THE REVENGE I DIDN'T CHOOSE

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The officer's fingers wrapped around my wrist. His grip wasn't painful, but the cold metal of his handcuffs sent a chill through me. "Miss Wells," he said again, his voice was softer now, as if he thought I might run away in a few seconds if he let go. I didn't look at him. I looked at Adrian.

He still hasn’t moved or even said a word. His face was blank, but his eyes were doing something I can’t read— Not guilt, not victory but something worse.

“Wait,” I said. My voice cracks. “That's not me in the footage.” The officer paused for a while. For a second, his eyes shifted to Adrian, as if he was waiting for him to say something. “Come with us, Miss Wells,” the officer said.

They hand-cuff me in his office right there, ten feet from my desk. The click of the handcuffs echoed in the silence. The walls were glassy giving anyone walking past to see clearly what was going on. People slow down to Stare and pretend not to stare.

My face burns. Blackwell's newest hire is being led out in handcuffs. I keep my eyes on Adrian as they pull me toward the door. He didn't blink. “Adrian” I said, and I hated how desperate it sounded out of my mouth. “You know I didn’t…”

The door closes behind me before I can finish.

The interrogation room smells like bleach and stale coffee. Detective Ruiz sits across from me, calm and unreadable. My company badge is sealed in a plastic bag on the table including my phone. Seeing them there makes my stomach twist—Like they're already building a case against me.

“Your ID was used to access the server room at 12:47 a.m.” he said. “ The footage showed it was you.” “The footage showed someone who resembles me,” I said. And moreover, "I'm not the one, I was at home that night. ” I defended myself.

“Alone?”

I hesitate. “Yes.”

He writes something down…something I couldn't figure out well with my eyes. “You think I broke into a server room to leave blood on the floor?” I lean forward. “That’s not a crime, that’s a trap.”

Ruiz didn't blink nor act surprised. “Then tell me who set it.” I opened my mouth to talk but words couldn't come out. I can’t say Adrian’s name. Not yet, not without proof, not when he’s the only one who told me not to go.

“I don’t know,” I said.

Ruiz stared at me for a long moment, like he's trying to decide whether I'm lying or not. “Mr. Blackwell stood up for you.” My stomach drops. “What?” “He told us you were in his office until 5:30 in the evening. That you had no access to server room keys, that the ID could’ve been cloned.” He slides a paper across the table. “He’s your witness” I stared at the paper in my hands.The Blackwell Technologies logo sat at the top with Adrian's signature at the bottom.

He lied for me. I murmured.

“Why did he stand up for me?” I asked.

Ruiz shrugs. “You’d have to ask him.”

They let me go at 10:14 p.m. No charges. Just a warning not to leave the city. My badge is gone. My phone is gone. I walk out of the interrogation room with nothing but the clothes on my body and a headache that feels like someone’s splitting my skull.

My gaze went to Adrian. He’s waiting outside, leaning against a black car, his hands in his pockets, like he’s been there for hours. When he saw me, he didn't move. “You could’ve let them take me,” I said when I reached him.

“I didn’t.”

“Why?”

“Because I need you,” he said. “Need me for what?” I snapped. “To find out who’s deleting your father’s records.” My stomach dropped. “What?” He opened the car door. “Get in, Zara. They're not done with you yet.” His gaze sent a shiver through me. I slid into the car. We didn't go to his apartment, we went to Blackwell Tower.

At 11 p.m, Blackwell Tower is almost empty—No voices, no ringing phones, just security guards and the low hum of the servers.Adrian taps his keycard at the door on the fifty-seventh floor. The light flashes green. Out of habit, I reach for my own badge, then I remember It doesn't work anymore.

“My office,” he said. I followed him inside. The moment the door closes, he opens his laptop and pulls up the company's internal logs. His fingers fly across the keyboard very fast like he already knows exactly where to look.

“Here,” he said, turning the laptop towards me. A list of deleted files fills the screen including the dates, the User IDs, Audit reports, Emails, and Personnel files were all deleted within the last forty-eight hours. I saw a familiar name from the screen—DANIEL VANCE, that was my father's name.

A knot forms in my throat.

“Someone's deleting him,” I said.

“Yes,” Adrian said. “And they're doing it from inside.” He points to a user ID on the screen—ABlackwell. My stomach drops. “That's you.” “It was,” he said. “Until yesterday, Someone cloned my credentials.”

I stared at him.

My mind struggles to catch up.

“So it wasn't you,” I said slowly. “You didn't delete the audit logs?” “No,” he said. “But I told you it was, because I needed to see if you’d tell me the truth about that email.” I stared at him. “You played me.” “I protected you,” he snapped. “Whoever sent you that birth certificate wants you in the server room. Wants you blamed for the blood and wants…you gone.” He stressed.

“And you think I can't see that?” “No.” His gaze is still on me. “I think I'm the one who can see that.” Those words settled heavily between us. For a moment, neither of us said something. Then he opens a desk drawer and pulls out a hard drive without breaking eye contact, he slides it across the desk to me.

“What’s this?”

“Backups,” he said.

I frown.

“Backups of what?”

“Everything they missed.” His eyes locked on mine. “Your father's real audit trail.” A chill crawls down my spine. “If they find out I have it, I'm dead.” He pushes the drive closer. “If they find out you have it, you're dead too.” He concluded.

I stared at the hard drive but didn't touch it.

“Why me?” “Because you hate me.” Adrian leans back in his chair. “And people who hate survive longer.” Before I can answer, a phone buzzes. My blood runs cold. Not my phone, it's the burner phone.The one I left in my apartment and no one should know about.

With shaking fingers, I pulled it out.

Unknown number.

Text: Nice try. The drive is empty. Check again in the morning. I looked up at Adrian, his face had gone pale. “They’re in my office,” he said.

The overhead lights blink twice and a chill runs through my spine. Then the door opened, and I saw the person I least expected standing there.