On Lola’s way back to her office, Amala suddenly appeared beside her, matching her pace down the hallway.
"Did you deal with him?" Amala asked playfully, giving her a side-eye. "Did he cause you problems?"
"Fortunately, he seed to understand my point."
"So, he’s going to leave you alone now?"
"Depends." Lola shrugged, pausing as she reached for her office door. Then, she looked back at Amala with a small smile. "If he cos back here, that ans he prefers to be locked behind bars. Report him next ti."
Amala pursed her lips and nodded. "Wait—before you go, sothing ca here for you."
Lola knitted her brows as she accepted the envelope. She turned it around, checking the front and back, but it was blank.
"You didn’t check it?" she asked, glancing up.
Amala shrugged. "It was for you, and I only check docunts if they interest . I assud it was from Atlas. He usually sends you things for the partnership with Summit Partners."
"He does send docunts, but never plain envelopes," Lola replied, waving her hand dismissively. "Anyway, Lawrence Young is dealt with. Don’t bother with him anymore."
"Mhm." Amala turned to leave, but paused. "By the way... aren’t you going to deal with that other guy?"
Lola looked back. "You an Derek?"
"Mhm. He might not have caused trouble like Lawrence, but he’s just as persistent in trying to see you. He ambushed again last night, asking if he should co here."
"Amala, why are you even bothering yourself with him?" Lola frowned. "That guy will survive with or without . He’ll get tired, eventually."
Amala chuckled. "I just find him kind of cute."
"Yeah? Tell him that." Lola quipped. "He’ll stop right away."
With that, Lola went inside while Amala walked away laughing. As Lola headed to her desk, she lifted the envelope again.
"I wonder what this is?" she murmured, taking her seat and inspecting it briefly.
Nothing inside felt thick enough to be docunts. Without thinking too much, she grabbed her cutter from the drawer. But once she opened it, her eyes narrowed.
It wasn’t docunts.
It was pictures.
Stolen photos of Lola, Atlas, and several mbers of the Bennet family. Her hand trembled slightly as a cold glint flickered in her eyes. Without hesitation, she pressed the call button.
"Haji, try to catch the person who delivered a package to my office," she ordered, then pressed another button to connect to Amala. "Amala, et in the security room."
Lola didn’t waste a second. She rose and rushed out, heading straight for the room where the CCTV monitors were kept. Minutes later, Amala arrived.
"Lola," she called, spotting her standing behind the security team reviewing footage. She approached carefully. "What’s going on?"
Lola let out a shallow breath, snapping her eyes toward the screens. "I’m looking for the person who delivered that envelope."
"Why?"
"Long story short... I just want to see his face." Her expression darkened. "But apparently, that seems impossible right now."
"What do you an?" Amala asked, trying to keep her voice light despite her confusion. "I was told the envelope was delivered and left at reception. There are CCTVs on every corner."
"And so we thought," Lola replied, jerking her chin toward the monitors. "He spent most of his ti in the blind spot."
Amala leaned closer. The footage showed a man entering the building with several packages, then approaching the reception desk to leave the envelope—exactly where Amala had retrieved it.
But despite the footage, the man wore a cap. At every angle, he pulled it lower and tilted his head away. Even at the reception desk, he leaned over just enough that only his lower body was visible.
Deep lines ford on Amala’s forehead as she watched the repeated evasive motions.
No one spoke. Even the security team felt a chill down their spine. Until now, everyone thought the building was secure, covered by caras everywhere. But this footage proved otherwise.
At that mont, Lola’s phone rang. She answered quickly.
"It’s alright," she said as Haji’s frustrated voice ca through. "I wasn’t expecting you to catch him, anyway."
Out on the sidewalk, Haji sighed and rested his hand on his hip. He glanced at the motorbike he had used and huffed.
"I didn’t catch him, but I caught his uniform," he reported. "Found it dumped in a bin outside a restaurant."
Lola remained silent for a mont, nodding. "Co back."
"Lola, what’s going on?" Amala asked softly, but Lola glanced at the security team before looking at her.
"Let’s talk in my office."
Still confused, Amala followed. Her heart thudded heavily—her curiosity burning—and she couldn’t stop wondering what was in the envelope. She hadn’t checked its contents because she assud it was not important. If she had known sothing was inside, she would have checked it for sure.
After all, Lola never minded her inspecting packages unless told otherwise.
"Lo—" Amala stopped when Lola’s phone rang again. The latter answered imdiately, her expression unchanged.
"Allen, don’t worry," Lola said after a few seconds. "I’ll send them to Atlas. There’s no need to bother."
Hearing that only intensified Amala’s curiosity.
Once they reached Lola’s office, Amala finally asked, "Lola, what’s in the envelope?"
Lola did not answer right away. She approached her desk, picked up the contents, and handed them to Amala.
"This."
Frowning, Amala took the small stack of photos. Her breath hitched when she recognized the faces. Lola. Atlas. His siblings. Charles Bennet.
All photos were taken at different tis. All stolen.
But that wasn’t what concerned Lola the most.
"This photo..." Lola said, retrieving the pictures from Amala’s hand. She checked each one individually until she stopped at one.
It was a photo of her.
Pregnant.
Slowly, she lifted it and showed it to Amala.
"This was taken years ago, days before my accident," she said quietly. "But in this set... it’s the most recent."
Because the rest of the Bennet photos were from years back—before Atlas beca the head of the Zorken family. Before that night, she and Atlas had a one-night stand in the red district of Anteca.
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