Chapter 2 - The Secretary Who Was Already GoneMonday morning came at 6:15.
Simone entered Romano Tower carrying coffee for herself and no coffee for Adrian.
Adrian noticed immediately.
He hated himself for noticing.
She placed his schedule on the desk.
“Morning.”
He looked up.
“Where's my coffee?”
“You have a meeting at seven.”
“That wasn't my question.”
“You usually order it yourself on Mondays.”
Adrian frowned.
“No, you order it.”
“I used to.”
The distinction was deliberate.
He leaned back.
“You’re different.”
“I’m leaving.”
“You haven't left yet.”
“Emotionally, I have.”
The words struck harder than any insult.
Adrian stood.
“Close the door.”
She did.
He walked toward her.
“Why did you accept Carter & Vale?”
“Because they offered me Chief of Operations.”
“You’re overqualified for that position.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“You never told me that.”
“I’m telling you now.”
“After five years.”
“Yes.”
“That’s the problem.”
He stared at her.
She placed both hands on the folder in front of her.
“I don't hate you, Adrian.”
He almost flinched at hearing his first name.
She rarely used it.
“But working for you taught me something.”
“What?”
“That loyalty without recognition becomes invisibility.”
Adrian had no defense.
“I trusted you.”
“I know.”
“That should mean something.”
“It did.”
“Then why are you leaving?”
“Because trust isn't the same thing as appreciation.”
He looked away.
The office suddenly felt too large.
She continued.
“You gave me everything an employee could ask for.”
“A substantial salary.”
“Yes.”
“An executive title.”
“Yes.”
“Your own office.”
“Yes.”
“Access to every division.”
“Yes.”
“Then what did I fail to give you?”
Simone looked at him.
“Your attention.”
He froze.
She gathered her papers.
“I'll have the acquisition briefing ready by noon.”
“Simone.”
She stopped.
“Is Daniel the reason?”
A slow, almost sad smile appeared.
“No.”
That answer somehow hurt more.
“Then why do you look at him like that?”
“Like what?”
“Like you trust him.”
“I do.”
“How long have you known him?”
“Since college.”
Adrian blinked.
“Eighteen months?”
Simone laughed softly.
“That's how long you knew him existed.”
He hated the realization.
“You've known him for years?”
“Yes.”
“Were you ever going to tell me?”
She looked genuinely confused.
“Why would I?”
Because I would have wanted to know.
The thought stayed inside him.
Simone left.
Adrian stood alone.
At noon, Marco entered.
“You asked me to dig.”
“Yes.”
Marco placed a file on the desk.
“Daniel Hayes is clean.”
“I already know that.”
“But you don't know the rest.”
Adrian opened the file.
Daniel Hayes had designed buildings in Boston, Chicago, and New York.
His mother was a professor.
His father had worked as a civil engineer.
No scandals.
No debts.
No connections to rival families.
No hidden criminal activity.
Adrian looked up.
“And Simone?”
Marco hesitated.
“Her file is complicated.”
“How?”
“She was raised by her mother.”
“Where's the father?”
“Dead.”
“Name?”
“Jonathan Carter.”
Adrian turned a page.
Jonathan Carter.
Former corporate attorney.
Worked for Romano Group twenty years ago.
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
“What did he do?”
“That’s where it gets strange.”
Marco placed another photograph on the desk.
A younger Jonathan Carter stood beside Adrian’s father.
Adrian stared.
“I’ve never seen this.”
“It was buried in an old family archive.”
“What was he doing with my father?”
“Legal restructuring.”
Adrian turned another page.
Then he saw the date.
October 14.
His father died on October 14.
Adrian’s voice became quiet.
“Tell me everything.”
Marco exhaled.
“Jonathan Carter represented your father during an internal dispute involving Romano shipping accounts.”
“What dispute?”
“Missing funds.”
Adrian’s blood ran cold.
“How much?”
“Two hundred million.”
He stared.
“Who stole it?”
“We don't know.”
“And Jonathan?”
“He disappeared from the firm six months before your father died.”
Adrian leaned forward.
“Why?”
Marco hesitated.
“Because someone tried to kill him.”
The room went silent.
“What?”
“There was a car explosion outside his office.”
“Wasn't he supposed to be dead?”
“The official report says he survived and entered witness protection.”
Adrian stood.
“Where is he now?”
“We don't know.”
A strange connection formed in Adrian's mind.
Simone.
Jonathan Carter.
His father.
Two hundred million.
He remembered one sentence from an old family recording.
His father had once told him:
“Some people aren't born into our family, Adrian. They are entrusted with its secrets.”
Adrian looked at Marco.
“Find Jonathan Carter.”
“Already trying.”
“And don't tell Simone.”
Marco hesitated.
“Why?”
Adrian looked toward the glass wall.
For the first time, he was afraid.
Not for himself.
For her.
“I don't know what she inherited from her father.”
That afternoon, Simone entered Adrian's office carrying a stack of contracts.
He watched her.
She looked tired.
But peaceful.
He had not realized peace could make jealousy hurt.
“I need these signed.”
He took the papers.
“Where will you live?”
She paused.
“What?”
“After you leave.”
“I have an apartment.”
“I know.”
The answer slipped out.
Her eyes narrowed.
“You know my address?”
Adrian cursed inwardly.
“Security protocols.”
“Right.”
She moved to leave.
“Simone.”
“What?”
“Did your father ever tell you anything about my family?”
Her face changed.
Only slightly.
But Adrian noticed.
“What do you mean?”
“Did he know my father?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
She looked toward the window.
“My mother told me never to discuss him.”
“Why?”
“Because some people become interested in you when they know who your father was.”
Adrian stood.
“Who?”
“My mother never said.”
“Do you know where your mother is?”
Simone nodded.
“Pennsylvania.”
“Does she know you're leaving Romano Group?”
“Yes.”
“Does she know where you're going?”
“Yes.”
“Does she know me?”
Simone looked at him.
“Yes.”
“Then why have I never met her?”
A sad smile appeared.
“Because you never asked.”
She walked out.
Adrian closed his eyes.
He finally understood.
For five years, Simone had been beside him.
And yet every important part of her life had existed somewhere he never bothered to look.
That night, Adrian drove alone to an old Romano warehouse in Brooklyn.
Inside, he found a locked archive room.
Marco opened the box marked CARTER.
Adrian searched through documents until one yellowed envelope fell to the floor.
He opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
His father.
Jonathan Carter.
And a woman Adrian recognized immediately.
Simone’s mother.
On the back, written in his father's handwriting, were six words.
Protect her when the time comes.
Adrian stared.
Then the lights went out.
A gunshot exploded somewhere in the warehouse.
Marco drew his weapon.
“Down!”
Adrian dropped behind a pillar.
Another shot.
Then another.
The archive box caught fire.
Someone was trying to destroy the evidence.
Marco shouted.
“Three shooters!”
Adrian looked at the burning papers.
One photograph remained in his hand.
The woman beside his father was smiling.
And for the first time, Adrian wondered whether Simone had ever been his secretary at all.
May you like
Maybe she had been something far more important.
Something his family had spent twenty years trying to protect.
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