LOGIN"D.K." The initials stayed in my head long after Zoe left. Adrian stood near the window, staring at the city below, and neither of us spoke. It was strange how two letters could suddenly make everything we'd been dealing with feel so much bigger. Meridian. Liam's mysterious payments. Zoe's debt. The leaked medical records. My father's death. Grace's warning. And now D.K.Adrian finally turned around. "This isn't just about Liam." I nodded. "I know." "Liam is reckless. He wouldn't have the patience to build something like this." I looked at him. "You think someone has been using him?" "Maybe." "Or helping him." Adrian picked up the photograph we'd found in his father's archive, the words on the back still burned into my mind. Kane & Vance, 2003. "D.K. could mean anything," he said. "But you don't believe that." "No." "Neither do I." He placed the photograph on the table. "We need to find out who D.K. is before we assume anything."I stared at the initials. "I know someone who might. Gr
Zoe broke down before Adrian even finished asking the first question. "I didn't leak your records." Her voice cracked. "I swear I didn't." Adrian stood across from her, his expression hard. "Then tell us everything." Zoe wiped her face. "I've been trying to." "Not enough." I stood beside Adrian, watching her. Something about the way Zoe kept twisting her fingers told me there was more."Zoe," I said quietly. "What are you afraid of?" She looked at me. "Liam." My stomach tightened. "What did he do?" She lowered her head. "He found out I had debts." Adrian's expression changed. "How much?" "Enough." "That's not an answer." Zoe swallowed. "It was a lot." She took a shaky breath. "I was struggling before I started working here. I borrowed money from people I shouldn't have. Then the interest kept growing.""How did Liam find out?" Adrian asked. "I don't know." "Think." "He somehow knew." Her eyes filled with tears. "He told me he could make the debt disappear." I stared at her. "In exchan
I couldn't stop shaking. The article was still open on my phone, the words staring back at me. My medical records. Private information I had never agreed to share. Someone had taken pieces of my life that belonged to me and turned them into headlines. I sat on the edge of the sofa, staring at the floor. "I want it gone."Adrian crouched in front of me. "We'll get it removed." "That isn't enough." My voice broke. "They've already seen it." He didn't argue, because we both knew he was right. The damage had already been done. I wrapped my arms around myself. "I trusted those records to stay private." "I know." "How could someone even access them?" Adrian's expression hardened. "That's what we're going to find out."His phone rang, and he answered immediately. "Yes?" He listened. "Show me the access log." A pause. "Now." He ended the call and looked at me. "The records were accessed through an internal system." "By who?" "We don't know yet." I stood. "Then find out." "I will." This time,
I couldn't stop shaking. The article was still open on my phone, the words staring back at me. My medical records. Private information I had never agreed to share. Someone had taken pieces of my life that belonged to me and turned them into headlines. I sat on the edge of the sofa, staring at the floor."I want it gone."Adrian crouched in front of me. "We'll get it removed.""That isn't enough." My voice broke. "They've already seen it."He didn't argue, because we both knew he was right. The damage had already been done. I wrapped my arms around myself."I trusted those records to stay private.""I know.""How could someone even access them?"Adrian's expression hardened. "That's what we're going to find out."His phone rang, and he answered immediately. "Yes?" He listened. "Show me the access log." A pause. "Now." He ended the call and looked at me. "The records were accessed through an internal system.""By who?""We don't know yet."I stood. "Then find out.""I will."This time,
I was tired of being protected. Tired of Adrian's security team following me everywhere. Tired of reporters deciding who I was without ever asking me. Tired of Liam telling half-truths while everyone else tried to clean up the damage he created. Most of all, I was tired of watching my own story being taken away from me. So that morning, I made a decision."I'm going to the press."Adrian looked up from his laptop. "No."I almost laughed. "You didn't even ask what I want to say.""I don't need to." He closed the laptop. "Chloe, the last time you were in front of reporters, Liam used the opportunity to expose your pregnancy.""And I'm not going to let him control the next conversation.""That's exactly what I'm afraid of."I stood across from him. "I'm pregnant, Adrian. I'm not helpless."His expression softened. "I never said you were.""You keep acting like I am."He went quiet. I continued."You protect me from reporters. You protect me from Liam. You protect me from the board. You e
Adrian hadn't slept, and neither had I. The share-transfer agreement was still spread across the dining table the next morning, surrounded by documents he had pulled from his briefcase in the small hours. He had barely spoken since returning from Vance Tower, and something in him had shifted. It wasn't fear. It was suspicion, the kind that settles behind a man's eyes and refuses to leave. "I keep thinking about my father," he finally said, and I looked up from my untouched coffee. "What about him?" "He could have asked me to step aside without creating all of this." I frowned. "Maybe he wants control." "He does." Adrian lifted one of the pages and studied it. "But I don't think that's the whole reason. Robert has always wanted control. That's nothing new." He set the paper down. "This feels different."Grace's warning surfaced in my mind again. "What do you think he's protecting?" I asked. Adrian looked at me for a long moment. "I don't know." He stood and pushed his chair in with car







