Hidden files
987 Words
The mansion was very silent in a way that made her feel uncomfortable.
Jane stood outside Richard’s office door with so much fear and discomfort. The hallway lights were dim, casting long shadows across the marble floor, and somewhere downstairs she could hear faint music drifting from the west wing.
Most of the guards were distracted tonight.
It was her only chance.
She carefully inspect every where while pressing the door handle down.
Unlocked.
Wow so fast-she said to herself.
That surprised her more than anything.
Richard trusted nobody.
The office contain a soft of leather, whiskey, and cedarwood. Jane noticed it immediately it felt expensive, controlled like everything have been placed with intension. The shelf where very tall and covered the entire wall, making the room feel imposing. A lamp glowed on the large table at the center, casting a soft circle of light that made the room feel more colder.
Jane stepped inside slowly and shut the door behind her.
Her heart raced harder with every second.
She wasn’t even sure what she was looking for anymore.
Answers.
Proof.
Anything that explained who Richard Ashford truly was.
She moved toward the desk carefully, opening drawers one at a time.
Business contracts.
Bank statements.
Encrypted flash drives.
Nothing unusual.
Then she noticed the locked drawer beneath the desk.
Jane face changed-what could that be.
She searched quickly until she found a small silver key taped beneath the edge of the table.
“You paranoid psychopath,” she muttered under her breath.
The drawer clicked open.
And suddenly the air left her lungs.
Folders.
Dozens of them.
Photographs spilled across the desk as she pulled the first file open.
Young women, different countries and names.
Some pictures looked like passport photos.
Others looked like surveillance images.
Jane’s stomach turned inside violently.
“What the hell…”
Her hands trembled as she flipped through the documents faster.
Shipping routes.
Fake charities.
Offshore accounts.
Payments linked to politicians and government officials.
One page contained a list of names beside massive financial transfers.
Another showed reports about missing women connected to private transport companies.
Human trafficking.
Jane staggered back slightly from the desk.
“No…”
This couldn’t be real.
Richard couldn’t—
Footsteps echoed outside the office.
Jane froze.
The door opened slowly.
Richard stood there.
For one horrible second, neither of them moved.
Then his eyes dropped to the files spread across the desk.
The temperature in the room seemed to disappear instantly.
“Jane.”
Her name sounded dangerous coming from him now.
Jane stepped backward. “Tell me this isn’t yours.”
Richard shut the door quietly behind him.
“That’s not something you should’ve touched.”
Her disbelief exploded into anger.
“Answer me!”
The force of her voice shocked even her.
She grabbed one of the photographs from the desk and held it up with shaking hands.
“These girls— these people— what is this?!”
Richard’s jaw becomes stiff.
“It’s complicated.”
Jane laughed bitterly. “Complicated?”
What do you mean by that.
Her chest rose rapidly with panic.
“You’re involved in trafficking? Political bribery? Money laundering? Richard, these are crimes!”
“You don’t understand what you’re looking at.”
“Then explain it to me!”
For the first time since she met him, Richard looked genuinely trapped.
Not cold or powerful.
Jane noticed it immediately.
And somehow that terrified her even more.
“You need to calm down,” he said carefully.
“Don’t tell me to calm down!”
She slammed the file back onto the desk.
“All this time you’ve been acting like some protective monster keeping me safe, but you’re part of this?”
“I am not part of it.”
“Then why do you have the files?”
Silence gripped every where.
Richard’s eyes darkened.
“That information keeps people alive.”
Jane stared at him in disbelief.
“That’s your excuse?”
“It’s the truth.”
She shook her head repeatedly, backing farther away from him.
“I knew you were dangerous, but this…” Her voice cracked slightly. “This is evil.”
Pain flickered across his expression.
Quickly hidden.
“You think I don’t know that?”
The quiet anger in his voice made the room feel smaller.
Richard moved closer slowly, but Jane immediately stepped away.
“Don’t touch me.”
He stopped instantly.
Rain pounded harder against the windows now, thunder rumbling somewhere outside the mansion.
Jane’s breathing became uneven.
“I trusted you,” she whispered.
Something about those words hit him harder than shouting ever could.
Richard looked away briefly, tension carved deeply into his face.
“You shouldn’t have come in here.”
“That’s all you have to say?”
“No.” His voice lowered dangerously. “What I have to say is that if anyone else had found you looking at those files, you’d already be dead.”
Fear crawled down her spine.
Richard stepped toward the desk and closed the open folder carefully.
“You have no idea how deep this goes.”
“Then tell me!”
“I can’t.”
Jane’s eyes burned with frustration.
“You always say that!”
“Because the truth would put you in more danger than you already are.”
“Stop deciding things for me!”
Her voice broke completely this time.
The silence afterward felt unbearable.
Richard stared at her for several seconds before speaking again.
“You think I’m the villain in this story,” he said quietly.
“Aren’t you?”
For the first time since entering the office, uncertainty crossed his face.
Then he gave a cold, exhausted smile.
“If I were truly the villain, Jane…”
He looked directly at the trafficking files spread across the desk.
“…you never would’ve found those documents in the first place.”
- Writer
