Chapter 11 - Investigate Her !
1487 Words
Far beyond the borders of Veylora, in a country called Avernia, night had settled over a remote estate hidden between dense forests and towering mountains.
There were no neighboring houses.
No streetlights.
No sound of traffic.
Only the occasional movement of guards stationed along the perimeter and the low whisper of wind passing through the trees.
Inside the estate, everything was unnaturally quiet.
A long corridor stretched beneath dim golden lights.
A man walked through it.
His footsteps were measured.
Unhurried.
He stopped before a large wooden door.
Knock.
A voice came from inside.
“Enter.”
The subordinate opened the door.
The room beyond was vast and dark, illuminated only by a few lamps positioned around a large desk.
A man sat behind it.
His face remained partially hidden in the shadows.
He did not look up.
The subordinate approached the desk.
“There is news from Veylora.”
The man remained silent.
The subordinate placed a black folder on the desk.
Nothing else was said.
The man slowly reached for it.
He opened the folder.
The first photograph lay beneath the cover.
A young woman.
Soft features.
Clear eyes.
A delicate face.
There was something almost disarmingly sweet about her appearance.
The next photograph showed her leaving a building.
Another showed her walking along a street.
Another showed her entering a vehicle.
None contained a name.
None contained an explanation.
The man's fingers stopped against the edge of the photograph.
For several seconds, he simply stared at it.
Then—
The temperature in the room seemed to drop.
The silence became heavier.
The subordinate standing several feet away instinctively lowered his gaze.
The man slowly lifted the photograph.
His expression remained controlled.
But something beneath the stillness had awakened.
His eyes narrowed.
A faint crease appeared between his brows.
He looked at the photograph again.
A young woman.
Delicate.
Sweet.
Almost completely out of place in whatever world had brought her into that folder.
His jaw tightened.
His eyes darkened.
Then he closed the folder.
“Investigate.”
A pause.
His voice became colder.
“What happened.”
Another pause.
“And how.”
The subordinate immediately bowed his head.
“Yes, sir.”
The man pushed the folder across the desk.
“Find out everything.”
The subordinate took it.
He turned and walked toward the door.
Before leaving, he stopped briefly.
The man was already looking toward the dark window.
The subordinate said nothing.
Neither did his superior.
The door closed.
Silence returned.
The man remained motionless.
No explanation.
No name.
No answer.
Only the photograph remained inside the folder.
A photograph of Elsie Ashford.
Veyr Group
The following morning, Veyr Group returned to its usual rhythm.
Cold.
Precise.
Efficient.
Nothing remained of the previous day's disruption.
Employees moved through the polished corridors with quiet purpose.
Doors opened and closed.
Documents changed hands.
Meetings began exactly when scheduled.
And on the top floor, Zavian Veyr entered his office.
His arrival required no announcement.
His presence alone was enough.
Lucian Vale arrived several minutes later carrying a tablet and several documents.
He knocked once.
“Come in.”
Lucian entered.
“Good morning, Mr. Veyr.”
Zavian stood beside the windows, his attention directed toward Newhaven.
“Report.”
Lucian opened his tablet.
“The morning schedule is unchanged. The Singapore acquisition requires your approval on two remaining documents. Legal has also submitted the revised Zurich documentation.”
Zavian said nothing.
Lucian continued.
“And regarding the Westbridge cooperation…”
A slight pause.
“Yesterday's meeting was completed successfully.”
Zavian finally turned his gaze toward him.
“The representative?”
“Elsie Ashford.”
No reaction.
“She arrived as scheduled and met with the senior project executives.”
Lucian continued.
“The meeting proceeded smoothly. There were several discrepancies in the existing project framework that she identified during the discussion.”
Zavian's eyes remained on him.
“What discrepancies?”
Lucian glanced at the report.
“The projected resource allocation did not sufficiently account for the international logistics structure.”
He continued.
“She proposed restructuring the allocation model according to regional demand rather than maintaining the existing centralized distribution.”
Zavian remained silent.
“She also identified an overlap between two operational phases.”
Lucian turned the tablet slightly.
“Her proposed solution was to separate the implementation architecture into three coordinated stages.”
Zavian's expression remained unreadable.
“First, regional assessment and resource mapping.”
Lucian continued.
“Second, synchronized deployment based on regional priority indices.”
“And third?”
“Continuous performance monitoring with adaptive redistribution.”
A pause.
“She also recommended introducing a feedback-based adjustment system rather than waiting for quarterly reviews.”
Silence.
Lucian lowered the tablet.
“The executives considered the proposal practical.”
Zavian's gaze shifted toward the desk.
“Practical?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Was it correct?”
Lucian paused.
“Yes.”
Zavian's expression didn't change.
“Then why wasn't it already in the file?”
Lucian remained silent.
Zavian walked toward his desk.
He picked up the project file.
His eyes moved over several pages.
“The original projection.”
Lucian understood immediately.
“Yes.”
Zavian turned a page.
“This is incomplete.”
“Yes, sir.”
“The risk assessment is insufficient.”
“Yes.”
“The resource model is inefficient.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And the projected implementation timeline is unrealistic.”
Lucian said nothing.
Zavian closed the file.
“Who prepared it?”
“The project team.”
“Who leads it?”
“The head of the project team.”
“Bring him here.”
“Yes, sir.”
Lucian left.
Several minutes later, the door opened again.
The head of the Veyr Group project team entered.
He approached the desk carefully.
“You asked for me, Mr. Veyr.”
Zavian looked up.
“Yes.”
The executive waited.
Zavian placed the project file on the desk.
“Explain this.”
The executive glanced at it.
“The Westbridge cooperation proposal.”
“I know what it is.”
“Yes, sir.”
Zavian opened the file.
“You submitted this.”
“Yes.”
“You approved it.”
“Yes, sir.”
“You expected it to be presented to Westbridge.”
“Yes.”
Zavian looked at him.
His expression remained completely calm.
That somehow made the silence worse.
“Then explain why an external representative identified deficiencies in your framework within a single meeting.”
The executive's face tightened.
“I—”
“You had the project for weeks.”
“Yes, sir.”
“You had the resources.”
“Yes.”
“You had access to the necessary data.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And yet she found weaknesses your team failed to identify.”
The executive struggled to respond.
“She may have approached the project from a different perspective.”
Zavian's eyes lifted.
A single glance.
The executive stopped speaking.
Zavian's voice remained quiet.
“Are you explaining your failure to me?”
“No, sir.”
“Good.”
He closed the file.
“I don't care how long you've worked here.”
The executive's shoulders stiffened.
“I don't care how many successful projects you've completed.”
A pause.
“And I don't care how impressive your position appears on paper.”
Zavian's gaze hardened.
“Veyr Group does not reward mediocrity.”
The executive lowered his head.
“Yes, sir.”
“If you cannot meet the standards required of this company…”
Zavian leaned back slightly.
“…you are free to leave.”
The executive's face paled.
“Understood.”
“Fix the project.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Properly.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Not quickly.”
The executive nodded.
“Correctly.”
“Yes, sir.”
Zavian closed the file.
“Leave.”
The executive immediately turned and walked out.
The door shut.
Silence.
Lucian remained near the entrance.
Zavian looked toward the window.
“Lucian.”
“Yes, sir?”
“Investigate Elsie Ashford.”
Lucian paused.
For the first time that morning, genuine confusion crossed his face.
“Miss Ashford?”
Zavian didn't answer the question.
His gaze remained fixed beyond the glass.
Lucian waited.
Nothing.
He finally nodded.
“Yes, sir.”
He turned toward the door.
There was no explanation.
No reason.
No indication of what had prompted the request.
Only an order.
Lucian left.
The door closed behind him.
Zavian remained alone in the office.
The city stretched endlessly beneath the windows.
His expression was as unreadable as ever.
And somewhere in Newhaven, completely unaware of the invisible threads beginning to tighten around her, Elsie Ashford continued with her ordinary life.
For now.
Neither she nor anyone at Veyr Group knew that someone in another country had already begun investigating her.
And no one knew why.
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