Chương 7
“Yes.”
Adrian stared at the bookshelf.
“The library was a meeting point.”
“Possibly.”
“And Lauren knew.”
Marcus did not disagree.
That hurt more than Adrian expected.
Because Lauren being afraid was easier to accept than Lauren being involved.
A person could forgive fear.
A person struggled to forgive betrayal.
That evening, Lauren called.
Adrian almost ignored it.
Then he answered.
“Hello.”
She was quiet for a moment.
“I heard Marcus was here.”
Adrian’s expression changed.
“How?”
Another pause.
“I have sources.”
The answer bothered him.
“Lauren.”
“I know.”
“No.”
His voice hardened.
“I don’t think you understand.”
“I do.”
“Someone is watching my house.”
“I know.”
The words stopped him.
“You know?”
“I told you I was scared.”
“That is not the same thing.”
“No.”
Her voice cracked slightly.
“It isn’t.”
Adrian sat down.
“Tell me everything.”
“I can’t.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because every time I tell you something, someone gets hurt.”
“Who?”
She did not answer.
That silence was different from before.
It was not avoidance.
It was fear.
“Lauren.”
“My brother didn’t start this.”
“Then who did?”
“I don’t know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“No.”
She breathed in slowly.
“I expect you to understand that I was trying to find out.”
Adrian rubbed his forehead.
“You were investigating?”
“Yes.”
“By yourself?”
“Yes.”
“That was reckless.”
“I know.”
The admission surprised him.
“You could have come to me.”
“You wouldn’t have believed me.”
The sentence was quiet.
And painful because Adrian did not know if it was true.
“I would have.”
“No.”
She said it softly.
“You would have asked for proof.”
“That’s reasonable.”
“It is.”
A pause.
“But by the time people have proof, they usually stop asking why someone was afraid.”
Adrian looked at the bookshelf across the room.
The hidden vent.
The missing footage.
The altered files.
The woman he loved.
The child who saw too much.
Everything connected.
But the shape of the truth was still hidden.
“Where are you?” he asked.
“At my apartment.”
“Are you alone?”
“Yes.”
Another pause.
Then she said something that changed the direction of everything.
“Adrian, check the security logs from the night before you found the envelope.”
“Why?”
“Because Lauren Whitmore did not put that envelope there.”
He went still.
“What?”
“I mean it.”
Her voice lowered.
“I moved it.”
The room became silent.
“You moved it?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“The night before.”
“Why?”
Because on the other end of the phone, Lauren started crying.
And for the first time since this began, Adrian heard fear without control.
The words stayed between them.
Adrian did not speak because he was trying to understand how many things he had misunderstood.
“You moved it,” he repeated.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Lauren’s breathing shook through the phone.
“Because someone was looking for it.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“That isn’t good enough.”
“I know.”
Her voice broke slightly.
“I know, Adrian.”
He stood up and walked toward the window.
The same window where he had stood the night before believing he was close to understanding everything.
Now the truth seemed farther away.
“Start from the beginning.”
Lauren was quiet.
Then she said, “Three months ago, Daniel came to me.”
Adrian waited.
“He told me someone inside your company was stealing information.”
“You believed him.”
“No.”
The answer came quickly.
“I believed he knew something.”
“That’s different.”
“Yes.”
“What did you do?”
“I asked questions.”
“To who?”
“People I shouldn’t have.”
Adrian closed his eyes.
“Lauren.”
“I know.”
“You involved yourself in an investigation without telling me.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because it’s true.”
“Then why hide the evidence?”
“Because the evidence wasn’t only about Daniel.”
That stopped him.
“What else was it about?”
Lauren hesitated.
“My family.”
The word sounded heavier than she intended.
Adrian sat back down.
“Your family?”
“My father.”
Adrian frowned.
“Your father has been dead for years.”
“Yes.”
“Then what does he have to do with this?”
Lauren was silent for several seconds.
“My father built the first version of the company that became Whitmore Financial.”
Adrian knew the name.
Everyone in their world knew the name.
Before Daniel ruined the family reputation, before Lauren became someone people discussed quietly at charity events, her father had been respected.
“He had a partnership with your father,” Lauren continued.
Adrian looked toward the bookshelf.
A connection he had never considered appeared.
“My father never mentioned that.”
“Because the partnership ended badly.”
“How badly?”
“Badly enough that both families stopped talking.”
Adrian leaned forward.
“What happened?”
“I don’t know everything.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I’m not asking you to believe me.”
That answer made him stop.
Lauren was no longer trying to convince him.
She sounded exhausted from carrying something too heavy for too long.
“I found old records,” she said.
“Where?”
“In my father’s storage unit.”
“When?”
“Before he died, he left instructions for Daniel.”
Adrian frowned.
“What kind of instructions?”
“He told Daniel never to trust certain people.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“No.”
The frustration in Adrian’s chest grew.
Too many missing pieces.
Too many half-answers.
But then he remembered Marcus.
People rarely hid things for one reason.
Sometimes they hid things because the truth itself was dangerous.
“Why did you move the envelope?” he asked again.
“Because I found out someone had been searching the library.”
“When?”
“The night before.”
“Who?”
“I saw someone on the security footage.”
Adrian’s hand tightened around the phone.
“Who?”
“I couldn’t see their face.”
“Then how do you know it wasn’t you?”
“Because I was with you.”
The answer was immediate.
And it hurt.
Because it reminded him that during those weeks he had been so focused on business problems that he had forgotten to notice the people beside him.
“Where is the original footage?” he asked.
“Gone.”
“Gone?”
“Yes.”
“Lauren.”
“I copied it before someone deleted it.”
Adrian stood completely still.
“Where is the copy?”
She did not answer.
“Lauren.”
May you like
“If I tell you, it puts you in danger.”
“That decision is not yours to make.”
