CHAPTER 84 — THE TRUTH DEMANDS A PRICE
The recorder sat between Elena and Adrian like a living thing.
It was small. Unremarkable. Plastic worn smooth by time and careful hands. Yet Elena had not touched it since placing it on the table the night before. She had slept little, her mind circling the same thought over and over again.
This was not just evidence.
It was a door.
And once opened, it would not close again.
Morning light filtered through the glass walls of Adrian's private study, pale and sharp, illuminating dust motes drifting slowly in the air. The city beyond was already awake, unaware that decisions made in this room would ripple far beyond its skyline.
Marcus arrived just after seven.
He stopped the moment he saw the recorder.
"So it's real," he said quietly.
Elena nodded. "My aunt kept it all these years. She didn't know when it would be needed—only that someday, it would be."
Marcus did not touch the device. "Do we know what's on it?"
