Emma had grown accustomed to the sterile, fast-paced rhythm of Arcadia's headquarters, the hum of constant motion, the clatter of keyboards, and the hushed, whispered conversations between executives. But today felt different. It wasn't just because of the tension that seemed to hang in the air since the hack or the sense that a betrayal was waiting. It was something more personal.
Sofia Cross was back.
Whispers of Adrian's estranged sister always seemed to dance in Emma's ears. Sofia Cross-somehow a name that stood in the shadow of the pristine halls of Arcadia. The woman who mysteriously disappeared years ago following a bitter fallout with her brother, Adrian, and their late father, had left questions behind. And now, she was walking back into this corporate empire she had abandoned.
It was mid-afternoon when the news hit. Emma was working in Adrian's office, organizing some of the data they had uncovered from the breach earlier. She was running through financial discrepancies, trying to make sense of the chaotic mess that had been left behind. The door opened suddenly, and Adrian's voice cut through the silence.
"Emma, come with me. Now."
His voice was sharp, a rare urgency that ran a shiver down her spine. She followed him down the hall, through the sleek corridors of glass and steel that made up Arcadia's fortress-like headquarters. They came to a stop in front of the large conference room, where several high-ranking members of the board had already congregated. The air was tight, thick with the weight of a dozen unspoken words.
Seated in one of the chairs, her posture regal and confident, was Sofia Cross.
Emma froze.
She had seen photos of Sofia before—snapshots of the woman who had once been a part of this world but had vanished years ago after a bitter dispute with Adrian. She was strikingly beautiful, with sharp features and dark, intense eyes that seemed to hold secrets no one dared to pry into. Her dark hair was pulled into a sleek ponytail, and she wore a smart black suit that seemed to speak of power and control. About her was the unmistakable presence-a quiet authority that seemed to command the room the moment she entered.
Sofia looked up as Adrian entered, her eyes narrowing slightly when they met his. It wasn't the greeting one might expect between siblings. There was no warmth, no sign of affection—only a tension that crackled between them like static electricity.
"You're here," Adrian said, his voice low, but Emma could hear the edge in it. "What do you want, Sofia?"
Sofia didn't flinch. She merely met Adrian's gaze with a cool, almost calculating look. "I came to see how you're doing," she said, her voice smooth but carrying a bite. "I heard there were some. problems at Arcadia."
Emma stayed in the background, not wanting to intrude. But she couldn't help but listen, her attention focused on the strange, palpable energy between the two siblings.
"Problems?" Adrian's jaw hardened. "You mean a multi-million-dollar breach, a hacker inside our system, and everything that comes with it?"
Sofia did not look the least fazed, her eyes actually hinting at amusement. "You always did have a flair for the dramatic. But yes, that's what I mean."
Emma was taken aback by Sofia's calm manner. Was she here out of concern, or was something else brewing?
Adrian exhaled a sigh of exasperation. "Why now, Sofia? Why come back after all these years? You left this company, you left me. I owe no explanation, nor does Arcadia."
For a flash, Sofia's eyes did flare. "You don't owe me anything, Adrian. But Arcadia's mine too, whether you like it or not. I still have a stake in it-whether you acknowledge that or not."
The words hung in the air, a challenge. A chill settled in Emma's chest. There was more to all this than sibling rivalry alone. There was unresolved material there, something far more sinister buried beneath their apparently innocent words.
"You need to leave, Sofia," Adrian interjected, his tone razor-sharp and icy enough that Emma had never heard her brother sound so cold before. "This doesn't matter to you anymore."
Sofia stood, her movements calculated and graceful. "You may be right. But there are things happening here, Adrian. Things that go beyond what you can control. You're not as invincible as you think."
She turned to Emma then, her gaze appraising, as if she were seeing through her. "I'm not here for you," Sofia went on, her tone soft now. "But you, Emma—be careful. The danger is closer than you realize. And there are people in this company you can't trust."
Emma felt a shiver run down her spine. She had been warned before, by Lucy, by Adrian himself, but Sofia's words carried an entirely different weight. There was something almost ominous about the way she spoke, like a threat veiled in concern.
Sofia's eyes lingered on Emma for a moment longer before she turned back to Adrian. "I won't stay long," she said quietly. "But I'll be watching. And so should you."
Before Emma could reply, Sofia was out the door, leaving an uncomfortable silence in her wake. With a soft click, the door closed behind her, leaving Emma with an unsettling sense that a storm was brewing over the room. She wasn't quite sure what had happened, but she knew one thing for certain: Sofia's return was no accident.
Adrian stood there for a long moment, his back to Emma, staring out of the large windows that framed the skyline. The weight of the city stretched out before them, an endless sea of lights and possibilities. But Emma could sense that his mind was elsewhere, lost in memories or calculations she couldn't begin to understand.
Finally, he spoke, his voice more hushed than before. "She's right about one thing," he said. "The danger is closer than any of us realize."
Emma didn't say a word for a moment. She was still reeling from the exchange-the cryptic warning, the underlying tension between Adrian and Sofia. There was just so much history there, so many wounds that hadn't healed, but now they were being brought back to the surface. The question was-why?
"You don't think she's involved?" Emma asked, the question finally unable to be contained within her.
Adrian didn't answer right away. Instead, he walked over to his desk and sat down, running a hand through his hair in frustration. "I don't know. But I've learned not to rule anything out. She's always had a knack for getting under my skin, but I'm not sure if she's here to help—or if she's playing some kind of game."
She could see the weariness in his eyes, the burden of years of unresolved family conflict hanging over him like a shadow. But there was something else, too-something she couldn't put her finger on. Sofia's return had stirred up something deeper, and Emma couldn't shake the feeling that the family drama between Adrian and his sister was just the tip of the iceberg.
"Be careful, Adrian," Emma said quietly. "I think you're right. There's more to this than just a hack. There's something. personal involved."
Adrian's eyes met hers, a flicker of something—gratitude or recognition—flashing across his features before he turned away. "I know," he muttered. "And we're going to find out exactly what that is."
But as Emma watched him, she couldn't shake the feeling that they were both teetering on the edge of something far more dangerous than they realized.
Sofia Cross's return had ignited a firework into an already volatile situation, and Emma knew well that the days to come would bring even more revelations and secrets. But one thing was certain: whatever came next, she was no longer a passive player in this game. She was in it, fully immersed in the tangled web of lies, betrayals, and hidden motives that threatened to pull them all under.
And Emma was set upon uncovering the truth at all costs.