Chương 5
"What were they researching?"
She hesitated.
"Your family."
The answer was worse than money.
Much worse.
Adrian scrolled through the list.
There were names of employees.
Neighbors.
People connected to Lily's school.
And one name near the bottom that made his hand stop moving.
His own name.
Next to it was a note.
Personal history review.
Financial vulnerabilities.
Emotional pressure points.
Adrian stared at the words.
Someone had not only tried to take his company.
Someone had studied how to break him.
And they had started with the one person they knew he would protect above everything else.
His daughter.
Adrian read the list again, slower this time.
The names did not become less disturbing.
They became more personal.
There was Lily's teacher.
There was the family's former driver.
There was a neighbor who had once complained about a broken fence.
There was a pediatric nurse who had treated Lily after her soccer injury.
None of them made sense as targets.
Not unless the purpose was not financial.
Not unless the purpose was understanding every place where Adrian could be hurt.
"We need to know who authorized this," Adrian said.
Evelyn nodded.
"We are working on it."
"No."
She looked at him.
"We need to know who had the idea."
That difference mattered.
Paperwork could be traced.
Money could be followed.
But ideas came from people.
And people left patterns.
Adrian walked back into his office and closed the door.
For the first time in years, he ignored the notifications waiting on his phone.
He ignored messages from executives.
He ignored reporters asking about the previous night's event.
He ignored the dozen people who suddenly wanted to prove they had always supported him.
He sat down and opened the folder from the ballroom.
The signature bothered him.
Not because it was fake.
Because it was real.
Someone had found a moment when Adrian was distracted and turned his own habits against him.
He had built his company by trusting systems.
Now someone had built a system around his weaknesses.
A knock came at the door.
He expected Evelyn.
Instead, Lily stepped inside.
She held the stuffed rabbit against her chest.
"Are you busy?"
Adrian immediately closed the documents.
"No."
She walked in slowly.
Children noticed more than adults wanted to admit.
She looked at the closed folder.
Then at him.
"Are you mad at me?"
The question caught him off guard.
"No."
"Are you sure?"
He stood up.
"I am sure."
She sat in the chair across from his desk.
Her feet did not touch the floor.
A small detail.
A normal detail.
A detail that reminded him how much time was passing.
"You were quiet last night."
"I was thinking."
"You always do that."
Adrian smiled slightly.
"Do what?"
"Go quiet when something is wrong."
He looked at her.
She had learned that from him.
Not from Clara.
Not from school.
From him.
"I am trying to do better."
Lily touched the rabbit's ear.
"Are you going to fix it?"
The question sounded simple.
Adrian wanted to say yes.
He wanted to be the father who could repair everything.
The one who arrived before the damage happened.
But honesty mattered more.
"I am going to try."
She nodded.
That answer seemed acceptable.
"Can I tell you something?"
"Of course."
"When Clara first came here, I liked her."
Adrian felt a sharp pain in his chest.
"Me too."
Lily looked at the floor.
"She was nice at first."
The words were quiet.
"But then she started asking questions."
"What kind of questions?"
"About you."
Adrian waited.
"Like what?"
"Like what makes you upset."
He said nothing.
"Like what you do when you are angry."
Her fingers tightened around the rabbit.
"Like what would make you leave something behind."
A cold feeling moved through him.
"Did she ask you those things directly?"
"Sometimes."
"Sometimes?"
"Sometimes she asked like it was just a game."
Adrian sat down beside her.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Lily looked embarrassed.
Not guilty.
Embarrassed.
"Because I thought you would be happy."
The answer confused him.
"Why?"
"Because you liked her."
That was the cruelest part of being a parent.
Children sometimes protected their parents from pain.
Even when they were the ones carrying it.
Adrian reached for her hand.
"I need you to remember something."
She looked at him.
"Your job is not to protect me."
Her eyes became wet.
"But you were sad."
"I was."
"And I didn't want you to be."
He squeezed her hand gently.
"I am your father."
The words came slowly.
"Being sad because someone hurt me is my responsibility."
She nodded.
"You don't have to carry it."
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Outside the office, employees moved through the hallway.
Phones rang.
Printers worked.
The company continued existing despite the personal disaster inside Adrian's life.
That was the strange thing about the world.
People could be having their worst day while someone nearby complained about a meeting time.
Later that afternoon, Adrian met with the security team.
The investigation had already created tension throughout the company.
Some employees avoided eye contact.
Others approached him with nervous expressions and offers of help.
He appreciated the support.
He also knew fear made people unpredictable.
Thomas Reed placed several printed reports on the table.
"We checked access records."
"And?"
"Marcus accessed the documents."
"Clara?"
Thomas hesitated.
"Yes."
Adrian looked down.
"How many times?"
"More than once."
"Why?"
"We do not know."
Adrian looked toward Evelyn.
"Did she move money?"
"Not directly."
"Then what was the purpose?"
Nobody answered immediately.
The silence bothered him.
Because silence meant they were all thinking the same thing.
"This was preparation," Evelyn finally said.
Adrian looked at her.
"For what?"
She looked uncomfortable.
"We don't know."
That answer was not enough.
Not because he wanted certainty.
Because uncertainty was dangerous when someone else had been planning.
A phone vibrated on the table.
Thomas looked at the screen.
His expression changed.
May you like
"What?"
He handed the phone to Adrian.
