تسجيل الدخولSienna’s PovThe morning after Roman called about Victor’s hidden server, I sat at the dining table trying to answer emails. Trying was the key word — I’d read the same message four times without absorbing a single sentence. My mind kept circling back to what Roman had said. They found proof. Victor forged everything. Only one folder’s still locked.I closed the laptop with a sigh.“You’ve been staring at that screen for twenty minutes,” Cole said from the coffee machine.“I know.”“You haven’t typed anything.”“I know.”He carried two mugs over and set one in front of me. “You’re thinking.”“A little.”“That’s more than a little,” he said, laughing softly.I wrapped my hands around the mug. “I keep wondering what’s in that folder.”“So do I.”“I don’t like not knowing.”“Neither do I.”We drank in silence for a while, Ava still upstairs getting dressed, the house quiet around us. Then Cole looked at me.“Can I ask you something?”“Always.”He hesitated, which wasn’t like him. “It’s a
Roman’s povI got to the investigation office just before eight. Already busy — officers moving between desks with files and laptops, phones ringing nonstop, everyone running on fumes after weeks of chasing Victor.An investigator spotted me and actually smiled, first time in days. “Morning, Mr. Calloway. We have something.”I stopped walking. “What is it?”“You should come inside.”The conference room was already full — most of the team gathered around a table buried in folders, a screen mounted on the wall. Nate was there too.“You got here fast,” he said.“I came the second they called.”“Couldn’t have looked worse if you tried.” He gestured at my rumpled shirt.“I didn’t exactly stop to iron anything.”“Fair enough.”The lead investigator stood and set a black metal box on the table. “We recovered this during the search of Victor’s last safe house. Hidden under the floor.”“What is it?”“A private financial server.”“So he kept everything himself.”“He trusted computers more than
Cole’s PovThe moving truck pulled into the driveway just after nine in the morning. I stepped out of the house and looked toward the road. Sienna climbed out of the passenger seat with Ava beside her. Ava looked at the house and smiled so widely that I couldn’t help smiling too.“Are we really living here now?” she asked.I nodded. “We really are.”She jumped up and down. “This is our house!”Sienna laughed. “It is.”Ava grabbed both our hands. “Come on! We have to see everything again.”“We’ve already seen it.”“I know.” She grinned. “But now it’s officially ours.”I looked at Sienna. “I think she’s more excited than we are.”Sienna smiled. “I don’t think that’s possible.”Ava pulled us toward the front door. “Hurry!”As soon as we stepped inside, she ran from room to room. “My bedroom!” She rushed upstairs. “My bathroom!” A few seconds later she shouted again. “My closet!”I laughed. “She’s going to wear herself out.”Sienna slipped her hand into mine. “I’ve never seen her this hap
Eleanor’s PovI had rehearsed this conversation in my mind for years. No matter how many times I imagined it, I could never find the right words. Some mistakes were simply too large to explain away.That morning, I stood outside the lakeside house with my hand resting on the front door. For a long moment, I couldn’t bring myself to knock. Finally, I did.A few seconds later, the door opened. Sienna looked surprised. “Eleanor.”I gave her a small smile. “May I come in?”She studied my face before stepping aside. “Of course.”The house was quiet. I looked around. “It’s beautiful.”She smiled politely. “We’re still fixing it.”“It already feels like a home.”She looked toward the kitchen. “Would you like some tea?”“I would.”While she prepared it, neither of us spoke. The silence wasn’t uncomfortable. It was simply heavy.She placed two cups on the dining table and sat across from me. “So…” She folded her hands. “You wanted to talk.”I nodded. “I owe you the truth.” She didn’t interrupt
Sienna’s PovI couldn’t stop staring at the documents spread across the dining table. Every page carried another piece of my past. Another answer. Another wound.Margaret had already gone home after spending most of the afternoon with Ava, leaving Cole and me alone in the lakeside house. The room was quiet. Too quiet.I picked up another report. It mentioned Gerald Hale again. His name no longer felt like the name of a stranger — it belonged to the man who had been my biological father. A father I had never known. A father who had died believing he’d lost his daughter forever.I slowly put the paper down. “It’s not fair.”Cole looked up from the coffee he was making. “No.”“It isn’t.” I laughed bitterly. “He spent years looking for me.”Cole nodded. “He did.”“And someone decided he didn’t deserve to find me.” He stayed silent. I shook my head. “They stole everything.”He walked over and sat beside me. “They stole his chance to be my father.” I looked at him. “They stole my chance to
I didn’t sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, I heard Victor’s voice again. You blamed the wrong people. I used everyone. She never knew my real motive. The words refused to leave my head.I sat alone in my office long after midnight. The lights were off, only the desk lamp still burning. A stack of company reports sat in front of me, but I couldn’t read a single line.For years, I had believed I understood what happened to Cole. I had blamed Eleanor. I had blamed the board. I had even blamed Cole for making reckless decisions. Now I knew none of us had understood the truth. Victor had been moving every piece on the board while we argued with each other.I rubbed my face. The guilt wouldn’t leave.My office door opened quietly. Nate stepped inside carrying two cups of coffee. “I thought you’d still be here.”I looked up. “You know me too well.”He placed one cup on my desk. “You look terrible.”“I feel worse.”He sat across from me. “You’ve been thinking about Victor.”I nodded. “I can







