HEADLINES AND HEARTSTRINGS

Chapter 10: The Leak

Lena

The room fell silent.

No one moved.

No one spoke.

The only sound was the faint hum of the air conditioner as Adrian stared at the headline on the tablet.

BILLIONAIRE ACTOR'S SECRET BROTHER DIED AFTER PRIVATE MEETING.

I read the first few lines.

Sources close to Adrian Knight have confirmed that the actor secretly met Ethan Blake hours before Ethan's fatal car accident. Questions are now being raised about why this relationship was hidden from the public...

I looked up.

"This wasn't in my article."

Adrian nodded once.

"I know."

"I never told anyone."

"I know."

Claire crossed her arms tightly.

"Neither did I."

For a long moment, no one spoke.

Then Adrian quietly asked, "Marcus?"

Claire shook her head.

"He isn't here yet."

"Call him."

She immediately stepped into the hallway.

The door clicked shut behind her.

I looked at Adrian.

"You think someone in your company leaked this?"

"I think someone has been watching us for much longer than we realized."

His calm voice sent a chill through me.

He wasn't panicking.

He was calculating.

As though he had been expecting this day to come.

"You've suspected this before, haven't you?" I asked.

He didn't answer immediately.

Instead, he walked to the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the city.

"I've trusted the wrong people before."

There was something painfully lonely about the way he said it.

Before I could ask another question, the office door opened again.

A tall man in a charcoal suit entered.

He looked to be in his late thirties, broad-shouldered, with close-cropped black hair and sharp gray eyes that noticed everything.

"Marcus," Adrian said.

Marcus gave me a brief nod.

"Miss Carter."

Then his attention returned to Adrian.

"You saw the article."

"I did."

"I've already begun tracing the source."

"Anything?"

Marcus's jaw tightened.

"The leak came from an anonymous account."

"That's not what I'm asking."

Their eyes met.

Someone else would've missed it.

I didn't.

Marcus was holding something back.

Adrian noticed too.

"What is it?"

Marcus exhaled slowly.

"The article was uploaded twenty-three minutes ago."

"So?"

"So was a copy of your security footage."

My heart skipped.

"What security footage?"

Marcus looked at me.

"The footage of Miss Carter arriving here."

I froze.

"They're watching this building."

"No," Marcus corrected.

"They're inside the system."

A cold knot formed in my stomach.

If someone could access Adrian's security network...

No one here was safe.

---

An hour later, Marcus insisted on driving me home.

"I can take a taxi."

"No."

"I've survived taxis before."

"Today isn't before."

I sighed dramatically.

"You security people are exhausting."

Marcus didn't even blink.

"We're alive."

I glanced at Adrian.

"Does he ever smile?"

Adrian folded his arms.

"Twice."

Marcus looked offended.

"It was three times."

I couldn't help laughing.

"There is no way."

"There was," Marcus replied with complete seriousness.

"One was accidental."

Even Adrian let out a quiet laugh.

For a second...

Everything felt normal.

Until Marcus's phone rang.

He answered immediately.

"Yes?"

His expression changed.

Every trace of humor vanished.

"When?"

He looked at Adrian.

"They found another body."

The smile disappeared from my face.

"Who?"

Marcus lowered the phone.

"The woman from the cemetery."

The room seemed to tilt beneath my feet.

"What?"

"She was found less than an hour ago."

"No..."

I took a step backward.

"No, that's impossible."

I had spoken to her.

She had handed me the photograph.

She had warned me.

She had been alive.

Marcus's voice remained steady.

"Whoever killed her knew she had contacted Miss Carter."

I turned toward Adrian.

His face had gone completely still.

Not surprised.

Not shocked.

Just...

Cold.

"What aren't you telling me?" I demanded.

His jaw tightened.

"If I tell you everything..."

He looked directly into my eyes.

"...you won't be able to walk away."

"I already can't."

"You still have a choice."

I laughed bitterly.

"My apartment was broken into."

"I know."

"I've been followed."

"I know."

"Someone just murdered the only witness willing to talk to me."

"I know."

"So stop deciding what's best for me!"

The words echoed through the office.

Adrian didn't flinch.

Instead, he reached into his desk drawer and removed a small silver key.

He placed it gently in my hand.

"What is this?"

"A safety deposit box."

I frowned.

"At First National Bank."

"What's inside?"

"My brother's journal."

My breath caught.

"Ethan kept a journal?"

"He wrote in it every day for five years."

"Why haven't you given it to the police?"

"Because it disappeared the night he died."

I looked down at the key.

"You found it?"

"No."

His expression darkened.

"Someone mailed it back to me yesterday."

A shiver raced down my spine.

Yesterday.

The same day anonymous messages started arriving.

Someone wasn't just playing games anymore.

Someone was moving the pieces.

And somehow...

Adrian and I were at the center of the board.

My phone buzzed.

Unknown Number.

Again.

I hesitated.

Then answered.

A familiar distorted voice whispered,

"Don't open the journal."

The line went dead.

I slowly lowered the phone.

Adrian looked at me.

"What did they say?"

I wrapped my fingers tightly around the silver key.

"They know about the journal."

For the first time since we'd met...

Neither of us doubted the other.

Because one terrifying truth had become impossible to ignore.

Someone was always one step ahead of us.