Fifth Floor

The warning

Stella’s pov

I couldn’t sleep that night.

I kept staring at the message on my phone.

There were only five words.

“You should have stayed away.”

I read it over and over again.

I couldn't breathe.

Someone knew.

And they were watching me.

“Maybe it's a prank.”

I stared at my phone for the hundredth time.

“Who are you?”

I whispered to myself.

I wanted to believe it was just a warning.

Maybe someone was trying to scare me.

But deep down, I knew it wasn’t.

Someone had entered my apartment

And touched my notebook.

And now someone was sending me warnings.

They knew exactly what I was doing.

I finally fell asleep around .

And By 6:00 am i got out of bed.

I woke up exhausted.

I stood in front of my mirror,

And looked at myself in the mirror.

I took a deep breathe.

“You’re okay, Stella.”

I forced myself to smile.

“Everything is going to be alright.”

I took a deep breathe.

“I came here for answers.”

I grabbed my bag.

“And I’m going to get them.”

I got dressed and I went to work.

The moment I arrived at Cruz Holdings,

Employees walked around carrying files and cups of coffee.

I tried to act normal.

but i noticed something strange.

Titi was standing near the reception.

She looked at me.

Then quickly looked away.

I walked to my desk.

Noah came over.

He looked at me.

“You look terrible.”

I dropped my bag on the chair.

“Good morning to you too.”

He laughed.

“Morning.”

“You look tired.”

“I didn’t sleep well.”

He laughed.

“First week and the company is already stressing you out?”

I smiled.

“Something like that.”

“Then tell me what kept you up late?”

“Why are you interrogating me?”

“Because you look like you fought a battle last night.”

I smiled.

I wanted to tell him about the message.

But I couldn’t.

Not yet.

I opened my computer and started working.

“Do you always talk this much?”

“Only when I'm trying to make friends.”

“Well,congratulations.”

He smiled.

“Youre stuck with me.”

I laughed.

He later left my office .

And I started working on some documents for the day.

Later that day,

I had lunch with Noah.

And another employee came over.

“Hi”

“Stella right?”

“Yeah”

“Nice to meet you,”

“I'm Julian Hale, the chief financial officer.”

He smiled.

Something was off about him.

I kept the conversation going regardless.

“That's lovely,”

“Can I join you guys for lunch,”

“Yeah, sure.”

We ate our lunch.

And chatted about work until Lunch was over.

I took that opportunity to study the accountant's routine for the day.

Then right after I got to my office after lunch,

I took the recorder in my drawer and listened to it for any clues on how to get the access card.

But luckily for me I didn’t need to stress looking for where exactly it was.

Because,

Mr. Julian forgot his access card in his table drawer.

He didn’t notice.

I looked towards his desk.

I looked around.

Nobody was watching.

I picked it up

And ran out of he’s office before anyone would see me.

I held it in my hand.

“This is crazy.”

“I need to be fast before someone sees me.”

I whispered.

My heart started racing.

For a moment, I thought about putting it back.

I knew I shouldn’t do it.

But then I remembered my parents.

I remembered everything I had been trying to uncover.

And I knew I might never get another chance to.

Later that evening, everyone had left the office except me.

I went out over the office like I was going home,

And drove round the office to park my car at the back of the building,so no one would know it’s mine.

Right after I parked and made sure everywhere was clear,

I sneaked into the building from the back fence and hid in one of the store room.

I waited until the building was almost empty.

When I came out of the store room , everyone had gone home and the coast was clear.

Then I walked toward the elevator with the access card in my hand.

I looked around to make sure nobody was there.

Then I swiped the access card on the card detector.

I sneaked into the elevator and headed to the fifth floor.

The door closed.

My hands were shaking.

“I pray I don’t get caught ?”

I whispered.

The elevator finally stopped.

The elevator reached the fifth floor.

The door opened.

The place isn’t filled with money or secret weapons.

It’s strangely quiet.

Luxury offices.

Private meeting rooms.

Old family portraits.

I enter one office.

I find an old framed picture.

Corbin.

My father.

My mother.

Smiling together.

My entire world freezes.

Before I could process what I saw.

I heard a deep voice behind me.

“Looking for answers, Miss Harper?”

My heart started beating fast.

I slowly turned.

And there he was.

Corbin Cruz.

He looked up from his desk.

Standing with his hands inside his pockets.

The man I had spent years blaming for destroying my family.

He looked nothing like the monster I had imagined.

He was calm.

Too calm.

He looked disappointed.

His eyes met mine.

For a second,neither of us spoke.

“Miss Harper.”

“Mr. Cruz.”

He pointed toward the chair.

“Sit.”

I sat down.

He studied me for a few seconds.

Then he said something that made my blood run cold.

“You shouldn’t have come here.”

I stared at him.

“What?”

He leaned back.

“You heard me.”

I tried to remain calm.

“I don’t understand.”

“Yes, you do.”

He opened a folder,

And placed it right in front of me.

My heart stopped.

It was my application.

But underneath it was something else.

A photograph.

My parents.

And Corbin.

Standing together.

I stared at the picture.

“Where did you get this?”

He didn’t answer.

Instead, he asked me a question.

“Who told you that I killed your parents?”

My entire body froze.

He knew.

He already knew why I was there.