Emily's fingers trembled as she clutched the shredded dossier they had pulled from the ruins of the trial chamber. The ink was smeared, the paper charred, but there was no mistaking the line etched in sharp typeface beneath the seal of the Orchid: Target: Emily Lin. For a moment the world seemed to fall silent around her, only the echo of those words pounding in her skull. She had been chasing shadows, unraveling lies, confronting Leonard, questioning his every secret—but never, not once, had she imagined she herself was the bull's-eye in this sinister game. Her breath caught, and when she looked up at Leonard, the fire of betrayal burned in her eyes. "Why?" she whispered, her voice breaking against the cold walls. "Why is my name here? Did you know all along?"
Leonard's face, normally a mask of control, cracked with raw shock. He reached for the paper, as though seeing it with his own eyes would change its meaning. His jaw clenched, then released, as though he were battling to find words that didn't exist. "Emily, listen to me," he said, his voice low, urgent. "I swear to you, I never knew this. I would never let them—" He cut himself short, fear sparking behind his gaze. Fear not for himself, but for her. "This isn't possible. Someone planted it—someone wants you to believe—" "Believe what?" she snapped, yanking the dossier from his hand. "That the man who dragged me into this marriage, this web of power and lies, also signed me away as their next experiment? Their next sacrifice?" The words sliced between them, as sharp as any blade. Leonard flinched, but he didn't retreat. He stepped closer, lowering his voice. "Emily, you are the one thing I will never let them touch. You have to believe that."
But her heart, already battered by too many revelations, refused to yield. She turned away from him, her mind spiraling. If she was their target, then everything—her marriage, her presence in LU Group, even her chance encounters with Orchid's schemes—might have been orchestrated from the start. She had been a pawn believing she was the player. Rage surged through her chest, but it was tangled with terror. She wanted to scream, to cry, to run. Instead she tightened her grip on the dossier and forced her voice steady. "If you didn't know, Leonard, then find out. Prove to me I'm not just another name on their list."
Before he could respond, she shoved the half-burnt page into her satchel and strode ahead. The air outside the ruins was heavy, mist curling like specters across the broken ground. Leonard caught up, his long strides echoing against stone, but Emily kept her pace fierce, her shoulders squared. Their silence stretched, punctured only when Leonard's phone vibrated with a coded alert. He scanned it quickly, his expression darkening. "There's more," he murmured. "The name 'Sanctum Node' appeared in a crosslink between the accounts we traced earlier. It's tied to Orchid's next move." Emily stopped dead. "Sanctum Node?" she repeated. The words carried weight, like a cipher unlocking dread. Leonard nodded grimly. "It's a facility—an old research complex under LU Group's jurisdiction. Off the records. Even most of the board doesn't know it exists." His eyes met hers, hesitant. "It was built before I took control. My father's era."
Emily's chest tightened. Of course it would be his family's legacy—every dark thread seemed to wind back to the Lus. She pushed the ache down, forcing clarity. "Then that's where we go. If Orchid is moving there, that's where we'll find answers." Leonard's silence lasted too long. He was calculating, weighing, perhaps even dreading. Finally he exhaled. "The Sanctum Node is fortified. Biometric security, neural scans, sealed corridors. Even with my clearance, it's… near impossible." "Not impossible," Emily cut in. "If my life is already on their list, I won't wait here to die. We go tonight." Her voice was steel. Leonard studied her, admiration and anguish colliding in his gaze. Then he gave a curt nod. "Tonight."
The night fell heavy, a cloak of darkness pressing against the city. Within a hidden chamber of LU Tower, Leonard and Emily prepared. He retrieved a slim case, unlocking it with a thumbprint and blood code. Inside lay false identities, retinal overlays, a set of magnetic pulse disruptors. Emily's eyes lingered on the equipment, then on him. "How many times have you done this?" she asked softly, not sure if she wanted the answer. His lips tightened. "Too many." She didn't press further. Instead she slipped on the retinal contacts he handed her, the world flickering once before stabilizing. Her own reflection in the mirrored glass startled her—a stranger, disguised, already complicit.
When they moved, it was with silence born of desperation. The Sanctum Node sprawled beneath the city's industrial district, disguised as an abandoned power substation. But as they approached, Emily saw the truth—drones hovering with pinpoint lasers, guards in unmarked black, the faint hum of high-voltage barriers. Leonard's hand touched her elbow, steadying. "Stay close. Don't speak unless I say." She bristled at his command, but knew he was right. They skirted the perimeter, slipping into shadows, and reached a maintenance shaft hidden behind corroded steel. Leonard's code bypassed the first lock, but the second required both of them—her heartbeat quickened when her palm print was demanded. "They already registered me," she whispered. He gave a grim nod. "Yes. They were expecting you."
The shaft opened into silence—a corridor of glass and chrome, sterile and humming with artificial chill. Emily's breath fogged against the air. The deeper they went, the more oppressive the space became. Panels glowed faintly on the walls, coded with shifting data. It felt less like a facility and more like the belly of some living machine. Their footsteps echoed, dangerously loud. "We're ghosts here," Leonard murmured, though Emily wondered if ghosts could feel the weight of so many eyes unseen.
Midway through the descent, a tremor of sound caught Emily's ear—the faint scrape of boots not theirs. She stiffened, pulling Leonard's sleeve. He halted, listening. Another step, then silence. Someone was following. Her pulse hammered, but Leonard's hand closed over hers, urging calm. They pressed forward, weaving through junctions, until they slipped into a records alcove. There, behind glass cabinets, Emily's eyes landed on folders thick with dust yet stamped with fresh seals. She pulled one free, ignoring Leonard's warning. Inside, numbers danced—funds diverted into shell companies, routed offshore, then funneled back under aliases. At the bottom of the page a list of code-names glared: Raven. Serpent. Orchid. And then, chillingly, Isabella Qin. Emily's blood ran cold. "She's here," she breathed. Leonard leaned closer, scanning, his face tightening. "This confirms it. Orchid wasn't acting alone. They had inside collaborators."
Before she could respond, Emily's gaze caught a slip of paper lodged deeper in the file. She tugged it free, unfolding slowly. Her throat constricted—the signature at the bottom was his. Leonard Lu. Her head whipped toward him, fury igniting. "Explain this." He froze, staring at the paper as though it had stabbed him. "That's not—Emily, I never signed this. I swear." But the ink was real, the scrawl identical. Her trust, already fractured, crumbled further. "How many times will you deny what's right in front of me?" she hissed. Leonard reached for her, desperate. "They're forging me. Don't you see? They want you to doubt me." His voice cracked with urgency. "They want to break us apart." Her hand shook, gripping the paper so tightly it nearly tore. "They already have."
A sudden alarm shattered the air—red lights pulsing, sirens slicing the silence. "Intrusion detected," a mechanical voice boomed. Leonard cursed under his breath, pulling Emily into motion. They raced through corridors, alarms trailing like wolves. Security drones buzzed from alcoves, lasers firing. Leonard's disruptor sparked against the metal, sending arcs of light scattering. Emily ducked low, heart hammering, every breath a fight. They barreled through a sealed archway, Leonard overriding the code with his blood key. As the door slammed behind them, the alarms muffled, but the echo of danger lingered.
They had stumbled into the heart of the archives—a vault-like chamber where rows of data-cores gleamed, pulsing like veins of some monstrous beast. Emily's eyes darted across the shelves, scanning for meaning. Then she froze. At the far end, sealed under glass, lay a stone pedestal. Upon it rested a leather-bound book, ancient and ominous. Leonard's face drained of color. "That—" His words faltered. Emily approached, her breath trembling. The seal on the book bore the Lu crest, but the inscription carved into its cover read: The Orchid's Garden begins with Emily Lin.
Her knees nearly buckled. She pressed a hand against the glass, her reflection staring back pale and horrified. "Me," she whispered. "It's all about me." Leonard surged forward, his own shock palpable. "No. This is wrong. This can't—" But the evidence glared undeniable. Emily spun to face him, tears of fury and fear blazing. "Tell me why, Leonard. Tell me why your family built this, why my name is carved into the beginning of their plan." He reached for her, but she pulled back, her hand clenched to her chest. The chamber seemed to close in, the glow of data-cores humming like accusations. Somewhere above, the alarms raged on, but in that vault, silence held them captive.
Emily's voice cut through the air, quiet but lethal. "I don't know if you're my protector or my executioner. But I will find the truth—with or without you." Her words echoed, final. And as the glass case before her hissed open with an automated click, the book within waiting to be touched, Emily knew that the lies had only begun to unravel. The Orchid's target was not just her life—it was her very identity.
And she was done running.