Nothing.
Contracts.
Bank records.
Property deeds.
Company reports.
Nothing.
Then Eli noticed something.
"What's that?"
Adrian looked at the document.
An old property map.
There was a small building marked beneath the eastern garden.
"That's impossible."
"What?"
"There isn't supposed to be anything there."
Marcus checked the property records.
There was.
An underground structure had been registered thirty years earlier and later removed from public maps.
Adrian remembered his father once saying:
"Every businessman needs a room where nobody knows he keeps the truth."
Adrian had always assumed it was a joke.
It wasn't.
They found the entrance beneath a stone fountain.
Inside was a hidden office.
There were no computers.
No modern equipment.
Only shelves of documents.
And a locked metal box.
Adrian opened it.
Inside was a second ring.
Identical to Samuel's.
And beneath it—
A letter.
The handwriting belonged to Adrian's father.
If you are reading this, someone has begun searching for the Meridian files.
Adrian's hands tightened around the paper.
The letter continued.
Trust no one who tells you the files were destroyed.
Marcus looked at him.
"What are the Meridian files?"
Adrian shook his head.
"I don't know."
Eli stepped closer.
"Maybe your wife does."
Adrian looked at the boy.
For the first time, he realized the trap was much larger than a kidnapping.
Someone wasn't simply trying to kill him.
Someone was trying to reach something hidden inside his family
Victoria arrived at the hidden office before Adrian expected her.
She entered the mansion at eight that evening.
She looked calm.
Too calm.
"Where were you?" Adrian asked.
"At the charity foundation."
"All evening?"
"Yes."
Adrian watched her carefully.
She removed her coat.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Where is Thomas?"
Victoria paused.
"Who?"
"The man you sent to drive me."
Her face changed.
Only slightly.
But Adrian saw it.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Adrian placed the recording on the table.
Victoria listened.
Her face became pale.
Then she sat down.
"Adrian..."
"Tell me the truth."
She looked at him.
"I was trying to protect you."
"By sending me to the quarry?"
"You don't understand."
"Then explain."
Victoria closed her eyes.
"Your company has been infiltrated for years."
Adrian stared at her.
"I discovered it six months ago."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I didn't know who I could trust."
"You trusted strangers."
"I trusted the wrong people."
Victoria's voice broke.
"The men behind this have access to everything. Your accounts. Your travel plans. Your security."
"And you?"
She looked away.
"They threatened my sister."
Adrian went silent.
Victoria finally told him about the Meridian files.
They contained evidence of a secret financial network connecting several corporations, shell companies and corrupt intermediaries.
Adrian's father had discovered it decades earlier.
Instead of exposing it immediately, he had collected evidence.
And then he disappeared from public life.
"Your father knew the network was dangerous," Victoria said.
"Why didn't he tell me?"
"Because he believed you were safer not knowing."
Adrian looked at the second ring.
"Then why are they after me now?"
Victoria whispered:
"Because someone told them the files still exist."
The betrayal came from Marcus.
Or so it seemed.
At midnight, the mansion's security system shut down.
Every monitor went black.
Doors locked automatically.
The backup generator failed.
Then a voice came through the intercom.
"Mr. Vale, step outside."
Adrian reached for his phone.
No signal.
Marcus was missing.
Victoria grabbed Eli.
"We have to move."
Adrian looked at her.