Chapter 10: The Truth Behind the Door

I stared at the doorknob as it slowly turned.

My hand tightened around my phone.

Daniel's voice came through the door again.

Sage, I'm not here to hurt you.

Then don't come in.

The doorknob stopped moving.

For several seconds, there was complete silence.

Then Daniel spoke calmly.

You have the security footage, don't you?

My heart sank.

How do you know?

Because I was the one who sent it.

I froze.

You sent me the flash drive?

Yes.

Why?

Because you're the only person I know who will actually look at the evidence instead of protecting the people involved.

I didn't open the door.

What about Callan?

Daniel sighed.

Callan has been trying to protect Elara for years.

I don't understand.

You will.

There was a pause.

Then Daniel slid an envelope underneath the door.

Look at the documents first. Then decide whether you want to let me in.

I waited until his footsteps moved away.

Only then did I pick up the envelope.

Inside were copies of financial records, research agreements, and private correspondence.

One name appeared again and again.

Elara.

But there was something else.

The money hadn't been going into Elara's account.

It had been transferred to a company owned by someone else.

I recognized the name immediately.

It belonged to Callan's father.

My stomach twisted.

Callan's father had died three years earlier.

At least, that's what I'd been told.

I turned the page.

The company had been created under a different name after his death.

The beneficiary was Callan.

I sat down slowly.

So Callan had been taking money from the institute.

But why?

Another document answered that question.

The money was being used to purchase experimental equipment for an independent research project.

A project that had never been approved by the institute.

And Elara was listed as the lead researcher.

I felt sick.

All those years, I had believed their brilliance was built entirely on hard work.

But there had been another world underneath it.

Secret funding.

Unauthorized equipment.

Unreported research.

And now a fire.

My phone vibrated.

A message from Callan.

Don't trust Daniel.

I stared at it.

Then another message arrived.

He has been manipulating you from the beginning.

I typed a reply.

Then stopped.

If Callan was telling the truth, why had Daniel given me evidence against him?

If Daniel was lying, why had he exposed his own presence at the institute?

I opened the door.

Daniel was standing at the end of the hallway.

He looked exhausted.

You came back.

I needed you to see the evidence.

Did you start the fire?

His expression hardened.

No.

Then who did?

He looked directly at me.

Elara.

My breath caught.

But Callan was there before her.

Yes.

Why?

Because he was trying to remove the evidence before she could destroy it.

Then why did he lie?

Because he loved her.

The answer hurt more than it should have.

Even now.

After everything.

He was still protecting Elara.

Daniel continued.

Callan discovered that Elara had been stealing research materials and selling them through the private company.

He confronted her.

She threatened to expose his involvement in the illegal funding.

So they were both trapped.

Exactly.

And the fire?

Elara wanted to destroy the records.

Callan went into the lab to stop her.

But he arrived too late.

I remembered the night clearly.

Callan rushing into the burning building.

Calling Elara's name.

Ignoring me.

Maybe he had been searching for her because he already knew she was responsible.

But he still chose her.

Daniel looked at me carefully.

There is one more thing you need to know.

What?

The fire wasn't the first attempt to destroy the evidence.

I frowned.

What do you mean?

Someone tampered with the institute's servers the night before.

And the person who accessed them used your credentials.

My blood ran cold.

Mine?

Yes.

Someone had framed me before the fire even started.

Daniel handed me another document.

The access record showed my employee ID.

But I knew I hadn't logged into the system that night.

Someone had stolen my credentials.

And suddenly, everything made sense.

I wasn't just the woman everyone ignored.

I had been the perfect scapegoat.

Someone had planned to make me take the blame from the beginning.

Daniel looked at me.

Now you understand why I contacted you.

I looked down at the evidence.

For the first time, I wasn't running from my past.

I was finally ready to uncover it.

But there was one question I couldn't stop asking.

Who had stolen my credentials?

And why did the answer lead straight back to someone I trusted?