Chapter 2 - The File With My Name On It
The first thing I noticed was that Adrian Voss looked afraid.
Not angry.
Not annoyed.
Afraid.
And that terrified me more.
I had spent eleven days inside his mansion watching people react to him like he was someone who controlled every room he entered.
Employees straightened their backs when he walked by.
Security guards lowered their voices when speaking to him.
Even people who clearly outranked me treated him carefully.
But now, standing alone in that hidden meeting room, Adrian Voss was staring at a file with my name written across the front like it was something dangerous.
"Maya Bennett."
He said my name quietly.
Not like he was asking who I was.
Like he already knew.
I looked at the folder in his hand.
My heartbeat started moving faster.
"Why is my name on that?"
Adrian did not answer immediately.
That was the first thing about him that bothered me.
Normal people reacted.
They explained.
They defended themselves.
Adrian calculated.
Every word.
Every expression.
Every movement.
Finally, he placed the file on the table.
"You need to leave this room."
I blinked.
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me."
I looked around.
The expensive table.
The confidential documents.
The empty chairs where eight serious men had been sitting minutes earlier.
Then I looked back at him.
"I think I deserve an explanation."
His eyes narrowed slightly.
Most people probably would have backed away.
I didn't.
Maybe because I was still angry.
Maybe because I had spent the last hour covered in freezing water and embarrassment.
Or maybe because I was tired of powerful people deciding when I deserved answers.
"I walked into your meeting by accident," I said. "I didn't steal anything. I didn't touch your documents. I didn't even know this room existed."
Adrian remained silent.
"But somehow," I continued, pointing at the folder, "you have a file with my name on it."
His jaw tightened.
"You don't understand what you're involved in."
"Then explain it."
A long silence followed.
The kind that made me wonder if I had made the biggest mistake of my life.
Then Adrian walked toward the table and opened the folder.
Inside were photographs.
My stomach dropped.
Not because I recognized the pictures.
Because I recognized the locations.
A street near my old apartment.
The coffee shop where I used to work.
The bus stop I stood at every morning.
Photos of me.
Taken from a distance.
My hands went cold.
"Why are there pictures of me?"
Adrian looked at them.
His expression changed.
A small crack appeared in the calm mask he wore.
"These weren't taken by me."
That answer somehow made it worse.
"Then who took them?"
He closed the folder.
"I've been trying to find that out."
I stared at him.
"You expect me to believe that?"
"No."
The honesty surprised me.
"I expect you to understand that someone has been watching you."
The room suddenly felt smaller.
The sound of the dripping water from my uniform seemed louder.
I thought about the last few weeks.
The strange phone calls.
The feeling that someone was following me.
The anonymous messages I ignored because I assumed they were spam.
I had convinced myself I was imagining things.
Because imagining danger was easier than admitting it was real.
"Why me?"
Adrian looked toward the window.
For the first time, he seemed unsure.
"Because of your father."
The words hit harder than I expected.
"My father?"
I laughed once.
Not because it was funny.
Because it was impossible.
"My father has been dead for fifteen years."
"I know."
"Then what does he have to do with me?"
Adrian didn't answer.
That silence told me enough.
There was something.
Something he wasn't telling me.
I stepped closer.
"What did my father do?"
Adrian looked back at me.
"He worked for people who trusted information more than money."
I frowned.
"What does that mean?"
"It means he discovered something he shouldn't have."
The mansion suddenly felt different.
The beautiful rooms.
The expensive furniture.
The perfect silence.
It all felt like a disguise.
"Are you saying my father was involved in your business?"
Adrian's expression hardened.
"I am saying your father saved my life."
I froze.
That was not the answer I expected.
"How?"
He looked down at the file.
"Because twenty years ago, someone tried to erase my entire family."
I studied his face.
There was no arrogance.
No performance.
Just a memory he clearly hated carrying.
"And my father stopped them?"
"No."
He paused.
"He warned me."
A strange feeling moved through me.
"Why would he warn you?"
Adrian walked to the table and removed a small photograph from inside the folder.
He placed it in front of me.
It was old.
Faded.
The kind of photograph that had survived years of being hidden.
I picked it up.
And my breath stopped.
It showed three people.
A younger Adrian.
A man I recognized immediately.
My father.
And a little girl.
Me.
I stared at the picture.
My fingers started shaking.
"I was six years old."
Adrian nodded.
"You were."
"Why am I in this?"
He looked at me.
"Because your father left something behind."
"What?"
"A message."
I looked up.
"What message?"
Adrian reached for another document.
Before he could hand it to me, the lights in the room flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then everything went dark.
My body froze.
Somewhere outside the room, a sound echoed.
A door opening.
Adrian immediately moved.
Not toward the exit.
Toward me.
He pulled me behind him.
The sudden movement shocked me.
"What are you doing?"
"Quiet."
His voice was barely a whisper.
The powerful businessman who had controlled an entire room moments earlier was now listening carefully.
Someone was inside the mansion.
Someone who should not have been there.
I heard footsteps.
Slow.
Calm.
Coming closer.
Adrian reached into his desk drawer and pulled out a small device.
Not a weapon.
Something else.
A security control.
He pressed a button.
Nothing happened.
His expression changed.
"What?"
I whispered.
He didn't answer.
He looked at the security screen beside the table.
The cameras were offline.
All of them.
Every screen showed black.
Someone had disabled the entire security system.
My heart raced.
"Who could do that?"
Adrian stared at the hallway camera.
Then the screen suddenly turned back on.
A figure stood outside the meeting room.
A person wearing a dark coat.
Their face was hidden.
But they were holding something.
A photograph.
The same photograph Adrian had just shown me.
The person slowly lifted it toward the camera.
Then the screen displayed a message.
Three words.
MAYA IS NEXT.
Adrian's face went completely pale.
Because he recognized the person standing outside.
He whispered a name I had never heard before.
"Elena..."
The figure outside placed a hand on the door handle.
May you like
The lock clicked.
The door began to open...
