?" He asked.

Emily shook her head. "No. I must read it myself if it was intended for me."

As she opened the seal, there was a short handwritten note and one typed page inside. Project Eclipse, numerous financial transactions, and a meeting set just before her parents passed away were listed on the typed page. Only one statement was on the note:

Never believe anyone who claims to have protected you if anything happens to us.

Emily went through it twice.

"Who wrote this?" Ryan asked.

Emily carefully examined the handwriting. "It is my father's handwriting. I'm sure of it."

Sophia looked at the page that had been written. "This may explain Victor's desire to have the archive removed, but it does not reveal who was responsible for your parents' murders."

Damian looked at his security head. "Did you discover anything else?"

"Just a portion of the inventory," the man said in response. "A second ledger is mentioned in one of the entries, but the ledger itself cannot be found."

Ryan bent over the stock. "When was it taken out?"

"Three days ago," the security director answered.

"Someone knew we were coming," Ryan said.

He received a stern gaze from Damian. "Or someone was aware that the archive was no longer protected."

Ryan's eyes met his. "You don't need to make a difficulty out of every remark I make."

Damian responded, "And you don't need to act as if your worry for Emily is unrelated to the fact that she's standing next to me."

Emily's eyes were closed for a short time.

"Enough," Emily exclaimed. "My parents are no longer alive and their records are disappearing. I'm not going to watch you two compete for a moment longer."

The first person to look away was Ryan.

Ryan reached out to grab the note, but he stopped when Emily pulled it nearer to her chest. He realized that she needed a piece of her father that was exclusively hers.

"I'll see that the paper is examined," Damian said in a low voice.

Emily responded, "Thank you."

Ryan's jealousy was heightened by the tenderness between the two as he watched the exchange. He hoped Emily would trust him in that way again. He knew he had no business asking.

Sophia saw something on the inventory's last page.

"Damian, check out this authorization number," she said.

He moved closer. The internal account that Victor's executive office used was indicated by the number. There was a date that was just before Emily's parents passed away.

Ryan carefully examined the entrance. "Could you find out who approved the transfer?"

The accompanying report was examined by the security chief. “Sir, the original permission is not available. However, the archive inventory indicates that the second ledger was taken out on orders connected to Victor's office,” said the head of security.

Emily clutched her father's note tighter. Victor was therefore aware of the ledger's existence.

"He almost certainly was aware of it," Damian responded. "Whether he removed it himself or instructed someone else to do so is still up for debate."

Ryan glanced at Damian as his face became harsher. "And while we're investigating your uncle, my mother is being questioned regarding the money she transferred. She might be aware of more than she has revealed if Victor used her."

"Or she could be protecting somebody," Damian said.

Ryan took a step closer, "be careful of what you say about my mother," he said.

Damian kept his glance at him. "Help us determine what she really did, please."

Before the argument became worse, Emily stepped in to mediate. "My parents have a right to know the truth. You two aren't permitted to use that to start another family battle."

The room became quiet.

The security chief returned to the inventory and pointed out one last note that had been missed below the list of missing documents.

He stated that there was "one more admission." "The archive's last item wasn't the second ledger."

Damian's expression became more defined. "What else was stolen?" He asked.

The security officer looked up.

"Sir, your father's initial statement. The record that, according to Thomas Reed, mentioned Victor Knight and Emily."

The note became moist in Emily's grip.

Victor had not only hidden information about her parents. The one document that might reveal why Damian's father had implicated her in the catastrophe that had devastated both families had also been seized by him.

They now knew exactly what they should be looking for.