Chapter 11:The Notebook

Julian's POV

“Read it,” Zoe said.

Her arms were still crossed over her chest. She stood near the door, watching Julian carefully, almost as if she was ready to run the moment he told her she was imagining things again.

Julian looked at her for a few seconds before turning his attention back to the notebook in his hand.

He walked to her small desk and sat down. The chair made a soft creaking sound under his weight.

Then he opened the notebook to the first page.

The first thing he noticed was Zoe's handwriting.

It was quick and slightly slanted. Some words were bigger than others, and a few lines looked like they had been written in a hurry. It was the kind of handwriting that belonged to someone whose thoughts moved faster than her hand could write.

There were dates.

Times.

Names.

Short notes.

Marcus asked about the west stairwell cameras again — third time this month.

Julian's eyes moved to the next line.

Overheard “R” on the phone outside the garage, 11:40 p.m.

He turned the page.

Man near laundry room. Badge I didn't recognize. Told me to mind my business.

Julian's eyes narrowed.

He turned another page.

There were more notes.

Different dates.

Different times.

But the same names kept appearing.

Marcus.

R.

Security.

Cameras.

The west stairwell.

The garage.

The laundry room.

Julian continued reading.

With every page, his face became more serious.

By the fourth page, his jaw had tightened. A small muscle near his ear began to move, the same way it did during the worst board meetings when someone said something he did not want to hear.

He slowly lowered the notebook.

“You wrote all this down,” he said.

It was not really a question.

Zoe gave a small shrug.

“Somebody had to.”

Her voice was quieter now.

The anger she had shown earlier was almost gone. In its place was something Julian had not noticed before.

Exhaustion.

She looked tired.

Not just physically tired.

She looked tired from being afraid, from watching people, from keeping things to herself, and from trying to convince someone that there was a real problem.

“I know how it looks,” Zoe continued. “A housekeeper walking around with a notebook, acting like a detective.”

She gave a small, tired laugh.

“But I'm not making any of this up, Julian.”

Julian looked up immediately.

It was the first time she had called him Julian without putting “Mr. Blackwood” before it.

The simple sound of his name from her mouth caught him off guard.

He did not know why.

Maybe because she had always kept a careful distance between them.

Mr. Blackwood.

Sir.

Nothing more.

But now she had said his name like it was normal.

Like she trusted him enough to do it.

Julian looked back at the notebook.

“The man near the laundry room,” he said. “Can you describe him?”

Zoe nodded.

“He was tall. Maybe a little taller than you. He was wearing a security badge, but it wasn't one I recognized.”

“What was different about it?”

“I don't know exactly. The color looked slightly different. And the design wasn't the same as the badges your regular security people use.”

Julian's expression became harder.

“What else?”

“He knew my name.”

Julian stopped moving.

“He knew your name?”

“Yes.”

“How?”

“I don't know.”

“Did he say your full name?”

“No. Just Zoe.”

Julian leaned back slightly.

His mind was already working.

Only Marcus was in charge of issuing visitor badges.

Only Marcus had access to the security system and knew who was allowed into different parts of the building.

And if someone had been sent to watch Zoe, then Marcus would have known exactly how to make that person look like he belonged there.

Julian felt something cold move through his stomach.

This was no longer just suspicion.

Someone had gotten close to Zoe.

Someone who should not have been inside the building.

Someone who knew her name.

Someone who had warned her to stay out of things.

Julian closed the notebook slowly.

“I need you to tell me everything,” he said.

Zoe looked at him.

“Everything?”

“From the beginning.”

“I already told you this morning.”

“You gave me the short version this morning.”

He held her gaze.

“I want all of it now. Every detail you remember. Even if you think it doesn't matter.”

Zoe remained quiet for a moment.

She studied his face as if she was trying to decide whether trusting him again was a mistake.

After everything that had happened earlier that day, Julian understood why she was careful.

He had called her paranoid.

He had told her to leave.

He had assumed she was letting fear control her.

Now he was sitting in her room, asking her to tell him everything.

Finally, Zoe walked over to the bed and sat on the edge.

Julian stayed in the chair.

She took a slow breath.

“It started with the flash drive.”

Julian listened.

She told him about finding it.

She told him about the messages she had seen between Marcus and someone called “R.”

She explained what she had noticed in the office and how she had started paying closer attention to Marcus after that.

Then she told him about the hallway.

The warning.

The feeling that someone was watching her.

She told him about the man near the laundry room and the strange badge.

She explained how frightened she had been but had tried not to show it.

She told him how she had carried the fear by herself for days because she did not know who she could trust.

Julian did not interrupt her.

Not once.

He simply listened.

Sometimes he asked a short question when he needed a detail explained.

“What time was that?”

“Who else was there?”

“Did Marcus see you?”

“Are you sure?”

Zoe answered every question.

As she continued talking, Julian noticed something he had missed before.

Her voice shook slightly whenever she spoke about the danger.

She tried to hide it.

But he heard it.

Especially when she talked about the possibility of being killed.

That one word stayed in his mind.

Killed.

Julian looked down at his hands.

Something had changed inside him.

This was no longer only about evidence.

It was not just about his company, the board, Marcus, or whoever “R” was.

It was about Zoe.

She had been carrying all of this alone while he had been treating her like a problem.

Guilt settled heavily inside him.

He had left her alone with something that could have become dangerous.

And somehow, she had kept going.

She had kept watching.

She had kept writing things down.

She had kept trying to protect herself.

“I’m sorry,” Julian said.

Zoe stopped talking.

He looked directly at her.

“I should have listened to you the first time.”

“You already said that.”

“I know.”

He paused.

“But I'm saying it again because I mean it more the second time.”

For a moment, Zoe said nothing.

Something moved across her face.

Surprise, maybe.

She had expected Julian to be angry.

Instead, he was admitting that he had been wrong.

It was almost gentle.

But only for a second.

Zoe quickly put her guard back up.

“What do we do now?”

Julian leaned forward.

“I have Arthur looking into Marcus quietly.”

“Quietly?”

“Yes. No reports that can be traced back to me. No official investigation yet. Nothing that will make Marcus suspicious.”

“How long will that take?”

“I don't know.”

Zoe's face tightened.

“We don't have time.”

Julian looked at her.

“That man tonight wasn't guessing,” she continued. “He knew who I was. He knew I had been asking questions. He knew I had been looking into things.”

She leaned forward.

“That means Marcus knows too.”

Julian said nothing.

Because she was right.

If Marcus knew someone had entered Julian's office, seen the messages, or discovered anything connected to him, then the situation had already changed.

Whatever Marcus had planned, he might move sooner than expected.

The timeline Julian had been working with suddenly felt useless.

They did not have days.

Maybe they did not even have hours.

Julian stood up.

“Then we move faster.”

Zoe looked up at him.

“Starting tomorrow, you don't go anywhere in this building alone.”

Her eyebrows rose.

“I don't need a babysitter.”

“This isn't about a babysitter.”

“I can take care of myself.”

“I know.”

“Then why—”

“Because someone is already watching you.”

Zoe went quiet.

Julian stepped closer, his voice firm.

“You need someone watching your back. And right now, that's me.”

He said it in the same flat voice he used for almost everything.

No softness.

No smile.

No explanation.

But Zoe's eyes widened slightly.

For some reason, the words sounded different coming from him.

Maybe because Julian Blackwood was not a man who easily admitted that he cared about anyone.

He turned away from her before she could say anything.

Neither of them noticed the faint sound outside the room.

A shoe moved lightly against the carpet.

Just once.

It was so quiet that neither of them heard it.

A shadow stood outside the door for a few seconds.

Then it moved away.

The person walked carefully down the hallway, keeping to the darker side of the corridor.

A phone was already pressed against his ear.

He waited until he was far enough from the room before speaking.

“He's inside her room.”

There was silence on the other end.

The man's voice became even lower.

“Longer than a normal security check should take.”

He stopped near the end of the hallway and looked back toward Zoe's room.

The door was still closed.

He could not hear what was being said inside anymore.

But he did not need to.

He already knew enough.

There was another pause.

Then the voice on the phone spoke.

Sharp.

Cold.

Short.

The man listening swallowed.

He looked toward the elevator.

“Understood.”

He ended the call.

For a moment, he stood there without moving.

Then he pressed the phone against his ear again.

This time, he was speaking to Marcus.

“He's inside her room,” the voice said.

Marcus was silent.

“He's been there longer than a security check should take.”

Another pause followed.

When Marcus finally spoke, his voice was calm, but there was no warmth in it.

“Then it's already too late to stop this quietly.”

The man waited.

Marcus continued.

“We move to plan B.”

The call ended.

Down the hallway, the building remained quiet.

Inside Zoe's room, Julian was still standing near the desk, completely unaware of what had just been decided outside.

Zoe was still sitting on the edge of her bed.

Neither of them knew that the danger had just changed.

And this time, it was moving much closer.