The air inside the archive warehouse felt colder than before.
The neon lamps hanging from the ceiling flickered gently, casting pale light that made the shadows of the archive shelves look longer and darker.
Ethan stood in front of Sophia on instinct, his body slightly tense.
Daniel also shifted half a step to the side, as if trying to gauge the distance between them and the elderly man who had just emerged from behind the shelves.
Leonard Graves looked calm.
Too calm for someone who had just startled three people in a secluded place.
He stood with both hands behind his back, like an old professor assessing his students.
"Interesting," he said again softly.
His eyes shifted to the folder still in Sophia's hand.
"It's been a very long time since I last saw those documents."
Sophia stared at him with sharp eyes.
"You knew my mother."
Leonard nodded slightly.
"Dr. Elena Ward."
His voice sounded almost… respectful.
"She was a very intelligent woman."
Ethan was not interested in that nostalgic tone.
"What are you doing here?"
Leonard turned to him.
"Isn't it obvious?"
He raised a thin eyebrow.
"I came to see who was bold enough to dig into the past."
Daniel crossed his arms.
"Were you following us?"
Leonard let out a small laugh.
"No."
He looked at the archive shelves around them.
"This place has always been monitored."
The answer made the air feel heavier.
Sophia felt her heart beat faster.
"Monitored by whom?"
Leonard looked at her calmly.
"By people who want to make sure history doesn't fall into the wrong hands."
Ethan narrowed his eyes.
"Helix."
Leonard did not deny it.
Instead, he smiled faintly.
"So you've come that far."
Silence fell over the old warehouse.
Sophia finally opened the folder still in her hand and pointed to her mother's notes.
"You're in here."
Leonard glanced at the page briefly.
"Yes."
"So you knew about this project."
"Of course."
Sophia stared at him angrily.
"And you also know my mother refused to give this technology to you."
Leonard nodded again.
"She did refuse."
His voice remained calm.
No regret.
No guilt.
Only facts.
Ethan stepped forward one step.
"Then three weeks later she died."
Leonard looked at him.
"I've read the police report."
Ethan was not fooled.
"That's not what I'm asking."
His gaze was as sharp as a knife.
"The question is what you did."
Several seconds passed without a word.
Then Leonard let out a slow sigh.
"Young people…"
He looked at Ethan with an expression almost like a teacher dealing with a stubborn student.
"You see the world in black and white."
He pointed to the folder in Sophia's hand.
"Technology."
He pointed to Ethan.
"Power."
Then he pointed to himself.
"Mistakes."
Leonard walked slowly toward the archive shelves.
"The world isn't that simple."
Sophia gripped the folder tighter.
"Then explain."
Leonard stopped a few steps away from them.
His eyes lingered on Sophia.
"When your mother developed that technology…"
He spoke slowly.
"She created something that could change the global medical industry."
Daniel nodded slightly.
"Cellular regenerative therapy."
Leonard smiled a small smile.
"You've read quite a lot."
He continued.
"That technology could save millions of lives."
Sophia said coldly,
"And generate billions of dollars."
Leonard shrugged.
"Those two things often go hand in hand."
Ethan was not interested in word games.
"Why did Helix want it?"
Leonard looked at him.
"Because a world like this can't be left unmonitored."
Ethan let out a short laugh.
"That sounds like the classic excuse of people who want to control everything."
Leonard was not offended.
"It might be."
He folded his hands.
"But your mother had a different view."
Sophia stared at him sharply.
"What do you mean?"
Leonard looked at the handwritten notes in the folder.
"She wanted to make the technology available to everyone."
Sophia nodded.
"Yes. That's the right thing to do."
Leonard smiled faintly.
"And that's also very dangerous."
Daniel frowned.
"How can medical technology be dangerous?"
Leonard looked at him.
"Because if something very powerful is given without control…"
He paused for a moment.
"…the wrong people will use it."
Ethan was impatient.
"So you wanted to monopolize the technology."
Leonard did not deny it.
"We wanted to control it."
Sophia felt her blood boil.
"That's not your right."
Leonard looked at her with a strange expression a mix of admiration and sadness.
"Your mother said the same thing."
Silence fell again.
Then Sophia asked in a softer voice.
"Did you kill her?"
The question hung in the air.
Daniel held his breath.
Ethan did not move.
Leonard did not answer immediately.
He looked at the archive shelves around them as if seeing a distant past.
Finally he said,
"No."
Sophia stared at him sharply.
"You're lying."
Leonard shook his head.
"I did not order her death."
Ethan immediately caught the word.
"Order."
Leonard smiled slightly.
"Words are very important."
Sophia felt her heart grow heavier.
"If it wasn't you… who was it?"
Leonard did not answer.
Instead, he asked,
"Do you really want to know the truth?"
Ethan answered without hesitation.
"Yes."
Leonard looked at the three of them one by one.
Then he spoke softly,
"Then you must stop seeing Marcus as the main enemy."
Sophia froze.
"What?"
Leonard let out a slow sigh.
"Marcus is indeed ambitious."
He turned to Ethan.
"But he wasn't the one who made the final decision that night."
The room felt even colder.
Ethan narrowed his eyes.
"Who was?"
Leonard did not answer.
Instead he walked toward the warehouse door.
"One step at a time."
Sophia said loudly,
"You can't just leave like that!"
Leonard stopped.
He turned slightly.
"On the contrary I can."
His smile was faint.
"Because now you're exactly where I want you to be."
Ethan felt something was wrong.
"Where?"
Leonard opened the warehouse door.
Night air drifted in slowly.
Before exiting, he said softly,
"In the middle of the game."
The door closed.
The sound of his footsteps faded away.
Sophia stood still for several seconds.
Her hand still held her mother's folder.
Daniel finally spoke softly,
"He didn't look like a man who was afraid."
Ethan stared at the door with cold eyes.
"Because he's not afraid."
Sophia looked at him.
"Why?"
Ethan took a deep breath.
"Because people like him…"
His gaze returned to the folder.
"…always have a next move."
Outside the warehouse, the city night was quiet again.
But the game that had been hidden in the shadows all this time…
finally began to show its true face.