As he spoke, he signaled the bodyguards. The men stepped forward, muscles tensing. The surrounding crowd watched, their expressions shifting to disdain as they bought into his lies.

A predatory glint flashed in Matthew's eyes. He lunged toward Lucy, reaching for her arm.

"Come here, you—"

"Get your filthy hands off her!"

I didn't hesitate. My foot drove into his midsection.

Matthew stumbled back, gasping. I ignored him and fixed a lethal stare on Joanna.

"The truth isn't hard to find. Given your resources, I'm surprised you haven't looked."

My confidence made her pause. Her brows knitted in confusion.

"Are you saying Matthew is lying?"

She scoffed, crossing her arms. "Fine. Since you brought it up, I'll let you die with clarity. Go retrieve the old case files. All of them."

The color drained from Matthew's face.

Panic flickered in his eyes. He leaned close to Joanna, voice dropping to a frantic whisper. "Haven't I already explained everything? Why dig up the past? There's no need to investigate this again..."

"He's stalling," someone sneered from the crowd. "The kid's just dragging this out for attention."

I didn't bother responding. Instead, I offered a dry chuckle and locked eyes with the man standing beside Joanna.

"You seem awfully nervous about her retrieving those files, Matthew. Guilty conscience about what really happened back then?"

Matthew's face went rigid. "Bullshit!" His voice cracked. "Why would I have a guilty conscience?"

Joanna frowned. "Matt, back off. This is my business."

"But Joanna—"

"I said back off." She cut him dead. "Today, I'm going to crush this bastard until he's begging on his knees."

Matthew opened his mouth to argue, but seeing the manic determination in her eyes, he swallowed his words and stepped back. His hand slipped into his pocket. Under the table, his fingers flew across his phone screen.

He was messaging his people to destroy the evidence.

He thought he was being subtle. Flawless, even.

What he didn't know was that I never walked into a war zone unprepared. My team was already inside the system. The moment his people tried to delete a single byte, mine would intercept it.

Oblivious to the digital warfare behind the scenes, Joanna turned her glare back to Lucy. Her eyes held a toxic mix of stubbornness and resentment.

"Asher Farley," she hissed. "Do you really think playing dumb will get you past security?"