Three hours later, the tech team reached out. Not Thorne, he would sooner roar than email. It was Deena, the estate's cybersecurity specialist.
Her message was curt:
Elena, we have a problem. A file duplication was detected.
Origin unknown, and the recipient also unknown.
It's been tagged high-priority, and Thorne says to stay put.
My mouth went dry.
I typed back:
What was duplicated?
Her reply arrived in seconds:
Your file.
My heart stopped.
My file, which should be the complete dossier Adrian kept on me.
Everything I'd told him.
Everything he'd found on me.
Everything the estate had learned through surveillance and training.
Someone had copied it.
Someone had sent it.
Someone had taken me.
I stood up so abruptly that my chair toppled over.
"No, no, no—"
I raced to the door just as Thorne appeared on the other side, blocking the exit with one massive arm.
"Not today," he said, voice low.
"What do you mean, 'not today'? Let me through!"
