I've spent most of my life learning how to disappear inside other people's secrets.
Turns out, it's a hard habit to break.
The glow of the monitor painted my desk in ghost-blue light; lines of code crawled across the screen like ants on sugar.
Liam Blackwood.
A name that had once meant prestige.
Now, it was rotting from the inside out.
I scrolled through a list of shell companies tied to his name addresses that led to empty offices, board members that were either dead or never real to begin with. Every trail bled into another, and all of them smelled like desperation.
A message pinged on my second monitor.
Xavier: You sure you want to dig this deep, boss? Some of these people don't like flashlights.
Me: Then it's a good thing I'm not here to make friends.
I leaned back, rubbing my neck. Outside, rain started tapping at the windows, soft and steady, almost soothing.
I found the first solid lead an hour later:
a transaction from Blackwood Industries to a company registered in Geneva under the alias Atria Holdings.
Atria was owned by Kai Louis.
My jaw tightened.
So that's how he fit in. It's not a coincidence. Not even close.
ʚ♡ɞ ʚ♡ɞ ʚ♡ɞ ʚ♡ɞ ʚ♡ɞ ʚ♡ɞ ʚ♡ɞ
By noon, I had gotten almost all the information I needed about Mr Blackwood Wood and Kai.
It seems like Sienna's almost supposed husband was not how he put himself out to be.
I hadn't eaten anything for the whole day, and if not for the growl of my stomach, i probably would not have realised. I stood up to get a galss of coffee. i will soon go and pick up Sienna, so i think i can hold out for a bit.
I pulled out my laptop again.
If Kai Louis was laundering money through Atria, he wasn't doing it alone.
I hacked into the shipping manifest.
Three shipments flagged under Atria's name two to London, one to the US.
The cargo listed? Industrial supplies.
The contents, however, were encrypted.
That kind of encryption wasn't used for steel pipes.
I was halfway through decoding it when a shadow fell across the table.
When I received a call it was Mateo.
"What's Wrong?" I asked as soon as I picked up the call.
"Seriously, Cyrus, we haven't talked in ages, and the first thing you tell me is What's Wrong."
"It seems like your marriage has made you forget that I'm your best friend.
"I have just been really busy besides we'll see each other soon," I said he just scoffed.
"Your Mom said you should call her. Why have you been ignoring Jeremy calls anyway?"
I sighed at his question.
"I think she wants to ask to see Sienna,"
"So, she will soon see her anyways," he replied
"I know I just..." I didn't know how to explain it.
"Look, just call her and quit worrying she is really worried about you."
I just hummed.
"Good, I have to go now. I'm it's almost time for my shoot,"
"Okay, break a leg," he chuckled at my words before hanging up.
I stared blankly at my khoen for a while. Speaking of Sienna, I think it time I go pick her up.