Chapter 2 - The Silent House
I stared at the black ledger sitting on the small mahogany table between us. Outside, the limousine hit a pothole, the smooth air suspension absorbing the blow as we glided down the dark stretch of Highway 101.
"That's impossible," I breathed, my fingers digging into the fabric of my coat pocket where my wedding ring lay cold and heavy. "I used my personal tablet. I used my own private cell phone. You gave me those devices yourself three years ago!"
"And I personally secured the encryption on them," Adrian said, his tone grim. "Six months ago, a ghost protocol was mirrored onto your devices. Every email you drafted, every text you typed, every photo you saved was rerouted to a blind server before being deleted from the recipient's inbox. To you, it looked like your family was ignoring you. To your family, it looked like you had abandoned them."
A sickening cold spread through my chest. For the past half-year, I had felt entirely, terrifyingly alone. I had sent dozens of emails to my sister, Maya, begging her to call me, asking why she hadn't visited for Christmas. I had texted my best friend, Sarah, telling her I was unhappy, that I needed a friend. When neither of them responded, I assumed Adrian’s terrifying reputation had finally driven them away. I believed they had abandoned me to my fate.
"You're lying," I whispered, though my voice lacked conviction. "You're making this up so I won't leave you."
Adrian didn't argue. He opened the ledger and turned it toward me.
Page after page was filled with printed transcripts of my own words.
Maya, please answer me. I feel like I'm losing my mind in this house. Sarah, Adrian is so distant. I haven't left the grounds in three weeks. Dr. Aris, I need to reschedule my therapy appointment. The car never showed up.
Beside each printed message was a technical log: Intercepted by Node-4. Erased from target server. Auto-reply generated: 'User busy.'
"Who did this?" my voice trembled, tears finally breaking past my defenses. "Adrian, who did this to me?"
"That is why I came after you tonight," Adrian said, leaning forward, his eyes burning with a dark, terrifying light. "The person who installed that mirror protocol is sitting in the front seat of this car, or sitting in my boardroom back at the estate. Someone wanted you to feel completely isolated, Claire. They wanted you so desperate, so broken, that you would finally pack a bag and run."
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"Why?" I asked, looking at the bulletproof glass partition separating us from Nolan, Carter, and Eli. "Why would anyone want me to leave?"
"Because as long as you were inside the Vale estate, protected by my primary security grid, no one could touch you," Adrian said quietly. "They needed you to leave me, Claire. They needed you out in the open."
