Chapter Eighty-Nine: The Business Grows

The office was too small.

I noticed it on a Tuesday morning, sitting at my desk, staring at the stack of files that no longer fit in the drawers. Sarah's article had brought attention. Not just to Volkov, but to me. To the firm. To the work I was doing.

Three journalists had called that week. Two investigators. A woman whose brother had disappeared in the same way Sarah's husband had. A man whose business partner had been threatened by the same people.

I couldn't take them all. Not from a single room with a single desk and a single chair that squeaked.

I needed to grow.

---

I found Adrian in his office that afternoon.

He was on the phone. He hung up when he saw me.

"You need more space," he said.

"Felix told you."

"Felix tells me everything."

"He does."

I sat across from him. I folded my hands on his desk.

"I need more space. I need more people. I need to expand."

He looked at me. He didn't blink.

"Then expand."

I looked at him. He looked at me.

"I'm not taking your building," I said.

"I didn't offer."

I almost smiled. Almost.

"I'll find my own. Something bigger. Something that's mine."

He nodded. He didn't argue.

"Let me know if you need help," he said.

"I will."

I stood. I walked to the door. I paused.

"Adrian."

He looked up.

"Thank you. For not trying to give me everything."

He didn't respond. He just looked at me.

"You wouldn't take it anyway," he said.

I left.

---

The new office was on the fifth floor of a building near the waterfront.

It was bigger than the last one. Two rooms. A conference area. Windows that looked out at the harbor. It wasn't fancy. It wasn't impressive. But it was mine. I'd found it. I'd signed the lease. I'd paid the deposit with my own money.

Daniel came with me the first day.

He walked through the rooms. He looked at the windows. He looked at the view. He didn't say anything for a long time.

"It's big," he said.

"It's mine."

He nodded. He walked to the window. He looked out at the water.

"What are you going to do with it?"

"I don't know yet. But I'm going to do something."

He turned. He looked at me.

"I want to help," he said.

"You already help."

"I want to do more. I want to work with you. For real. Not just staying here. Not just waiting. I want to be part of it."

I looked at him. He looked at me.

"You don't have to," I said.

"I know. I want to."

I considered this. I thought about everything he'd been through. Everything he'd survived.

"Okay," I said.

He almost smiled. Almost.

"Thank you," he said.

"For what?"

"For letting me stay. For letting me help. For being my sister."

I didn't respond. I didn't know how.

We stood there. The city hummed outside. The water shimmered in the distance.

After a while, he said, "What's our first move?"

I looked at him. He looked at me.

"We find more people," I said. "We build something that matters."

He nodded. He didn't ask anything else.

---

That evening, I found Adrian on the balcony.

He was standing at the railing. The city stretched out in front of him. The sun was setting. Orange. Pink. Gold.

I stood beside him. He didn't turn.

"The new office," I said.

"Daniel told me."

"Daniel tells you everything."

"He does."

I looked at him. He looked at me.

"It's mine," I said. "I found it. I signed the lease. I paid the deposit."

He didn't respond. He just looked at me.

"I know," he said.

I looked at the city. At the sun. At the light.

"I've been thinking about what you said. About building something. Something that's ours."

He waited.

"I want that. I want to build something with you. But I need to build something on my own first. Something that's just mine."

He looked at me. He looked at me the way he had a hundred times before.

"I understand," he said.

I reached for his hand. I took it. His fingers were warm. Steady.

We stood there. The city hummed. The clock ticked.

I didn't lean my head against his shoulder. I didn't close my eyes. I just stood there. And for the first time in a long time, I didn't need anything else.