Alya returned to the office just before dawn. The entire journey, her thoughts had been filled with Adrian's face. The man's gaze was still clear in her memory—cold and calm, yet hiding something difficult to explain.
She placed the black card on the desk.
“The person you trust most.”
Adrian's words echoed in her mind again.
The office door opened. Ryan entered carrying a report.
“You left without telling me.”
“I had a reason.”
Ryan eyed her suspiciously. “You met Adrian?”
Alya fell silent for several seconds.
“Why do you ask that?”
“Because you’ve looked different ever since.”
Alya watched Ryan carefully. For the first time, she tried to read his every movement.
“I did meet someone.”
“Adrian?”
Alya didn’t answer.
Ryan stepped closer. “Did he hurt you?”
“No.”
The answer seemed to relieve Ryan.
Yet Alya only grew more suspicious.
How could Ryan immediately ask whether Adrian had hurt her?
“I want to see the warehouse victim’s report,” Alya said.
Ryan handed her the folder.
When Alya opened it, a photograph fell to the floor. It showed the victim standing in front of a restaurant with three other people.
One of them was Adrian.
The second was Elena Voss.
Alya stared at the photograph for a long time.
But the third person left her speechless.
The man's face was partially obscured, but Alya recognized the watch he was wearing.
The same watch she had once seen on Ryan's wrist.
Alya slowly raised her head.
Ryan was staring at her.
Their eyes met.
For a moment, Alya felt the room fall silent.
Ryan's gaze seemed different.
But before Alya could ask anything, Ryan picked up the photograph.
“An old picture,” he said curtly.
“How do you know?”
Ryan gave her a faint smile.
“Because I’ve seen it before.”
Alya didn’t return the smile.
After Ryan left, she looked at the photograph again.
Something was wrong.
Then her thoughts returned to Adrian.
The look in the man's eyes before he left had not been the look of a killer trying to threaten her.
It had been a warning.
Alya opened her phone and stared at Adrian's number, which she had just secretly saved.
She hesitated for several seconds before typing a message.
What is your relationship with Ryan?
The message was sent.
There was no reply.
Five minutes passed.
Then ten.
Her phone vibrated.
A message came in.
Don’t trust him.
Alya stared at the screen, her heart pounding.
A second message appeared.
Your eyes never lie, Detective. You already know who you should suspect.
Alya closed her eyes.
She remembered Ryan's gaze again.
Then Adrian's.
Two men with different secrets.
One of them might be the killer.
The other might be the only person who could save her.
But Alya still didn’t know whom to trust.
And the harder she tried to forget Adrian's gaze, the more clearly the man's face appeared in her mind.
“Who are you, really?”
Suddenly, Ryan entered again.
“Alya, you’re still here?”
Alya quickly covered the photograph.
“Yes. I’m examining the evidence.”
Ryan stepped closer.
“What evidence?”
“The warehouse case.”
Ryan picked up the file on the desk, then accidentally caught sight of the photograph.
His expression changed for a moment.
Alya noticed.
“You know the man in the photograph?”
Ryan fell silent.
“No.”
The answer came too quickly.
Before Alya could ask again, the office phone rang. Ryan answered it and went outside.
Alya immediately picked up the photograph.
There was writing on the back that she hadn’t noticed before.
Blackstone, midnight.
The same place where she had met Adrian.
Alya began to understand.
The man in the photograph might have met Adrian there before.
Her phone vibrated again.
Don’t come to Blackstone tonight.
The message was from Adrian.
Alya frowned.
A few seconds later, a second message appeared.
I can’t protect you if you come.
Alya stared at the screen with a strange feeling in her chest.
For the first time, she felt that Adrian truly was worried about her.
But why?
A killer shouldn’t care about the detective hunting him.
Alya looked at the photograph one more time.
The mystery surrounding Adrian was growing deeper.
And the look in the man's eyes when they met continued to haunt her.
A cold gaze.
A gaze full of secrets.
Yet also a gaze that made Alya feel safe.
She let out a sigh.
“Who are you, really, Adrian?”