Chapter 390

Chapter 390


Theo could not shake off what Kai told him the night before.

The idea that someone had been altering official documents for years, someone with legitimate access, someone trusted enough that nobody questioned their presence around sensitive information, kept circling through his mind constantly. He tried focusing on regular duties throughout the following day, patrol schedules, training sessions, checking security around the perimeter, but his attention kept drifting toward everyone he passed, silently cataloging suspicious behavior that probably meant nothing.

He hated feeling this way. Doubting workers who had served his family loyally for years, questioning motives behind ordinary interactions, watching familiar faces with newfound suspicion that felt uncomfortably close to paranoia. But after everything that had happened recently, after Marcus's betrayal, after learning someone within the alliance itself protected the criminals targeting his family, Theo could no longer afford the luxury of blind trust.

During afternoon patrol, something finally caught his attention that felt genuinely worth investigating.

He was walking near the older section of the territory, past storage buildings that had existed since before he was born, when he noticed Harrison, one of their senior guards, standing unusually close to a restricted storage building that rarely saw activity. The man's posture immediately struck Theo as wrong, shoulders tense, eyes darting nervously toward the surrounding area before he noticed Theo approaching.

"Everything okay here?" Theo asked casually, though his instincts were already sharpening with suspicion.

Harrison straightened quickly, forcing what looked like a practiced smile onto his face. "Just checking the locks, sir. Routine maintenance."

"This far from your usual patrol route?"

"I was covering for another guard who called in sick." The explanation came smoothly, rehearsed enough that Theo could not immediately identify what exactly felt wrong about it. "Everything checks out fine here."

"Alright then." Theo nodded, keeping his expression neutral despite the discomfort settling in his stomach. "Carry on."

Harrison left quickly, walking briskly away from the storage building with obvious relief evident in his hurried pace. Theo watched him disappear around the corner, replaying the interaction repeatedly in his mind. The explanation had sounded reasonable enough on the surface. Guards did occasionally cover shifts for sick colleagues. Checking locks around restricted buildings was legitimate work.

But something about Harrison's nervous expression, the way his eyes had darted around like he was worried about being caught doing something he should not have been doing, refused to leave Theo's thoughts for the rest of the afternoon.

He decided not to confront him directly. If Harrison was involved in something suspicious, direct accusation would only alert him that his behavior had been noticed, potentially warning whoever else might be involved that their family had grown suspicious. Better to investigate quietly, gather actual evidence before making assumptions.

That night, once the estate had settled into darkness and most residents had retired for the evening, Theo slipped out toward the restricted storage building alone. He carried a small flashlight, careful to keep the beam low and directed only where necessary, moving quietly through shadows that had grown increasingly familiar during his recent late night investigations.

The building's lock appeared undisturbed at first glance, matching Harrison's claim about routine maintenance checks. But when Theo examined it more closely, he noticed faint scratch marks around the keyhole, subtle signs suggesting someone had recently accessed the lock using something other than the proper key.

He pushed the door open carefully, stepping into musty darkness that smelled heavily of old paper and dust. The building housed decades worth of historical family records, documents too old or insignificant for regular archive storage but too important to simply discard. Rows of storage boxes lined wooden shelves, most covered in thick layers of dust that suggested infrequent visits.

Except for one section near the back wall, where dust had clearly been disturbed recently.

Theo approached carefully, examining several boxes that appeared to have been opened and searched through recently. Papers inside sat slightly askew, not perfectly organized the way careful archival storage typically remained. Someone had definitely gone through these specific records, searching for something particular among decades of accumulated family history.

He photographed everything carefully, documenting the disturbed boxes exactly as he found them, noting which historical periods the searched records covered. Most seemed to focus on territorial agreements from several decades ago, older than anything directly relevant to recent events, which only deepened his confusion about what exactly someone had been searching for.

As he finished documenting the scene, preparing to leave before anyone noticed his extended absence, movement flickered at the edge of his vision near the building's rear window.

Theo spun quickly, catching a brief glimpse of a shadowy figure retreating swiftly from the window, clearly having been watching him examine the storage boxes.

"Hey!" He shouted, immediately giving chase, sprinting through the storage building's back door into the darkness beyond.

The figure moved fast, weaving expertly through the shadows cast by scattered trees near the territory's edge. Theo pushed himself harder, adrenaline fueling his pursuit as he closed the distance slightly, close enough now to make out basic details. Dark clothing. Athletic build. Someone clearly trained, moving with practiced efficiency that suggested genuine combat experience.

The stranger reached the territory's outer wall before Theo could catch up completely, scaling it with impressive speed and agility that spoke of extensive physical training. Theo reached the base of the wall just as the figure disappeared over the top, dropping down into the darkness beyond their protected boundaries.

He grabbed the wall himself, pulling his body upward to peer over the edge, but the surrounding forest had already swallowed any trace of the intruder, no sound of retreating footsteps, no visible movement indicating which direction they had fled.

Theo dropped back down heavily, frustration and adrenaline warring inside his chest as he processed everything he had just witnessed. Someone had broken into their protected territory again, searching specifically through historical records, watching him investigate before fleeing the moment they were noticed.

This confirmed everything Kai had suspected. Someone was actively searching for information hidden within their own family's territory, information important enough to justify repeated infiltration despite increased security following the earlier break-in.

He returned to the estate slowly, mind racing through possibilities as he processed the implications of tonight's discovery. Whatever these people were searching for connected somehow to their family's older historical records, older territorial agreements, information buried decades in the past that suddenly mattered enough for someone to risk direct infiltration multiple times.

The pattern felt increasingly clear now. Altered documents in the archive. Historical records searched through in restricted storage. Someone with intimate knowledge of their family's private history, powerful enough to access protected records repeatedly without triggering proper investigation.

Whoever was behind this conspiracy possessed resources and connections that reached far deeper into their family's past than Theo had originally imagined. And that realization left him more unsettled than any single confrontation with dangerous strangers ever could.

He needed to find Kai immediately, needed to share what he discovered tonight and combine their evidence into something concrete enough to finally present to the rest of the family. Whatever secrets their enemies were desperately trying to protect, whatever truth remained buried within decades old territorial agreements, Theo felt increasingly certain that uncovering it would reveal something far more significant than anyone in his family had originally anticipated.

The night's silence pressed heavily around him as he walked back toward the main estate, unable to shake the growing certainty that they were getting dangerously close to a truth someone powerful desperately wanted to remain buried forever.