Chapter 16: The Leak in the Shadows
The morning after their long, bruising battle with smear campaigns, Elena woke to the sound of low voices outside her door. For one breathless second, she thought Adrian was already in another strategy call. But when she cracked the door, she found him speaking quietly to someone she had never seen before—a man in a dark suit, pale-eyed, carrying himself with the coiled stillness of a predator.
Adrian's tone was clipped. "Trace it. Every packet, every redirect. I don't care how deep you have to go. Find who paid for this smear and put me their name in twelve hours."
The man nodded once and disappeared as silently as he'd come.
Elena's chest tightened. Adrian hadn't noticed her watching—his face was turned toward the window, his profile hard, drawn. He looked less like the calculating CEO she sparred with daily and more like a general steeling himself before a battlefield.
The system's voice intruded mercilessly:
[ Sub-Mission: Observe Target under pressure. Requirement: Offer emotional support before midnight. Reward: +5% Affection. Failure: -10% Affection. ]
Elena cursed inwardly. Emotional support? He doesn't need support—he's Adrian Blackwood. He doesn't break.
But she remembered the confession about his failure at twenty-one, and something in her whispered that maybe he did break, just in private, where no one could see.
---
At breakfast, the tension was sharp enough to slice through the eggs. Adrian drank his coffee too fast, barely tasting it, his eyes locked on his phone as updates rolled in. Elena forced herself to stir sugar into her cup just for the sound, to make the silence less oppressive.
"Who was that man this morning?" she asked finally.
Adrian didn't look up. "Specialist."
She frowned. "That's not an answer."
Now his gaze lifted, cool and unreadable. "Someone who finds the truth when others bury it. You don't need to worry about him."
"That's impossible," Elena said quietly. "You can't tell me not to worry when the entire internet thinks I'm manipulating public opinion. They're calling me a parasite, Adrian. I can't just… shut that out."
His eyes softened—barely, but enough for her to notice. "I know." He set the phone down deliberately. "But I will burn every account, every server, every smear to ash before I let them touch you again."
Her breath caught. Why does he always say things like that—as if he means them, as if he'd really do it?
The Affection meter hummed.
[ Affection +4%. Current Affection: 80%. ]
Elena nearly spilled her coffee. Eighty. The number was climbing faster than she was prepared for.
---
By noon, chaos broke again.
The specialist returned, handing Adrian a thin folder. Adrian opened it in silence, but Elena caught the flicker in his eyes—anger, sharp and controlled.
"It wasn't Ryan," Adrian said flatly. "Not directly."
Elena blinked. "Then who?"
Adrian's jaw flexed. "My uncle."
The room went cold.
[ New Mission Triggered: Family Secrets. Requirement: Target must reveal hidden truth to Host within 48 hours. Reward: Emotional Synchronization +10%. Penalty: Affection -15%, trust fracture. ]
Elena's pulse spiked. The system was merciless—forcing revelations, forcing exposure.
She stared at him, throat dry. "Why would your uncle do this?"
Adrian's laugh was bitter, humorless. "Because power runs like blood in my family. My uncle never forgave my father for leaving the company to me. He thinks you're a weakness, Elena. An entry point. And now he's proved his point by feeding the wolves outside."
Elena's mind spun. This is bigger than I thought. It isn't just Ryan's obsession—it's family politics, inheritance wars. I'm in the middle of something that started long before me.
Her instinct screamed to retreat. But the system chimed again, cruel as ever:
[ Reminder: Failure to provide emotional support today will result in Affection loss. ]
She swallowed hard, then stepped closer. Her hand trembled as she touched his arm. "Then let's prove him wrong."
Adrian's gaze snapped to hers. For one fragile second, the steel melted, and she saw the boy who had gambled everything at twenty-one and lost, the man who carried scars under his perfect suits.
"You don't know what you're saying," he murmured.
"Maybe not," she admitted. "But I know you're not alone in this. Not anymore."
The silence that followed was thick with unspoken things.
[ Affection +7%. Current Affection: 87%. Emotional Synchronization: 25%. ]
Adrian's hand covered hers, anchoring it against his arm. "Careful, Elena. Words like that… they make me want to believe you."
Her heart slammed against her ribs. "Maybe you should."
---
That night, Adrian insisted on taking her to a gala—a charity event hosted by one of his allies, a place crawling with cameras and whispers. Elena wore a deep sapphire gown, her hair pinned elegantly, but her nerves rattled like glass.
As they entered, the system pinged:
[ Sub-Mission: Public Unity. Requirement: Maintain physical contact with Target for minimum 30 minutes cumulative. Reward: +8% Affection, Public Perception +5%. ]
Her arm was already looped through his, but the thought of thirty minutes of contact made her dizzy. Still, she braced herself.
The gala was a minefield. Elena heard the whispers, felt the glances—half envy, half disdain. A woman in diamonds murmured loudly to her companion: "Is that her? The secretary? Bold move, even for Blackwood."
Adrian didn't flinch. He leaned closer to Elena, his hand pressing lightly at her waist. "Ignore them," he said, just for her ears. "They wish they were you."
She shot him a glare. "You're impossible."
"And yet," he murmured, lips brushing near her ear, "you're still here."
Her skin flushed hot. The Affection meter climbed.
[ Affection +5%. Current Affection: 92%. ]
Dinner passed with conversations about donations and market projections. Adrian deflected every veiled jab aimed at Elena with lethal politeness, making it clear she was not a passing fling but someone he defended with his full weight.
By the end of the night, Elena realized with a jolt that her hand had never left his. The mission chimed completion.
[ Sub-Mission Complete: Public Unity. Reward applied. ]
[ Affection +8%. Current Affection: 100%. Public Perception +5%. ]
Elena froze. One hundred.
The system pulsed violently in her mind, brighter than ever before.
[ Milestone Reached: Target's Affection at 100%. New Synchronization Path unlocked. Warning: Emotions may now influence both Host and Target simultaneously. ]
Her breath caught as the warmth flooded her chest, tethering her to Adrian in ways she couldn't untangle. She looked up at him, ready to protest, to demand what this meant—
But Adrian was already staring at her as if he felt it too.
"Elena," he whispered, the noise of the gala fading into nothing, "something just changed, didn't it?"
Her lips parted, but no sound came.
Because she knew he was right.