Ayanda arrived at Veyronis the following morning with very little sleep and far too many questions.
She had spent most of the night looking through the old photographs she had kept from her childhood, searching for anything that might connect her father to the company.
There was almost nothing.
Her father had never spoken about Veyronis.
He had never mentioned Munich.
He had never mentioned Adrian Vale.
And yet his name had appeared in a confidential Veyronis file from sixteen years ago.
That wasn't coincidence.
At least, Ayanda no longer believed it was.
She stepped onto the executive floor and immediately noticed that something was different.
Adrian's usual security officer stood outside his office.
Two additional men were stationed near the elevators.
Ayanda slowed.
"What happened?"
The security officer looked at her.
"Nothing."
She gave him a skeptical look.
"Everyone says that here."
He didn't respond.
She continued toward her desk.
Her computer was already switched on.
A stack of documents waited beside it.
On top was a handwritten note.
MR. VALE — 8:00 A.M.
Ayanda sighed.
She hadn't even taken off her coat.
"Ayanda."
She looked up.
Adrian stood at the entrance to his office.
Black suit.
Dark expression.
Not a single strand of his hair appeared out of place despite the early hour.
"Inside."
She walked toward him.
He closed the door.
"You received a message last night."
Ayanda stopped.
"How do you know?"
"Answer the question."
She stared at him.
"Yes."
"What did it say?"
"Nothing important."
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
"That's not what I asked."
She folded her arms.
"Why are you asking?"
"Because someone has been sending anonymous messages to people connected to Veyronis."
Ayanda's stomach tightened.
"Connected to Veyronis?"
"Yes."
"Is that supposed to include me?"
Adrian didn't answer immediately.
"That depends."
"On what?"
"On how much you know."
Ayanda stared at him.
"I know that my father's name appears in your confidential files."
Silence.
Adrian's face became completely still.
"You looked at the file."
"I found the file."
"You were instructed not to."
"I know."
"You disobeyed me."
"And apparently discovered something you weren't planning to tell me."
His eyes hardened.
"Careful."
The word was quiet.
But the warning behind it was unmistakable.
Ayanda didn't step back.
"My father worked for Veyronis."
"No."
The answer came immediately.
She frowned.
"No?"
"He didn't work for Veyronis."
"Then why was he in the file?"
"I don't know."
"You said that yesterday."
"Because it's the truth."
Ayanda studied him.
For once, Adrian didn't look like a man who had every answer.
He looked like a man who had discovered a question he genuinely didn't want to answer.
"Who was Daniel Bennett?"
Adrian's gaze shifted toward the window.
"Someone I knew."
Ayanda's heart skipped.
"You knew my father?"
"Yes."
The room seemed to shrink around her.
"You knew him?"
Adrian turned back toward her.
"Years ago."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because you didn't ask."
"You knew exactly who I was."
His expression changed.
Only slightly.
"I knew your surname."
"That isn't the same thing."
"No."
"Then what did you know?"
Adrian's jaw tightened.
"Very little."
Ayanda shook her head.
"You expect me to believe that?"
"You don't have to believe me."
His voice had returned to its usual coldness.
"But until I know why your father's name appears where it does, neither of us knows enough to draw conclusions."
Ayanda looked away.
For the first time, she wasn't angry.
She was hurt.
She had spent years believing she understood her father.
Now, one photograph had turned everything she knew into a question.
Adrian noticed the change in her expression.
His voice softened by only a fraction.
"You should speak to your mother."
Ayanda looked at him.
"She doesn't like talking about him."
"Why?"
"She says some memories are better left alone."
Adrian looked away.
"That sounds familiar."
She studied him.
"Did you know my father well?"
A long silence.
"No."
It was too quick.
Too deliberate.
Ayanda knew immediately that there was more.
Before she could press him, his phone rang.
Adrian answered.
"Ja."
He listened.
His expression changed.
"Where?"
Another pause.
"Don't touch anything."
He ended the call.
Ayanda waited.
"What happened?"
"Someone entered the old archive."
Her heart tightened.
"The Orpheus files?"
"Yes."
"Was anything taken?"
"I don't know."
Adrian reached for his coat.
Then looked at her.
"You're coming with me."
Ayanda blinked.
"Why?"
"Because I need to know what they were looking for."
"And you think I can help?"
"No."
She frowned.
"Then why am I coming?"
Adrian opened the door.
"Because I don't want you out of my sight."
Ayanda stared at him.
"That sounded almost protective."
His expression remained blank.
"Don't flatter yourself."
He walked away.
Ayanda followed.
The archive was colder than she remembered.
Adrian entered first.
The security officers stepped aside.
Nothing appeared disturbed.
No broken locks.
No damaged doors.
No obvious signs of intrusion.
Then Adrian stopped.
Ayanda nearly walked into him.
"What?"
He pointed toward one of the shelves.
A file was missing.
Not randomly.
One specific file.
Ayanda recognized the label.
ORPHEUS — 14/09
Adrian's expression darkened.
"They took it."
"Why that file?"
He didn't answer.
Ayanda looked around.
"Could they have taken it because of my father?"
Adrian looked at her.
"Perhaps."
The answer frightened her more than denial would have.
He walked toward the empty space.
His fingers brushed the shelf.
Then he noticed something.
A small piece of paper had been left behind.
He picked it up.
There was only one word written on it.
BENNETT.
Ayanda stared.
Adrian folded the paper and placed it in his pocket.
"That's mine," she said.
"No."
"My family name is written on it."
"I know."
"Then why are you putting it away?"
"Because I don't want anyone else seeing it."
She looked at him.
"Why?"
Adrian stepped closer.
His voice dropped.
"Because someone is trying to tell us something."
Ayanda swallowed.
"What?"
"I don't know."
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then the lights went out.
Complete darkness.
Ayanda gasped.
A hand immediately caught her wrist.
Adrian.
"Stay still."
His voice was low.
The security system began beeping somewhere in the distance.
Ayanda could hear footsteps.
Not one person.
Several.
Adrian moved in front of her.
"Don't move."
The footsteps stopped.
Silence.
Then a door slammed somewhere down the corridor.
The emergency lights flickered back on.
The archive was empty.
Adrian released Ayanda's wrist.
She looked at him.
His expression was hard.
"Are you alright?"
"Yes."
He looked at her hand.
A faint red mark remained where he'd grabbed her.
His jaw tightened.
"Sorry."
It was the first apology she had heard from him.
Ayanda looked surprised.
"So you can apologize."
"Don't make me regret it."
Despite everything, she almost smiled.
Then something caught her attention.
A piece of paper lay beneath one of the cabinets.
She bent down.
Adrian stopped her.
"What is it?"
She picked it up.
A photograph.
Old.
Faded.
And unmistakably familiar.
Her father.
Adrian.
And the mysterious man whose face had been damaged in the original photograph.
But this photograph was different.
On the back, someone had written a date.
September 14.
And beneath it:
THE NIGHT EVERYTHING CHANGED.
Ayanda looked up.
Adrian was staring at the photograph.
His expression had gone completely blank.
"You know this date," she whispered.
He didn't answer.
"You know what happened."
Still nothing.
"Adrian."
Finally, he looked at her.
"Yes."
The single word seemed to echo through the room.
Ayanda's fingers tightened around the photograph.
"What happened that night?"
Adrian looked toward the empty shelf.
Then back at her.
"You're not ready to hear it."
Her voice hardened.
"You don't get to decide that."
His gaze met hers.
For once, neither of them moved.
Then Adrian said quietly:
"Perhaps."
He took the photograph from her.
"But if you want the truth, Ayanda, you need to understand one thing first."
"What?"
His eyes darkened.
"Your father wasn't the man you thought he was."
Ayanda felt the words settle heavily between them.
Before she could ask what he meant, Adrian's phone vibrated.
He looked at the screen.
His expression changed.
"What?"
Ayanda watched him.
He read the message again.
Then slowly turned the phone toward her.
There was a photograph on the screen.
It had been taken only minutes earlier.
It showed Ayanda and Adrian standing together inside the archive.
Someone had been watching them.
The message beneath the photograph contained only six words:
NOW YOU BOTH KNOW TOO MUCH.
Adrian's eyes lifted toward Ayanda.
The ruthless expression returned.
"From now on," he said, "you don't go anywhere alone."
Ayanda stared at him.
"Is that an order?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
Adrian slipped the phone into his pocket.
"Because whoever took that file knows your name."
He paused.
"And now they know mine."
The elevator doors opened behind them.
Neither noticed the tiny camera mounted above the corridor.
Its red light blinked.
Once.
Twice.
Then went dark.