Velena couldn't move. She couldn't breathe. The image on the screen was a trap she hadn't seen coming, a memory she didn't know she had lost.
She was standing next to Ceil's father. A man she didn't recognize. A man she was never supposed to be connected to.
But there she was.
The date on the photo said fifteen years ago.
She would have been a child.
Her pulse pounded in her ears as she turned to Ceil, but his expression gave nothing away. That was the worst part. The complete and total lack of reaction.
It meant he was thinking. Calculating. Trying to place together the truth before she could.
"Say something," Velena whispered, hating how uncertain her voice sounded.
Ceil's gaze flickered to her. "I was hoping you would."
A cold sensation crept down her spine. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
He leaned back, tilting his head slightly. "It means I am wondering if you already knew."
The accusation made something sharp twist inside her.
"I didn't," she snapped.
Ceil studied her, quiet for a long moment. Then he nodded, almost to himself. "Alright."
That was it. Alright.
Velena's patience snapped. She shot to her feet, slamming her hands against the table. "No. Not alright. That's not an answer."
She expected him to snap back, to throw a sarcastic remark, but Ceil only sighed, rubbing a hand over his jaw. "Velena. Sit down."
She didn't.
So he stood up instead, stepping towards her. Close enough that she could feel the tension radiating from him, the barely contained storm beneath his carefully neutral mask.
"My father is dead," Ceil said finally. "And now I find out that you—someone who wasn't supposed to be connected to any of this—were standing next to him years before we ever met."
Velena swallowed hard. "I don't remember."
Ceil's jaw tightened. "Convenient."
Something inside her cracked. "Do you think I planned this?" She shot back. "That I've been playing some long, elaborate game? That I somehow knew I would end up here?"
"I think I don't believe in coincidences," Ceil murmured.
Velena exhaled sharply, forcing herself to stay calm. "Ceil. I don't remember."
He held her gaze for a long time. Then, finally, he nodded. "Then we find out why."
THE FIRST THREAD...
Ceil moved with practiced efficiency, pulling up more files, scanning the list of names.
Velena sat down slowly, her mind still racing.
"I don't understand," she admitted. "Why would I be in a classified Blackthorn file? I've never even met your father."
Ceil didn't respond right away. Instead, he pulled up another document. "This isn't just about my father. Look at the name of the file system."
Velena leaned forward, reading the top of the screen.
Project Revenant.
She frowned. "What the hell is that?"
Ceil exhaled, rubbing his temple. "I don't know."
That was the second time he had said that tonight. And Ceil Blackthorn never said those words.
THE LEAK THAT SHOULDN'T EXIST...
Velena tried to focus. The pieces weren't fitting together yet, but she knew there was a pattern.
A name caught her eye in the file list.
Subject: Victor
She clicked it before Ceil could stop her.
A set of documents opened. Reports. Observations. A timeline of movements.
Velena's stomach twisted. "This is surveillance."
Ceil's lips pressed into a thin line. "Yes."
She scrolled further. The last recorded entry was from two days ago.
Her blood ran cold. "Ceil, someone was watching him recently."
Ceil didn't respond.
Because he already knew.
Velena's heart pounded. "You knew he was at the Gala before I told you, didn't you?"
Ceil exhaled, shutting the laptop. "Yes."
Her stomach churned. "And you didn't say anything?"
"You were being tested."
The words hit like a slap.
Velena pushed back from the table, standing so fast her chair scraped against the floor. "You set me up."
Ceil didn't deny it.
Her hands curled into fists. "How many more tests, Ceil? How many more times are you going to watch me like I'm some kind of experiment?"
His expression finally shifted. A flicker of something that looked almost like regret. But it was gone in an instant.
"This was necessary," he said. "And now we know Victor is involved in this."
Velena shook her head, still reeling. "And what happens next? You use me again?"
Ceil took a step closer. "No."
She laughed bitterly. "Forgive me if I don't believe you."
Something in Ceil's expression hardened. "Velena."
She turned away, pressing her palms against the desk, trying to steady herself. Her whole world had tilted sideways.
But something still wasn't adding up.
If Victor was being watched, if her past was linked to Ceil's father, then that meant—
Her thoughts screeched to a halt.
She turned slowly, staring at Ceil.
"You said your father is dead."
Ceil's expression remained calm. "Yes."
Velena's pulse thundered. "How?"
A pause.
Then—
"Murdered," Ceil said quietly.
Velena inhaled sharply.
Her gaze flickered back to the screen, to the names, to the hidden files, to the project labeled Revenant.
A single, horrifying thought crept into her mind.
She swallowed hard. "Ceil."
He didn't move. "What?"
Velena forced herself to say it. "Am I the reason your father is dead?"
Silence.
Long, stretching, suffocating silence.
Ceil just looked at her.
And for the first time she had met him, she could not read his expression.
Her breath caught.
Oh God.
Maybe she didn't forget.
Maybe she just didn't want to remember.