Late afternoon sunlight slanted through the tall windows of the villa's library, illuminating rows of leather-bound tomes. Viola Kane sat at a polished mahogany desk, earbuds in place, rewatching a six-year-old news segment on her tablet. The clip showed her father, Charles Kane, standing defiantly as board members led him away in handcuffs while a young Lester Hayden looked on from the gallery. The headlines flashed: *“Kane Corp. Collapses Amid Fraud Allegations."* Viola paused the video on a freeze-frame.
Heart pounding, she leaned closer. At the far edge of the shot—half-obscured by a security guard—stood a tall man in a brown trench coat. Broad shoulders, angular jaw. Gabriel Locke. Her foster father.
“How…?" she whispered.
Behind her, Marlowe cleared his throat. “Doctor?"
Viola sp
