Three days passed after the chandelier incident.Ashcroft Manor had returned to its usual rhythm.Gardeners trimmed hedges.Housemaids polished antique furniture.The security presence had quietly doubled, but Benedict had instructed every guard to behave as though nothing had changed."If our enemy believes we're afraid, " he had said, "we've already given them an advantage."The words spread through the household.Even the servants repeated them with quiet confidence.Monday morning arrived with its usual rush.By eight o'clock, Ashcroft Group Headquarters was already alive with activity.Employees streamed through the revolving doors carrying coffee cups, laptops, and stacks of reports.Inside the executive lobby, Damian stood beside Benedict, watching the flow of people."You've been here before everyone else every day."Benedict smiled."I like having an hour when the building is quiet.""To work?""To think."Damian nodded thoughtfully.He was beginning to understand that Benedi

The room was silent.Only the ticking of the antique clock broke the stillness.Benedict remained seated at the edge of his bed, the old envelope resting in his hands.His eyes stayed fixed on a single name.Eleanor.He read it again.Then a third time.The ink had faded with age, but the handwriting remained clear.His heartbeat quickened.Why would Eleanor's name appear in a letter hidden among his belongings?He carefully turned the page.The paper crackled softly.His eyes moved to the next line.Suddenly...He stopped.The bottom half of the page had been torn away.His brow furrowed.He searched the envelope.Nothing.No missing piece.No second page.Only a clean tear, as if someone had deliberately removed the rest years ago.Benedict leaned back slowly."So..."he whispered,"Someone wanted this letter to survive...""...but not the whole truth."The following morning...Ashcroft Manor stirred to life.Servants prepared breakfast.Gardeners watered the rose beds.Drivers line

The Monday morning sky hung heavy over the city.Dark clouds gathered above the glass towers of Ashcroft Group Headquarters.Inside the executive building, however, the atmosphere was far darker than the weather outside.Employees hurried through the lobby with tense expressions.Phones rang without pause.Assistants rushed between departments carrying stacks of documents.Something was wrong.Very wrong.On the forty-second floor...Victor Ashcroft stood at the head of the executive conference room.Every senior executive had already arrived.The company's legal team.Finance directors.Regional presidents.Risk management.Even Damian sensed the tension before anyone spoke.Victor looked around the room."Our European acquisition has collapsed."Silence.One of the directors continued."Meridian Logistic

The words stuck with Benedict, still ringing in his mind hours after Sophia had said them."The elderly woman... she's gone."For the briefest moment, time seemed to stop.Then instinct took over.Benedict was already moving.He took the stairs of Ashcroft Manor two at a time, the sound of his footsteps bouncing off the walls in the quiet hallway. Meanwhile, the letter Gabriel Frost had handed him was still lying on his bedroom floor, forgotten in the rush.All he could think about was the old woman.Please... let her be safe.The air outside was cool and fresh, filled with the sweet smell of roses that had been soaked by the rain.The security guards were already searching the grounds with flashlights.The head butler hurried toward Benedict."Director Benedict.""What happened?" Benedict asked, his voice calm despite the urgency in his eyes."We're still trying to determine that, sir.""When was she last seen?""About forty minutes ago.""She finished helping Mrs. Collins in the lau

The city had long surrendered to the night.Streetlights cast pale circles across deserted roads as Benedict's car rolled steadily through the older district of Havenridge.This part of the city had once been full of life.Now...Most of its buildings stood abandoned.Shuttered shops lined the streets.Faded signboards swayed gently in the cool breeze.Broken sidewalks bore the weight of decades of neglect.Benedict slowed as the navigation reached its destination.Ahead stood a pair of rusted iron gates.Above them hung a weathered stone arch.Though cracked by time, the faded inscription remained visible.St. Gabriel Children's HomeBenedict switched off the engine.He sat there for a while, just looking at the building on the other side of the gates, his eyes fixed on it for several seconds.An unfamiliar heaviness settled over his chest.He had never been here.At least...That was what he had always believed.Yet something about the place felt strangely familiar.He stepped from