A Deal With the Devil
1658 Words
The archive room was on the thirty-second floor.
By the time Elena and Adrian reached the corridor, the building had already been placed under security lockdown.
Every few seconds, another employee hurried past them.
Security officers stood at both ends of the hallway.
Adrian walked faster.
“Who has access to this floor?” he asked.
“Only senior executives and authorized security personnel,” Marcus replied through the phone.
“And the archive?”
“Even fewer people.”
Adrian stopped.
“Then how did someone get inside?”
“We're trying to find out.”
Elena looked toward the heavy steel door at the end of the corridor.
Her heart was beating faster with every step.
She didn't understand why.
Maybe because Daniel's name had been mentioned.
Maybe because she had spent three years believing she had lost her brother forever.
Or maybe because some part of her already knew that whatever they found behind that door would change everything.
Adrian noticed her expression.
“You don't have to do this.”
Elena looked at him.
“I do.”
“You've already been through enough.”
“I disappeared once because I was afraid.”
Her voice was quiet.
“I won't disappear again.”
Adrian held her gaze for a moment.
Then he nodded.
“Stay behind me.”
Elena almost smiled.
“You still give orders like you did three years ago.”
“And you still ignore them.”
For the first time, there was something almost familiar between them.
Then the moment disappeared.
A security officer approached.
“Mr. Cross.”
“What happened?”
“The archive door was forced open.”
“Was anything taken?”
“We don't know yet.”
Adrian entered first.
Elena followed.
The archive room was enormous.
Rows of locked cabinets stretched across the walls. Old contracts, financial records, legal documents and confidential files were stored inside.
Several drawers had been pulled open.
Papers covered the floor.
Someone had been searching for something.
Adrian walked toward the central desk.
“Find out exactly what is missing.”
The officer nodded.
Elena noticed something on the floor.
A small black envelope.
She bent down.
“Adrian.”
He turned.
“What?”
She held it up.
“There was no one else in this room when we entered.”
Adrian took the envelope carefully.
There was no name on it.
Only one word.
ELENA.
Her stomach tightened.
“Open it,” Adrian said.
She looked at him.
“You're not curious?”
“I am.”
“Then why are you making me open it?”
“Because it has your name on it.”
Elena slowly opened the envelope.
Inside was a photograph.
Her hands froze.
It showed Daniel.
Not a photograph from years ago.
A recent photograph.
He was standing outside a building she didn't recognize.
Alive.
Older.
But unmistakably Daniel.
Elena's breath caught.
“No…”
Adrian took the photograph from her.
On the back was a handwritten message.
Your brother is alive.
Elena stared at the words.
Her eyes filled with tears.
For three years, she had tried to accept his death.
She had forced herself to believe that the brother who used to protect her was gone.
Now someone had taken that grief and turned it upside down.
“Where is he?” she whispered.
Adrian turned the photograph over.
There was an address.
He read it.
Then his expression changed.
“What?”
He didn't answer.
“Adrian, what is it?”
“That address belongs to someone I know.”
“Who?”
He looked at her.
“Victor Kane.”
The name meant nothing to Elena.
“Who is he?”
Adrian's jaw tightened.
“A businessman.”
“That doesn't explain anything.”
“He was once my father's closest partner.”
Elena stared at him.
“And now?”
“Now he's the man trying to destroy my company.”
Silence.
Elena looked at the photograph again.
“Why would he have Daniel?”
“I don't know.”
“Then let's go there.”
Adrian shook his head.
“Absolutely not.”
“Why?”
“Because if Victor wanted us to find this photograph, there's a reason.”
Elena folded her arms.
“Then we find out what the reason is.”
“You don't understand who you're dealing with.”
“I understand perfectly.”
“No, you don't.”
His voice became sharper.
“Victor doesn't make threats unless he's prepared to carry them out.”
Elena stepped closer.
“And someone has been threatening me for three years.”
Adrian fell silent.
She continued.
“You think I don't understand danger? I ran because I was terrified that marrying you would put your life at risk.”
“And you thought disappearing without a word was the solution?”
“I thought keeping you alive was more important than explaining myself.”
Adrian looked away.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Elena noticed something.
A file was lying beneath the desk.
She picked it up.
The label had almost faded.
VALE FAMILY — CONFIDENTIAL
Her fingers trembled.
“Adrian…”
He turned.
“What?”
She showed him the file.
His expression immediately changed.
“Where did you find that?”
“Here.”
Adrian took it.
He opened the first page.
Then the second.
His face became increasingly serious.
Elena watched him.
“What does it say?”
He didn't answer.
“Adrian.”
He finally looked at her.
“This file shouldn't exist.”
“Why?”
“Because these records were destroyed three years ago.”
Elena's heart sank.
“What records?”
“Financial transfers.”
“Between who?”
Adrian turned another page.
Then he stopped.
“Elena…”
“What?”
“Your father transferred a large amount of money to an offshore account.”
She stared at him.
“When?”
“Two days before your wedding.”
Elena shook her head.
“No.”
Adrian continued reading.
“The account belonged to a company controlled by Victor Kane.”
Elena stepped backward.
“My father knew him?”
“They were connected.”
“But why?”
Adrian looked at the next page.
His eyes narrowed.
“There is something else.”
“What?”
“The payment wasn't made by your father alone.”
He turned the document toward her.
A second signature appeared beneath her father's.
Elena stared at it.
Her blood ran cold.
She knew that signature.
It belonged to someone she had trusted completely.
Someone who had stood beside her family for years.
Someone she had never suspected.
“Who is that?” Adrian asked.
Elena couldn't speak.
Adrian looked at the signature again.
Then at her.
“Elena?”
She finally whispered the name.
“Your mother.”
Adrian went completely still.
“My mother?”
Elena nodded slowly.
“I've seen that signature before.”
The room seemed to shrink around them.
Adrian closed the file.
“My mother died six months before our wedding.”
“I know.”
“Then how could she have signed this?”
Elena looked at the document.
“I don't know.”
For the first time, Adrian looked genuinely shaken.
He had always believed his mother's death was unrelated to everything that happened before the wedding.
Now that belief was beginning to c***k.
A sudden sound came from the hallway.
Both of them turned.
Footsteps.
Someone was running.
Adrian immediately moved toward the door.
“Stay here.”
Elena followed him.
They rushed into the corridor.
A security officer shouted from the other end.
“Someone is escaping!”
Adrian ran after him.
Elena followed.
The figure disappeared around a corner.
Adrian reached the stairwell just in time to see a man in a dark coat disappearing down the stairs.
“Stop!”
The man didn't.
Adrian started after him.
“Elena, stay back!”
But she had already noticed something.
The man had dropped something.
She picked it up.
A silver watch.
Her breath stopped.
She knew that watch.
Daniel had worn it every day.
She remembered giving it to him for his birthday.
Engraved on the back were two letters.
D.V.
Daniel Vale.
Elena's hands began to shake.
“He's alive.”
Adrian stopped on the stairs.
He looked at the watch.
Then at Elena.
For three years, they had both believed they had lost someone.
Now the truth was standing directly in front of them.
Someone had been hiding Daniel.
Someone had been manipulating Elena.
Someone had destroyed the wedding.
And someone was still watching them.
Adrian took the watch from Elena.
“We're going to find him.”
Elena looked into his eyes.
“And after we find him?”
Adrian's expression hardened.
“We find out who did this.”
---
Across the city, a man sat alone inside a dark office.
A computer screen showed live footage from Cross International.
He watched Elena and Adrian standing together.
A slow smile appeared on his face.
His phone rang.
He answered.
“They found the watch.”
The voice on the other end was calm.
“Good.”
The man frowned.
“Good?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because now they'll do exactly what we want.”
He looked at the screen.
Elena was still standing beside Adrian.
The voice continued.
“Let them search for Daniel.”
The man smiled.
“And when they find him?”
There was a long pause.
“Then Elena will finally learn why she was forced to disappear.”
The call ended.
The man leaned back.
Everything was going according to plan.
But there was one thing he hadn't anticipated.
Adrian and Elena were no longer enemies.
They were searching for the truth together.
And that made them much more dangerous.
End of Episode 4.
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