THE WARNING
1227 Words
CHAPTER 3
The Warning
Chloe barely slept that night.
The words Andrian had said kept replaying in her mind.
Someone has been looking for you.
She sat on the edge of her bed, staring at the old photograph she had taken from her mother's drawer.
It showed her father standing in front of an unfamiliar building.
Beside him was a younger man.
Chloe had never seen him before.
But there was something familiar about his face.
She turned the photograph over.
There was a date written on the back.
June 14, 2012.
And underneath it were four words:
Trust no one, Chloe.
Her heart pounded.
“Dad... what were you involved in?”
---
The next morning, Chloe arrived at the office earlier than usual.
She wanted answers.
More importantly, she wanted them without Andrian watching her every move.
She went straight to the archive room.
The folder from yesterday was gone.
Chloe frowned.
Someone had taken it.
She searched the shelves again, but there was nothing.
“Looking for something?”
Chloe jumped.
She turned around.
Andrian stood at the entrance.
“Do you always sneak up on people?”
“Only when they're doing something they're not supposed to.”
Chloe crossed her arms.
“I was looking for my father's case.”
“I know.”
“Where is the file?”
“Locked away.”
“Why?”
“Because you shouldn't be involved.”
“That isn't your decision.”
Andrian's expression hardened.
“Actually, it is.”
Chloe stared at him.
“You can't keep secrets from me forever.”
“I know.”
The answer surprised her.
Andrian stepped closer.
“And that's exactly what worries me.”
Before Chloe could respond, Ms. Reyes hurried into the room.
“Sir, there's a problem.”
Andrian turned.
“What happened?”
“Someone accessed the old case database last night.”
His expression immediately changed.
“Which files?”
Ms. Reyes hesitated.
“The Zane case.”
Chloe's stomach dropped.
Andrian looked at her.
“Stay here.”
“I'm coming with you.”
“No.”
“It's my family.”
“Chloe—”
“I said I'm coming.”
For several seconds, they stared at each other.
Finally, Andrian sighed.
“Fine.”
---
The security office was on the floor below.
A security officer pulled up the building's access records.
“There was an unauthorized login at 11:42 last night,” he explained.
“Who used it?” Andrian asked.
“We don't know. The account was masked.”
Chloe looked at the screen.
“Can you trace it?”
“We're trying.”
Andrian leaned toward the monitor.
“Show me the access location.”
The officer pulled up the data.
Chloe's eyes widened.
The login came from inside the firm.
Someone in the building had accessed her father's case.
Andrian's jaw tightened.
“Check every employee who was here after ten.”
The officer nodded.
Chloe looked at Andrian.
“You said the people involved weren't finished.”
“Yes.”
“You knew this would happen.”
“I suspected.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I didn't want you involved.”
Chloe shook her head.
“You keep saying that.”
Andrian looked at her.
“Because it's true.”
Before Chloe could answer, the security officer spoke.
“Sir.”
Everyone turned.
“We found something.”
He pointed at the screen.
A single file had been downloaded.
Not the entire case.
Just one document.
Exhibit 17.
Andrian went completely still.
Chloe noticed.
“You know what that is.”
“Yes.”
“What is it?”
Andrian didn't answer.
“Tell me.”
He looked at her.
“It's the document your father disappeared over.”
Chloe's face went pale.
“My father didn't disappear.”
Andrian's expression softened.
“I know.”
She stared at him.
“What do you mean?”
He lowered his voice.
“Your father left the country twelve years ago.”
Chloe froze.
“What?”
“My father helped him.”
She stepped backward.
“Your father?”
Andrian nodded.
“My father was the senior partner on the case.”
Chloe suddenly remembered the photograph.
The unfamiliar man beside her father.
She pulled it from her bag.
“Andrian...”
She handed him the photograph.
His eyes immediately fixed on the man standing beside her father.
For the first time since Chloe had met him, Andrian looked genuinely shocked.
“Where did you get this?”
“My mother.”
He took the photograph carefully.
“That isn't my father.”
Chloe frowned.
“Then who is he?”
Andrian stared at the picture.
“I don't know.”
A phone suddenly rang.
Both of them looked toward the security officer.
The officer answered.
“Hello?”
His expression changed.
“Sir... the person who accessed the file just logged in again.”
Andrian immediately turned toward the monitor.
“Where?”
The officer looked at the screen.
Then his face went pale.
“Thirty-second floor.”
Chloe's heart stopped.
Their floor.
Andrian looked at her.
“Stay behind me.”
This time, Chloe didn't argue.
They hurried toward the elevator.
The doors opened.
The thirty-second floor was completely silent.
Too silent.
Andrian stepped out first.
Chloe followed.
Then they heard a sound.
A door closing somewhere down the hallway.
Andrian immediately looked toward it.
“Someone's here.”
They moved carefully toward the end of the corridor.
But when they reached the room, nobody was inside.
Only a single envelope remained on the floor.
Chloe stared at it.
Her name was written across the front.
CHLOE ZANE.
She slowly picked it up.
Andrian's voice was firm.
“Don't open it.”
Chloe looked at him.
“What if it's the answer?”
“And what if it's a trap?”
She looked down at the envelope.
For the first time, she realized that whoever was behind this knew exactly who she was.
And they wanted her to keep searching.
Chloe opened the envelope.
Inside was a single photograph.
Her father.
And the same mysterious man from the old picture.
On the back, another message had been written.
YOU'RE LOOKING IN THE WRONG PLACE.
Chloe's hands trembled.
Andrian read the message.
His expression darkened.
Then his phone rang.
He answered.
“Hello?”
A voice spoke on the other end.
Andrian's eyes narrowed.
“What do you want?”
There was a pause.
Then the call ended.
Chloe stared at him.
“Who was that?”
Andrian looked at her.
“Someone who knows your father.”
“Who?”
He didn't answer.
Instead, he looked down the empty hallway.
“We need to leave.”
“Why?”
“Because whoever sent that photograph knows we're here.”
Chloe's heart raced.
Andrian stepped toward the elevator.
“From now on, you don't go anywhere alone.”
Chloe frowned.
“Are you ordering me?”
“No.”
He looked at her seriously.
“I'm warning you.”
The elevator doors opened.
Neither of them noticed the security camera at the end of the hallway.
Its red light blinked once.
Someone was watching them.
And they had been watching Chloe from the moment she entered Villano & Associates.
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