Let's go deep.
Chapter 6: The Letter
We peel back part of Eliot's past and rev
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Chapter 6: The Letter
The envelope was heavier than it should have been.
Eliot sat at his father's old desk, the letter resting like a quiet bomb before him. He ran his thumb along the seal once. Twice. Then tore it open.
His father's handwriting was careful, sharp.
> Eliot,
If you're reading this, it means I'm gone. And it means Richard got what he wanted.
> There's something you need to know. The fall of Maxwell Engineering? It wasn't market collapse. It wasn't bad luck. It was sabotage—from inside Kane Corp.
> I tried to protect Andrew Maxwell. I failed.
> You will meet his daughter someday. When you do, listen to her. She deserves the truth. More than either of us ever did.
> Be better than me.
—Dad
The paper trembled in Eliot's hand. Not from the chill in the room—but from the storm building in his chest.
Rina wasn't just an intriguing girl in a coffee shop.
She was the daughter of a man Eliot's family destroyed.
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Across the city, Rina stepped into the sleek, modern office of CorePath AI. She took a breath, straightened her shoulders, and walked through the glass doors.
"You made it," Luca said with a smile.
"Barely," Rina replied. "But I'm not leaving anytime soon."
Behind tinted glass on the 42nd floor, Eliot watched her on the security feed. Her confidence. Her fire.
But the truth burned behind his eyes.
I pulled her into this world, he thought. Now I have to protect her from it.
Even if it means lying to her.
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