👉 Previous Decision: You chose to infiltrate Arthur’s top-floor executive suite.
I climbed the hidden stairwell, my legs burning, the analog keycard cool against my palm. The migraines receded as I re-entered the primary dampening field. On the top floor, a quiet corner office overlooking the D.C. skyline sat silent, its door slightly ajar.
I slipped inside, the thick carpet muffling my footsteps. The office smelled of old money and aged leather. I moved directly to Arthur’s mahogany desk, its surface gleaming under a single, ornate banker’s lamp. I found a small, locked drawer.
The analog keycard, it turned out, doubled as a skeleton key for Arthur’s private, non-digital mechanisms. It clicked, and the drawer opened with a soft thud. Inside, neatly bound with faded string, were physical paper audits from 2012.
My fingers trembled as I recognized a familiar logo at the top of one report: “Virginia Gubernatorial Campaign Fund.” This was it.
A soft click echoed behind me. The door handle. I froze, my hand still resting on the papers.
Arthur Pendelton stepped inside, holding a slim leather folder. His eyes widened slightly when he saw me, but no alarm blared. No security guards burst through the door. Instead, a faint smile played on his lips.
He closed the door behind him, the sound impossibly loud in the silent office. Then he took a slow, deliberate step closer.
“You always were too curious for your own good, Julian,” Arthur said softly, his voice a low, even murmur that held no surprise, only a chilling, calm recognition.
He took another step, his eyes fixed on mine. “You sound just like your father did right before we executed the campaign audit that destroyed his career.”
My heart stopped. The air left my lungs in a ragged gasp. Twelve years. Twelve years of guilt, of my father’s ruined reputation, of my own desperate need for financial security. It wasn’t an accident. It wasn’t a coincidence.
Arthur knew. Arthur had orchestrated it. He hadn’t just been my landlord. He had been targeting me from the very start.
➡️ Read CHAPTER 5 to continue the story.
+ There are no comments
Add yours