Fantasy reinforcement.
Emotional dysregulation.
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
Emma stepped forward as if approaching something sacred.
She touched the top letter.
“I thought they threw them away,” she said.
Mrs. Keller said nothing.
Adrian handed her the box.
Emma held it against her chest with both arms.
It was too big for her.
She held it anyway.
Then one envelope slipped from the side and fell open.
A photograph slid onto the floor.
Adrian bent to pick it up.
The photo showed a young woman holding a baby.
On the back, in faded ink, were three words.
Emma. Six weeks.
And below that, a name.
Claire Mason.
Adrian stared at it.
The room seemed to tilt slightly.
He knew that name.
Not well.
Not closely.
But enough.
Claire Mason had worked at one of his company’s early offices twelve years ago.
Quiet.
Smart.
Temporary contract.
She had left suddenly.
There had been rumors.
Adrian had ignored them.
He had been building an empire then.
He ignored many things.
Too many.
He looked at Emma’s face.
The hair.
The eyes.
A memory rose uninvited.
A company retreat.
Rain against hotel windows.
A lonely man pretending success could fill every empty room inside him.
A woman named Claire who had laughed softly and said he looked sad for someone so rich.
Adrian’s hand closed around the photo.
Mrs. Keller noticed.
“What is it?” she asked.
Adrian did not answer.
Emma looked up.
“Do you know her?”
