My studio smelled like smoke.
The front window was shattered.
Several drawers had been emptied.
My sketches were scattered across the floor.
I stood frozen.
“My designs.”
Adrian stepped in front of me.
“Don’t touch anything.”
I ignored him.
I ran toward the back room.
My notebook was gone.
“The notebook.”
“What notebook?”
“My mother’s designs.”
He turned toward Ethan.
“Find it.”
Ethan nodded.
Security moved through the building.
I searched the floor.
Then I saw something beneath the broken table.
A piece of paper.
Half burned.
I picked it up.
Adrian immediately came toward me.
“What is it?”
I turned it over.
It was a sketch.
My mother’s handwriting was written along the bottom.
For Elena.
When the time comes.
My heart stopped.
“Adrian.”
He took the paper.
“You recognize it.”
“Yes.”
“What is it?”
He stared at the drawing.
“A symbol.”
“The same symbol as my bracelet?”
He didn’t answer.
I grabbed his arm.
“Tell me.”
He looked at me.
“It’s not just a symbol.”
“What is it?”
“It’s a key.”
“A key to what?”
His eyes moved toward the bracelet on my wrist.
“Something your mother spent years hiding.”
My heart pounded.
“From whom?”
“Everyone.”
A sound came from the hallway.
Ethan turned.
“Someone’s here.”
Security moved toward the back exit.
A door slammed.
Adrian pulled me behind him.
Then we heard footsteps.
Fast.
Getting closer.
Ethan disappeared around the corner.
A moment later, he shouted:
“He’s getting away!”
Adrian started forward.
I grabbed his arm.
He looked at me.
On the floor near the broken window was a small object.
A silver cufflink.
I picked it up.
There was an engraving.
A single letter.
H.
Hayes.
My stomach dropped.
“Daniel?”
Adrian looked at it.
His expression became cold.
“Maybe.”
I stared at the ruined studio.
Someone had broken in.
Someone had searched my mother’s designs.
Someone knew about the bracelet.
And now someone wanted me to believe Daniel was behind it.
But something about it felt wrong.
Too obvious.
I looked at Adrian.
“Do you believe Daniel did this?”
He was silent.
Then:
“No.”
My heart skipped.
“Why?”
He looked toward the shattered window.
“Because whoever did this wanted us to believe he did.”
I looked down at the silver cufflink.
For the first time, I understood.
The person behind all of this wasn’t just attacking my family.
They were manipulating us.
And they were getting closer.
Much closer than I had realized.