THE NIGHT EVERYTHING CHANGED
1353 Words
For several seconds, Sereia couldn't move. The message remained on her screen, its words sitting between her and Lucien like a threat neither of them could pretend not to understand. You shouldn't have trusted him. Now ask him what happened the night your father disappeared. She slowly lowered the phone, but she didn't put it away. Lucien hadn't taken his eyes off the screen. Whatever composure he had maintained throughout their conversation was gone now, replaced by something darker and considerably more difficult to read.
“What happened that night?” Sereia asked.
Lucien said nothing.
Her patience snapped. “You heard the message. You know what I'm asking.”
“I know.”
“Then answer me.”
He turned away and walked toward the windows. The city stretched behind him, bright and impossibly distant, but Sereia had stopped caring about the view. She had spent seven years wondering whether her father had left voluntarily, whether he had been forced to disappear or whether someone had made sure he could never return. Now she was standing in front of a man who seemed to know exactly where the missing pieces were.
“I wasn't supposed to be involved,” Lucien finally said.
Sereia's eyes narrowed. “That's not an answer.”
“I was twenty-three.”
“You were old enough to understand what was happening.”
“Yes.” His voice was quiet. “And that was the problem.”
He turned back toward her. “My father received a call that night. I heard him arguing with someone in his study. I had never heard him speak that way before. He wasn't angry. He was afraid.”
Sereia's expression changed.
“Your father was afraid?”
Lucien nodded. “I asked him what was happening. He told me to stay out of it. A few hours later, Elias Laurent came to our house.”
Sereia's heart seemed to stop.
“My father came to your house?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
“You don't know?”
“I was told to leave the room.”
Sereia stared at him. “And you did?”
Lucien's jaw tightened. “I was twenty-three, Sereia. I didn't know that night would become the last time anyone in my family saw your father.”
The room fell silent.
Sereia swallowed hard. “What happened after he left?”
Lucien looked at the floor for a moment before answering.
“There was an accident.”
Her face went pale.
“What kind of accident?”
“I can't tell you because I wasn't there.”
“Then who was?”
“My father.”
Sereia's mind raced. “And what did he say?”
Lucien hesitated.
“He said Elias had left.”
“That's all?”
“That was all anyone would tell me.”
She shook her head. “You expect me to believe that?”
“No.”
The honesty of the answer stopped her.
Lucien stepped closer, but he kept a careful distance between them. “I don't expect you to believe anything I say. You shouldn't. Not yet.”
“Then why tell me any of this?”
“Because someone has started opening doors that were closed for a reason.”
Sereia looked down at the photograph still in her hand. “And you're afraid of what's behind them.”
Lucien's gaze met hers.
“Yes.”
The simple answer unsettled her more than anything else.
Before she could respond, the office door opened abruptly. A man in a dark suit stepped inside, his expression tense.
“Mr. Blackwell.”
Lucien turned. “What?”
“We found something.”
The man's gaze moved briefly toward Sereia before returning to Lucien.
“In the archive.”
Lucien's expression hardened. “What did you find?”
“Not the file.”
He placed a small envelope on the desk.
“This.”
Sereia watched as Lucien opened it.
Inside was a single photograph.
He looked at it for only a second before his fingers tightened around the edges.
Sereia stepped forward. “What is it?”
Lucien didn't answer.
She reached for the photograph.
This time, he didn't stop her.
Sereia looked down.
It was a picture of her father.
But he wasn't alone.
Beside him stood a much younger Lucien.
Her eyes widened.
“You were there.”
Lucien said nothing.
“When was this taken?”
“Seven years ago.”
Sereia looked between the photograph and his face. “You told me you barely knew what was happening.”
“I said I didn't know everything.”
“You knew my father.”
“Yes.”
“You knew him well enough to be photographed with him.”
“My father asked me to meet him.”
“Why?”
Lucien looked toward the window.
“Because he wanted to tell me something.”
Sereia's voice dropped. “What?”
“He never got the chance.”
The words hung between them.
Sereia looked at the photograph again. There was something written on the back.
She turned it over.
Three words.
ASK HER ABOUT LUCAS.
Her brow furrowed.
“Who is Lucas?”
Lucien's expression changed instantly.
Sereia noticed.
“You know him.”
Lucien took the photograph from her hand.
“Where did you get this?”
“It was inside the envelope.”
“Who gave it to you?”
“The man who found it.”
Lucien looked toward his employee.
“Who else knows about this?”
“No one.”
Lucien nodded once.
Then his phone rang.
He answered.
His expression grew colder with every second.
“Lock the building.”
Sereia looked at him.
Lucien ended the call.
“What happened?”
“We have a problem.”
“What kind?”
“Someone entered the archive.”
“But you said the security system—”
“It was disabled from inside.”
A chill moved through Sereia.
Someone inside Blackwell Tower had helped whoever was searching for the file.
Lucien walked toward the door.
“Stay here.”
Sereia followed him.
“Absolutely not.”
He turned. “Sereia.”
“I came here because someone told me the truth was inside this building. I'm not staying in your office while everyone else searches for it.”
“This isn't a game.”
“I know.”
“Then listen to me.”
“I've been listening to everyone for seven years.” Her voice cracked with frustration. “My family told me my father abandoned us. The newspapers called him a criminal. Your family told everyone they knew nothing. I've spent years trying to figure out which version was a lie, and now someone is sending me messages because they know I'm getting close. So no, Lucien. I'm not staying behind while you decide what I can handle.”
For a moment, he simply looked at her.
Then something softened in his expression.
Not enough to make him look gentle.
Just enough to make her realize he understood.
“Fine,” he said. “But you stay beside me.”
They stepped into the corridor together.
The building had changed.
The usual movement of employees was gone. Security officers stood at different points along the hallway, speaking quietly into their radios. The atmosphere was tense enough that Sereia could feel it without anyone explaining.
As they approached the elevators, the lights flickered.
Sereia stopped.
“Did you see that?”
Lucien nodded.
The elevator doors opened.
Nobody was inside.
Then Sereia's phone vibrated.
She looked down.
A message.
You're looking in the wrong place.
Another appeared immediately.
The truth isn't in Blackwell Tower.
Her stomach dropped.
Then the final message arrived.
It's in your house.
Sereia's blood ran cold.
She looked at Lucien.
He had read the message over her shoulder.
Neither spoke.
Because they both understood what it meant.
Someone had been inside Sereia's home.
And whoever it was had been looking for something.
Something her father had left behind.
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