LOGINCHAPTER 82THE DOCUMENTElena stared at the photograph in Adrian's hand. The person who started this is still alive. The words seemed to grow heavier the longer she looked at them."Who could it be?" she asked.Adrian shook his head."I don't know.""But someone does.""Yes.""Someone who's been watching us."Adrian's jaw tightened."Probably."Elena looked towards the empty corridor."Then we're not alone.""We should leave this floor.""No."Adrian looked at her. She held his gaze."We finally found something real. I'm not running from it."He nodded."Then we stay together."It was a simple sentence, but Elena noticed the difference. He wasn't ordering her to leave. He wasn't telling her what she should do.He was choosing to stand beside her. They returned to the archive. Damien locked the door behind them. Adrian placed the photograph on the desk."We need to know who the third man is."Elena picked it up.His face had been scratched away so aggressively that the paper was almost
CHAPTER 81TWO FAMILIESElena couldn't stop looking at the photograph.Her father stood beside Adrian's father, both men appearing younger than she remembered them, and behind them was Richard Vale.A man Adrian had believed was dead. A man who, according to the photograph, had stood beside their fathers long after his supposed death."Where was this taken?" Elena asked.Damien zoomed in on the image."There isn't a location attached.""What about the date?"He checked the file."Five years after Richard Vale supposedly died."Adrian's face remained hard."Someone altered the records.""Or Richard never died," Elena said.Adrian looked at her."Either possibility changes everything."Damien pulled up the old death certificate."The record is legitimate.""Then how was he in the photograph?" Elena asked."That's what we need to find out."Adrian took the photograph from him.His eyes remained fixed on Richard."I knew him."Elena looked at him."You said he was your father's adviser."
CHAPTER 80THE OLD CASEFor several seconds, neither Elena nor Adrian spoke. The words Damien had delivered over the phone remained suspended between them.The access was made using your father's credentials. Adrian was the first to move."Stay here." Elena immediately shook her head."No.""Elena""You promised." He stopped. She held his gaze."No more deciding where I should be because you think something is dangerous." Adrian's expression softened."You're right." He picked up his jacket."Then come with me." They left together.The old Kane Group archive was located in a secured section of the building that had barely been used since Adrian's father died.Unlike the modern offices above, this floor felt forgotten.The lights flickered faintly overhead. Dust covered several cabinets, and old boxes filled the shelves.Damien was waiting near the main terminal. He looked up when Adrian entered."I checked the access logs three times.""And?""The credentials are genuine." Adrian's j
CHAPTER 79THE QUESTIONElena didn't sleep. She tried, she lay in bed for nearly an hour, staring at the ceiling while Adrian's words replayed in her mind.I found evidence that your father's death wasn't an accident. She had heard those words before.Not from Adrian. From the woman on the phone, but hearing them from Adrian made them real.Her father had been dead for years.For years, Elena had accepted the explanation she had been given. An accident. A tragic mistake. Something that couldn't have been prevented.Now she was being told that someone had caused it, and Adrian had known. Her phone sat on the bedside table, she picked it up.No new messages. That somehow made the silence worse. Elena got out of bed. She needed answers. When she reached Adrian's study, the door was slightly open. Light spilled into the hallway. She knocked once."Come in."Adrian was standing beside his desk. Several documents were spread across it, along with his laptop and a photograph Elena hadn't se
CHAPTER 78THE VOICEElena didn't go far. She couldn't.Her legs carried her down the quiet corridor outside Adrian's office, but her mind remained trapped inside that room.Ask him who really caused your father's death. The words repeated themselves over and over.She stopped near the windows and stared at the city below. Her father had been dead for years.She had spent so long believing his death was an accident that the idea of something else being responsible felt impossible, and yet, Adrian had investigated it.For years, without telling her. Her phone vibrated again. Elena looked down, unknown number. She hesitated before answering."Hello?"The same woman's voice returned."You're alone now."Elena looked around."Who are you?""You don't need my name.""I think I do.""No. You need answers."Elena's fingers tightened around the phone."What do you want?""Nothing from you.""Then why keep calling me?""Because Adrian won't tell you the truth."Elena swallowed."You don't know
CHAPTER 77THE REAL TARGETFor several minutes after the hidden phone went silent, nobody spoke. The room felt smaller, the message remained frozen on the screen. She is not the real target. Elena stared at it, then at Adrian."If I'm not the target..." Adrian finished the thought."Then I am." Damien leaned against the desk."That would explain almost everything." Adrian looked at him."Explain.""The financial attacks. The board pressure. The media campaign. The surveillance."Damien pointed toward the screen."They weren't trying to destroy Elena. They were using her to destabilize you."Elena folded her arms."And they succeeded."Adrian's eyes moved toward her."I let them.""No."She shook her head."They knew exactly what would affect you."Adrian said nothing, Elena continued."They knew you would investigate if I was threatened.""Yes.""They knew you would react if my name was dragged into your company's problems.""Yes.""They knew you would become distracted."Adrian's jaw







