The room smelled like medicine and dust.
Lina's mother woke slowly.
At first, everything was blurry. A faint light flickered above her head, buzzing softly like a dying insect. Her body felt heavy, weak. Something cold pressed against her wrist.
A metal cuff.
She blinked harder.
The hospital room was gone.
Instead, she sat in a narrow chair inside a dim concrete room. Old pipes ran across the ceiling. A single camera pointed directly at her.
Fear crept into her chest.
"Hello?" she called weakly.
Her voice echoed against the empty walls.
No answer.
Only the buzzing light.
Then the door opened.
A man stepped inside.
Tall. Calm. His face half-hidden in shadow.
Lina's mother froze.
"You shouldn't be scared," the man said smoothly. "You're very important to our plan."
Her hands trembled against the metal cuff.
"Where is my daughter?" she demanded.
The man smiled faintly.
"She's exactly where I want her."
Across the city, Lina stared at Adrian's phone screen.
The red dot marking the signal location blinked again.
The Blackwood Data Archives.
The same place where the original scandal began years ago.
The same building Lina used to work in.
"This can't be real," she whispered.
Adrian stood beside her near the police barrier outside the damaged mansion. Firefighters still moved through the ruins behind them, smoke drifting into the morning sky.
"You said that place was closed," she added.
"It is," Adrian replied.
"Then how is the signal coming from there?"
Adrian's eyes darkened.
"Because someone reopened it."
A cold chill ran down Lina's spine.
The archives building had been sealed after the financial scandal destroyed Adrian's father.
No one had touched the servers since.
Until now.
"Adrian..." she whispered.
"What if they want us to go there?"
"That's exactly what they want."
"Then why would we go?"
His voice turned quiet.
"Because your mother might be there."
The words landed like a stone in Lina's chest.
For a moment she couldn't breathe.
The police nearby continued their investigation, unaware that the real war had already moved somewhere else.
Adrian looked down at his phone again.
"There's more."
"What?"
"The signal isn't steady."
"What do you mean?"
"It's moving."
Lina's stomach twisted.
"They're transporting her."
Before she could respond, Adrian's phone buzzed again.
Unknown number.
Both of them froze.
Slowly, he opened the message.
A video file.
Lina grabbed his arm. "Play it."
The video opened.
The screen showed a dim room.
Concrete walls.
A single chair.
And tied to that chair-
Her mother.
"Mom!" Lina gasped.
Her mother looked weak but alive. A harsh light hung above her head.
Then a voice spoke from behind the camera.
"You're running out of time."
The camera zoomed closer to Lina's mother.
"Adrian Blackwood," the voice continued calmly, "your father destroyed many families with his empire."
Adrian's face hardened.
"This ends today."
The camera shifted slightly.
Behind Lina's mother stood a digital timer mounted on the wall.
12:00:00
Twelve hours.
Lina's hands started shaking.
"What does that mean?"
The voice answered.
"You have twelve hours to uncover the truth your father buried."
The timer began counting down.
11:59:58
11:59:57
"If you fail," the voice said quietly, "she dies."
The video ended.
Lina felt like the ground had disappeared beneath her.
Adrian stared at the screen, his mind already racing.
"They're forcing us to reopen the old case," he said.
"The archive files," Lina whispered.
"The original data leak."
"Yes."
"But those files were destroyed years ago."
Adrian shook his head slowly.
"No."
He looked toward the rising smoke of his mansion.
"I saved one copy."
Her eyes widened.
"You did?"
"I never trusted the investigation."
Hope flickered inside her chest.
"Then we can find the truth."
"Maybe."
"What do you mean maybe?"
Adrian turned the phone toward her again.
The message screen updated.
Another text appeared.
RULE ONE: NO POLICE.
A second message followed.
RULE TWO: COME ALONE.
Then the final line appeared.
RULE THREE: TRUST NO ONE.
Lina's heart pounded.
"This is a trap."
"Yes."
"So we shouldn't go."
Adrian's expression turned grim.
"We have no choice."
Because the timer on the video had already begun counting down.
11:41:13
Miles away, inside the abandoned Blackwood Data Archives, dust covered rows of old computer servers.
Most of the lights were dead.
But one hallway glowed faintly.
A laptop sat open on a metal desk.
The same video of Lina's mother played silently on the screen.
The hooded man watched it calmly.
Behind him stood another figure.
Hidden in the shadows.
"You're sure this will bring them here?" the second voice asked.
The man smiled.
"They won't have a choice."
"And Adrian?"
"He'll come."
"How can you be so sure?"
The man leaned back in his chair.
"Because Adrian Blackwood has one fatal weakness."
"What?"
"Love."
The countdown timer on the laptop screen continued ticking.
11:38:42
The game had begun.
And this time-
The past was the weapon.
