Chapter 2 - Julia's Warning
Arthur crouched in front of Renata.
He had never been good at kneeling.
People stood when Arthur Vance entered a room.
Employees lowered their voices.
Executives waited for his approval.
But now he was kneeling in the snow in front of an eight-year-old girl.
“Renata,” he said carefully, “where is your mother?”
She looked at him for several seconds.
“She said I shouldn't tell strangers.”
Arthur almost smiled.
“I'm not a stranger.”
Renata's expression remained serious.
“You are to me.”
The words hurt more than Arthur expected.
He glanced at the photograph.
“Did your mother give you this wallet?”
Renata shook her head.
“I found it.”
“Where?”
“Outside the train station.”
Arthur frowned.
“When?”
“Yesterday.”
“And you knew it belonged to me?”
“There was a card inside.”
Arthur nodded.
Renata continued.
“Mom saw your name.”
Arthur's heart tightened.
“She knew where I worked?”
Renata nodded.
“She told me your building.”
“Why?”
The little girl looked down.
“Because she wanted me to know where you were.”
Arthur stared at her.
“If she wanted to find me, why didn't she come herself?”
Renata hesitated.
“She was sick.”
The word struck him.
“How sick?”
Renata didn't answer.
Instead, she reached into her coat pocket.
She pulled out a folded piece of paper.
Arthur opened it.
Julia's handwriting.
He recognized it immediately.
If you find him, don't trust the first thing he says. Watch what he does.
Arthur's hands shook.
Underneath was another sentence.
If Arthur still thinks I betrayed him, he doesn't know what happened that night.
Arthur's face went pale.
Eleven years ago, he had believed Julia stole from him.
She had disappeared after he accused her of taking company documents and millions of dollars from a private account.
He had never heard from her again.
He had told himself she had chosen to run.
But now her handwriting said something different.
“What happened that night?” he whispered.
Renata looked at him.
“I don't know.”
Arthur stood.
His phone rang.
It was Daniel, his chief financial officer.
Arthur answered.
“Where are you?”
“Outside the building.”
“Arthur, we need to talk.”
“About what?”
Daniel hesitated.
“Your daughter.”
Arthur's blood ran cold.
“You knew?”
A pause.
Then Daniel said:
“Someone just accessed Julia's old company file.”
The call ended.
Arthur looked at Renata.
She was watching him.
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And suddenly the little girl wasn't the only person in the snow who seemed to know something he didn't.
👉 Someone had opened Julia's sealed file the same morning Arthur found her daughter, proving that Renata's appearance was not a coincidence.
