By the fourth day at Veyronis, Ayanda Bennett had discovered that Adrian Vale possessed an unusual talent.
He could make an ordinary Monday feel like a military operation.
Her desk had disappeared beneath folders. Her calendar contained enough appointments to occupy three people, and her inbox seemed to reproduce every time she cleared it. Somewhere between arranging an international conference call, correcting a board presentation, and responding to a message from Zurich that had somehow become urgent overnight, Ayanda had begun questioning the wisdom of accepting the position.
Yet, strangely, she was beginning to understand the rhythm of the place.
Veyronis moved according to Adrian's temperament.
When he was silent, everyone worked faster.
When he walked through the executive floor, conversations lowered.
When he entered a meeting, excuses disappeared.
And when he said, "I want it done," nobody asked when.
They simply did it.
Ayanda had initially thought his authority came from his position. After several days, she realized it was something else. Adrian did not need to remind people that he was in charge. He carried the fact with him.
That morning, she was sorting correspondence when his office door opened.
"Ayanda."
She looked up.
"Yes?"
"Conference room."
"Now?"
His eyes settled on her.
"Did I say tomorrow?"
She sighed quietly.
"No."
"Then now."
She gathered her tablet and followed him.
The conference room was occupied by several senior executives. Adrian took his usual position at the head of the table, while Ayanda sat near the end, preparing to take notes.
The meeting concerned a proposed acquisition in Switzerland, and for almost an hour Adrian questioned every figure placed before him. He was exacting without raising his voice, dismissing weak arguments with a calmness that was considerably more intimidating than anger.
When one executive tried to explain a discrepancy by blaming the financial department, Adrian simply looked at him.
"Then why did you sign the report?"
The man hesitated.
Adrian leaned back.
"That's what I thought."
The meeting continued.
Ayanda watched him carefully.
There was something fascinating about the way he worked. He seemed incapable of accepting half-truths. Every number had to be justified, every decision supported, every person held accountable.
It should have made him easier to understand.
Instead, it made him more mysterious.
When the meeting finally ended, the executives filed out.
Adrian remained behind.
"Ayanda."
She gathered her notebook.
"Yes?"
"Take these documents to records."
He handed her a slim folder.
She glanced at it.
"Records?"
"Yes."
"Anything specific I should do?"
"File them under Project Orpheus."
The name caught her attention.
She looked at him.
"Orpheus?"
Adrian's expression changed almost imperceptibly.
"Yes."
"What's the project?"
His gaze became colder.
"You don't need to know."
Ayanda nodded.
"Understood."
She turned to leave.
"Ayanda."
She stopped.
"Do not open the folder."
She looked over her shoulder.
"I wasn't planning to."
"Good."
There was something in the way he said it that made her curious.
She left anyway.
The records department was located on a lower floor, far away from the polished offices of the executive level. Unlike the rest of Veyronis, it felt old. The lighting was dimmer, the corridors narrower, and rows of locked cabinets stretched along the walls.
A records administrator accepted the folder from her.
"Project Orpheus?"
Ayanda nodded.
The woman's expression changed.
She glanced at the folder, then at Ayanda.
"Who sent you?"
"Mr. Vale."
The woman immediately became more professional.
"Of course."
She took the folder.
Ayanda was about to leave when the woman paused.
"There should be another file."
"What file?"
"Nothing."
Ayanda frowned.
The woman looked uncomfortable.
"I thought there was another document attached."
"There wasn't."
"Then forget I mentioned it."
Ayanda nodded slowly.
She walked away.
But she didn't forget.
She returned to the executive floor with the strange feeling that she had just stepped around the edge of something she wasn't supposed to see.
She found Adrian in his office.
He was standing by the window, phone pressed to his ear.
His German was clipped and unusually severe.
"Nein. Ich will keine Vermutungen. Ich will Fakten."
No. I don't want assumptions. I want facts.
Ayanda stopped outside.
She hadn't intended to listen, but the tone of his voice made her hesitate.
Adrian turned.
His eyes met hers through the glass.
The conversation ended immediately.
He lowered the phone.
"Come in."
Ayanda entered.
"You wanted something?"
"No."
She nodded.
"I delivered the documents."
"Good."
She turned toward the door.
Then remembered.
"The records administrator mentioned another file."
Adrian's expression changed.
"What did she say?"
"Nothing important."
"Exactly what did she say?"
Ayanda looked at him.
"She thought there was another document attached to the folder."
Silence.
Adrian placed his phone on the desk.
"What else?"
"That was all."
He studied her.
"Did you see anything?"
"No."
"Did you open anything?"
"No."
He nodded once.
"Good."
Ayanda should have left.
Instead, she found herself asking, "Why does everyone react strangely when they hear the name Orpheus?"
Adrian's gaze remained fixed on her.
"Because people are naturally curious about things they don't understand."
"That's not an answer."
"It is the only one you're getting."
She smiled faintly.
"Of course."
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
"Something amusing?"
"No."
"Then why are you smiling?"
"Because you always answer questions with another question."
"I don't remember asking for your opinion."
"You didn't."
"Then don't give it."
Ayanda turned toward the door.
"Yes, Mr. Vale."
She heard him say her name before she reached it.
"Ayanda."
She stopped.
He was looking at her differently now.
Not warmly.
Not angrily.
Carefully.
"Stay away from Project Orpheus."
Her curiosity intensified.
"Why?"
Adrian's voice dropped.
"Because some doors are locked for a reason."
She held his gaze for a moment.
Then left.
That evening, the office became quieter.
Most employees had gone home, but Ayanda remained behind to finish a report Adrian wanted before morning.
She was halfway through the final section when she noticed a discrepancy.
One of the financial records referenced a document number that wasn't included in the digital archive.
She searched again.
Nothing.
She checked the previous records.
Still nothing.
The document number existed, but the file itself appeared to have vanished.
Ayanda frowned.
She wasn't trying to investigate anything.
She simply hated incomplete records.
It was one of the reasons she had been good at her previous jobs.
She opened the physical archive system.
The number appeared.
ORPHEUS — 14/09
She stared at it.
The same date appeared on an older document nearby.
Her curiosity won.
She clicked.
A scanned page appeared.
Most of it was blacked out.
Names had been removed.
Figures had been hidden.
But one surname remained visible.
BENNETT.
Ayanda froze.
Her fingers stopped above the keyboard.
For several seconds she simply stared.
It was probably a coincidence.
There were thousands of Bennetts in the world.
It didn't have to mean anything.
She tried to close the file.
The system froze.
Then another page appeared.
A photograph.
Three people.
The image was old and slightly faded.
One of them was unmistakably Adrian.
He looked younger.
Perhaps nineteen or twenty.
The woman beside him was unfamiliar.
But the third person—
Ayanda leaned closer.
She couldn't see his face clearly.
Only his name beneath the photograph.
Daniel Bennett.
Her father's name.
Ayanda's heart dropped.
She stared at the screen.
No.
It couldn't be.
Her father had never mentioned Veyronis.
Never mentioned Adrian Vale.
Never mentioned Germany.
Never mentioned any connection to a technology company.
She closed the file immediately.
Her breathing had become shallow.
Then she heard footsteps.
Ayanda looked toward the doorway.
Someone was approaching.
She quickly shut down the archive and stood.
The footsteps stopped outside.
A shadow appeared beneath the door.
Then disappeared.
Ayanda waited.
Nothing.
She gathered her things.
When she reached the corridor, it was empty.
She looked toward Adrian's office.
The lights were still on.
For some reason, she didn't go there.
Instead, she walked toward the elevator.
Behind her, one of the security cameras slowly turned in her direction.
Adrian was still working when Nathaniel entered his office.
"You're still here."
Adrian didn't look up.
"Apparently."
Nathaniel placed a file on the desk.
"I found something."
Adrian looked at him.
"What?"
"The Orpheus archive was accessed."
His expression hardened.
"When?"
"Tonight."
"Who accessed it?"
"We don't know."
Adrian leaned back.
"Then find out."
Nathaniel hesitated.
"There is something else."
Adrian waited.
"The file that was accessed contains the Bennett name."
The room became silent.
Adrian's eyes hardened.
"Are you certain?"
"Yes."
"Who accessed it?"
"I'm still checking."
Adrian stood.
"Check faster."
Nathaniel nodded.
He turned toward the door.
"Adrian."
"What?"
"Do you think she knows?"
Adrian didn't answer immediately.
His gaze moved toward the glass wall.
Ayanda's desk was empty.
"No," he finally said.
Nathaniel studied him.
"You sound certain."
Adrian's expression remained unreadable.
"I don't believe she's involved."
"Then why investigate her?"
"Because I don't believe in coincidences."
Nathaniel nodded slowly.
"And if she discovers the connection?"
Adrian looked toward the darkened city outside.
"Then I'll decide what she needs to know."
Ayanda reached her apartment much later that night.
She placed her handbag on the table and stood in the silence.
She should have been thinking about work.
Instead, she could only think about one name.
Daniel Bennett.
Her father.
And beneath his name—
Veyronis Technologies.
She walked to the small cabinet where she kept old family photographs.
After searching through several boxes, she found one.
Her father's photograph.
She studied it.
Then remembered the image on the Veyronis archive.
The same face.
The same eyes.
But there was something else.
A small silver pendant around his neck.
The exact pendant her mother had given Ayanda when she was twelve.
Ayanda slowly touched the necklace.
Her phone rang.
Unknown number.
She stared at it.
It stopped.
A few seconds later, a message appeared.
You should stop looking for things that were buried years ago.
Ayanda's heart began to pound.
Another message appeared.
Not everything buried is meant to be found.
She looked toward the window.
The city outside was quiet.
But across the street, beneath the dim glow of a streetlamp, a black car was parked with its engine running.
Ayanda watched it for several seconds.
Then the car moved.
Slowly.
Without headlights.
She stepped away from the window.
For the first time since accepting the job at Veyronis, she wasn't thinking about Adrian Vale's impossible demands.
She wasn't thinking about her workload.
She wasn't even thinking about the strange attraction she occasionally felt whenever his eyes remained on hers for a second too long.
She was thinking about her father.
And about the question she suddenly couldn't escape:
What had he been doing at Veyronis sixteen years ago?
Meanwhile, on the forty-first floor, Adrian stood alone beside the window.
His phone displayed the same unknown number.
A message had just arrived.
She found the name.
Adrian's expression became stone.
A second message followed.
What will you do now, Mr. Vale?
He stared at it for a long moment.
Then typed a single reply.
Nothing.
He deleted the message.
Changed his mind.
And typed again.
Not yet.