Chapter 2 - The Office That Had Been Emptied Before Me
For the first time since the hospital called, I felt something stronger than betrayal.
Fear.
Not the fear of losing Kenneth.
That feeling had already died.
This was the fear of realizing I had stepped into a game that had begun long before my marriage.
I slipped the tiny black key into my pocket and left the hospital without telling anyone.
Outside, rain hammered the parking lot.
Reporters were already gathering near the emergency entrance.
Someone had leaked the story.
"The famous financial consultant..."
"...and another man's wife..."
The headlines were already writing themselves.
Good.
If everyone focused on the scandal...
Nobody would notice the real investigation.
I drove straight to Rollins Capital.
Kenneth's company occupied the top four floors of a glass tower overlooking downtown.
Every employee knew me.
No one questioned my arrival.
The receptionist stood up nervously.
"Mrs. Rollins... Mr. Rollins had an accident."
"I know."
"Should I call security?"
"No."
"My husband gave me full authorization years ago."
She nodded immediately.
"His office hasn't been touched."
I smiled politely.
That was exactly what worried me.
When the elevator doors opened onto the executive floor, something felt wrong.
Too quiet.
Kenneth usually kept classical music playing through hidden speakers.
Today...
Silence.
His assistant's desk was empty.
Coffee still sat beside the keyboard.
Warm.
Someone had left only minutes earlier.
I opened Kenneth's office.
Everything appeared normal.
The mahogany desk.
Leather chairs.
Books arranged by height.
Family photographs.
Awards.
Certificates.
The perfect office.
Too perfect.
Kenneth hated perfection.
He always left files scattered across his desk.
Now every pen pointed in the same direction.
Someone had cleaned the room.
I locked the door behind me.
Then entered the six-digit code.
684291.
The painting behind the bookshelf slid aside with a quiet mechanical click.
There it was.
The safe.
Exactly where the investigator had described it.
I turned the handle.
Empty.
Except...
A single business card.
No name.
No logo.
Only one sentence printed in silver.
"Too late."
Someone had beaten me here.
I searched every drawer.
Every cabinet.
Nothing.
Until I remembered the tiny black key.
Second safe.
But where?
I studied the office carefully.
Books.
Desk.
Awards.
Nothing.
Then my eyes stopped on our wedding photograph.
Kenneth never liked displaying personal pictures.
Yet this one stood directly beside his computer.
Odd.
I lifted the frame.
It felt unusually heavy.
Turning it over, I found another keyhole.
The tiny black key fit perfectly.
Click.
A hidden compartment opened inside the frame.
Not jewelry.
Not money.
A flash drive.
And a folded letter.
The letter contained only twelve words.
"If you're reading this, someone has already tried to kill me."
No signature.
No date.
No explanation.
Just those words.
I inserted the flash drive into Kenneth's computer.
Password required.
Of course.
I tried our anniversary.
Denied.
His birthday.
Denied.
Mine.
Denied.
Then I remembered the hospital.
684291.
Access granted.
The monitor flickered.
Hundreds of folders appeared.
Real estate.
Investments.
Offshore accounts.
Charitable foundations.
Private trusts.
The amounts made my stomach tighten.
Billions.
Not millions.
Billions.
Rollins Capital wasn't merely a consulting firm.
It was moving unimaginable amounts of money.
One folder caught my attention.
Project Twin.
Inside were hundreds of scanned birth certificates.
Children.
Different states.
Different hospitals.
Some marked with green checkmarks.
Others with red Xs.
Each file included photographs taken years apart.
Why would Kenneth possess records of children he'd never met?
Before I could open another folder...
The office lights suddenly went dark.
Emergency lighting glowed red across the room.
Someone had cut the power.
My phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
I answered quietly.
"Who is this?"
A woman's voice whispered.
"You have exactly sixty seconds."
"For what?"
"They're coming."
"Who?"
"The people Kenneth worked for."
The call ended.
My heartbeat accelerated.
Footsteps echoed in the hallway.
Not one person.
Several.
Heavy.
Organized.
Professional.
I quickly removed the flash drive and slipped it into my jacket.
The computer screen erased itself automatically.
Every file disappeared.
Then smoke began pouring through the air vents.
Someone wanted me out.
Or dead.
I opened the office door.
Three men in dark suits stood at the end of the hallway.
No company badges.
No briefcases.
Only black gloves.
One of them smiled.
"Mrs. Rollins."
His voice was calm.
"Our employer would appreciate a short conversation."
"I don't think so."
He tilted his head.
"You already took something that doesn't belong to you."
So they knew.
The flash drive.
I backed toward the emergency stairwell.
Another man appeared behind me.
Blocked.
No escape.
The first man reached into his jacket.
Not a gun.
A folded photograph.
He tossed it onto the floor between us.
It showed me.
Taken yesterday.
Standing outside my own house.
Someone had been watching me before I even learned about the affair.
"We've been protecting your family for six years," he said.
"Protecting us from what?"
He smiled.
"From the truth."
Before I could answer...
A deafening explosion rocked the building.
The lights failed completely.
Fire alarms screamed.
Sprinklers burst overhead.
Employees flooded into the hallway in panic.
The suited men disappeared into the chaos as if they had never existed.
I grabbed the photograph and ran down the emergency stairs.
Outside, people gathered across the street, staring at smoke pouring from the upper floors.
Firefighters rushed inside.
Someone touched my shoulder.
I spun around.
It was Justin.
His face was bruised from the hospital confrontation.
"I've been calling you."
"I turned off my phone."
He noticed the flash drive clenched in my hand.
"You found something."
"I don't know what."
Justin looked over his shoulder before speaking.
"Maya woke up."
"What did she say?"
His expression changed completely.
"She didn't ask for me."
"Then who?"
"She kept repeating one sentence."
"What sentence?"
Justin swallowed hard.
"'Don't let Sabrina open the blue file.'"
I froze.
"The blue file?"
Justin nodded slowly.
Then he looked directly into my eyes.
"Sabrina..."
"What?"
"There wasn't any blue file in Maya's hospital room."
He reached into his coat...
...and pulled out a sealed navy-blue envelope.
May you like
Across the front, in Kenneth's handwriting, were five chilling words.
"ONLY SABRINA MUST READ THIS."
