Morning came, but the tension from last night hadn't faded.
Luna sat quietly, the black file still open in front of her. The photographs… the reports… they didn't feel like someone else's life anymore.
They felt like hers.
Ethan stood near the window, watching her carefully. "You shouldn't push yourself this hard."
"I don't have a choice," she replied.
Her fingers tightened on the page. "Every time I stop… it feels like I'm running away from myself."
Silence.
Then she looked up at him. "There's more, isn't there?"
Ethan didn't answer immediately.
That hesitation—
She noticed it.
"You're still hiding something."
"I'm not hiding," he said.
"You're choosing what to tell me," she replied calmly. "That's the same thing."
Ethan exhaled slowly.
"There are parts of this… that aren't confirmed."
"I don't care."
Her voice didn't shake this time.
"I need to know everything."
Ethan looked at her, long and steady. Then—
"There was an operation."
Her heart skipped.
"A failed one," he continued. "The night of the accident."
Luna's grip tightened.
"What kind of operation?"
Ethan's gaze darkened slightly. "Something your father was involved in… and Adrian."
Her breathing slowed. "And me?"
A pause.
"You were there."
Silence.
Luna felt it again—
That sharp, sudden pain in her head.
Fragments—
Clearer now.
Running footsteps.
Rain hitting the ground.
Someone shouting—
"Luna, don't look back!"
Her eyes widened.
"I was running…" she whispered.
Ethan stepped closer. "What else?"
"There was… something in my hand…" she said slowly. "A file… or a drive…"
Ethan's expression changed instantly.
"What kind of drive?"
"I don't know," she shook her head. "But it felt important…"
Silence fell.
Heavy.
Ethan turned away slightly, thinking.
Luna noticed.
"You know something," she said.
He didn't respond.
"Ethan."
He closed his eyes for a second… then looked back at her.
"There was a missing data drive from that night."
Her heart stopped.
"…And you think I had it?"
"I think," he said carefully, "you were the last person seen with it."
Everything went still.
Luna felt her chest tighten again.
"So that's it?" she whispered. "That's why all this is happening?"
Ethan didn't deny it.
"That drive contains something valuable," he said. "Something people are still looking for."
"And Adrian?"
Ethan's eyes hardened.
"He wants it back."
Silence.
Luna looked down at her hands.
Empty.
"I don't have anything…" she said softly.
Ethan stepped closer. "You might not remember where you hid it."
That possibility—
Felt worse than anything else.
"So I'm being chased… for something I don't even remember?"
"Yes."
Her laugh came out weak.
"That's insane…"
But it was real.
Too real.
Luna looked at Ethan again.
"…If I find it," she said slowly, "what happens?"
Ethan didn't hesitate this time.
"We end this."
Her breath hitched slightly.
"End… what?"
"This."
His voice was calm.
But it felt sharp.
"The contract. The danger. Everything."
Silence.
Luna stared at him.
Because for some reason—
That answer didn't feel like relief.
It felt like loss.
"…And after that?" she asked quietly.
Ethan didn't respond.
Because there was no contract for "after that."
And maybe—
That was the part neither of them wanted to face.