Chapter 121 The Documents That Change Everything

Genevieve's fingers trembled as she turned the brass key between her knuckles. The study smelled like old leather and wood polish, like secrets that had never seen daylight. Shadows bled across the walls from the firelight, dancing over Silas’s desk, his sanctuary, his fortress. It had taken her weeks to find the key tucked beneath the floorboard behind his favorite painting. She crouched low, heart hammering. The bottom drawer didn’t budge at first. Then it gave with a groan like something exhaling from deep sleep. Inside folders. Thick, heavy, bound with faded twine and secrecy. She hesitated. Something inside whispered: You weren’t meant to find this.