Chapter 42 The Wrong Clue
The classroom felt too quiet after everything Adrian said.
Not peaceful. Not calm.
Just… heavy.
Like something was about to break again.
I stared at the file in my hands, my thoughts racing in too many directions at once. Every page felt important. Every word felt like it meant something more than what it said.
But I didn’t know where to start.
“We can’t just sit here,” I said finally, closing the file halfway but not letting go. “If those men were willing to break into my house for this, then this isn’t something small. We need to figure out what they were actually looking for.”
Adrian nodded slightly, pushing himself off the wall. “Good. That means you’re thinking.”
I rolled my eyes faintly. “I’ve always been thinking.”
“Not like this,” he said.
He wasn’t wrong.
I exhaled slowly, forcing myself to focus. “Okay… if they wanted the file, then it’s not just about what’s inside. It’s about something specific in it.”
“Exactly,” Adrian said. “People don’t risk that much for general information. They want something precise.”
I opened the file again, this time slower, more careful. Not scanning. Studying.
Page by page.
Detail by detail.
The reports.
The notes.
The photos.
Then that handwritten message again.
Do not trust anyone fully.
I frowned. “This isn’t just a warning.”
Adrian stepped closer. “What do you mean?”
“It feels like… instructions,” I said slowly. “Like whoever wrote this expected me to find it.”
That made him pause.
Actually pause.
“Lenora…” he said carefully, “that would mean this wasn’t just hidden. It was planted.”
My chest tightened.
“Exactly.”
A chill ran down my spine.
Before either of us could say anything else—
My phone buzzed.
Loud.
Sharp.
Startling.
I flinched slightly, pulling it out of my pocket.
Unknown number.
Adrian’s eyes narrowed immediately. “Don’t answer it.”
Too late.
I had already swiped.
“Hello?”
Silence.
Then… breathing.
Slow. Controlled.
My stomach twisted.
“Lenora.”
My grip tightened on the phone.
That voice.
I didn’t recognize it.
But something about it felt… wrong.
“Who is this?” I demanded.
A soft chuckle came through the line.
“You’re asking the wrong questions again.”
My heart started racing.
Adrian stepped closer, his attention fully locked on me now.
“What do you want?” I asked, my voice steadier than I felt.
“Not what I want,” the voice replied. “What you have.”
My eyes dropped instantly to the file in my lap.
Of course.
“You’re the one who broke into my house,” I said.
“Correction,” he replied calmly. “I sent people who did.”
My breath caught.
“You should be more careful with things that don’t belong to you.”
Anger flared instantly.
“It has my name on it,” I snapped. “It belongs to me.”
Another soft chuckle.
“That’s what you’ve been told.”
The words hit harder than they should have.
“What does that mean?” I demanded.
Silence.
Then—
“It means you’re chasing the wrong truth.”
My chest tightened.
Adrian shook his head slightly, silently telling me to hang up.
I didn’t.
“What truth am I supposed to be chasing then?” I asked.
“You’ll see soon enough,” the voice said.
And then—
The call ended.
Just like that.
Silence filled the room again.
But this time…
It felt worse.
“What the hell was that?” I whispered.
Adrian ran a hand through his hair, clearly thinking fast. “That wasn’t random.”
“No kidding,” I muttered.
He looked at me sharply. “They don’t just want the file. They want you confused.”
I frowned. “Confused?”
“Yeah,” he said. “Think about it. First they try to take the file. Now they call you and tell you you’re chasing the wrong truth.”
My stomach dropped.
“They’re redirecting me.”
“Exactly.”
I stood up slowly, pacing now, my mind racing again.
“So what… this is a distraction?”
“Partly,” Adrian said. “But it’s also a warning.”
“A warning about what?”
“That you’re getting too close.”
I stopped moving.
Too close.
To what?
The answer sat in my hands.
The file.
I looked down at it again, this time with a different kind of focus. Not fear. Not confusion.
Determination.
“They don’t want me looking at this,” I said quietly.
Adrian nodded.
“Which means this is exactly where I need to look.”
For the first time since everything started…
He smiled slightly.
“Now you’re getting it.”
I flipped back through the pages again, faster now, sharper, looking for something that didn’t fit. Something that stood out.
And then…
I saw it.
A photo.
I had seen it before, but I hadn’t really looked at it.
A younger version of me.
Standing in front of a building.
But this time…
I noticed the sign behind me.
Faded.
Partially hidden.
But readable.
My breath caught.
“This…”
Adrian stepped closer. “What?”
I turned the photo toward him, pointing.
“This place,” I said. “I’ve never been there.”
He studied it carefully.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes,” I said. “I would remember.”
He didn’t respond right away.
Then—
“Then maybe that’s where we start.”
My heart started racing again.
Not from fear this time.
From something else.
A direction.
A lead.
Something real.
I closed the file slowly, gripping it tighter.
“They tried to distract me,” I said quietly.
Adrian nodded.
“But it didn’t work.”
For once…
I felt it.
Control.
And whoever was pulling the strings?
They had just made their first mistake.
Because now…
I was looking in the right place.