We found Elena at her apartment two hours later.
She looked like she hadn't slept.
When she opened the door and saw Noah beside me, her face went white.
“You.”
Noah frowned.
“You know me?”
Elena looked at me.
“You brought him?”
“You know who he is?”
She laughed bitterly.
“Of course I know who he is.”
I felt something shift inside me.
“Tell me the truth.”
Elena looked exhausted.
For three years, I had imagined confronting her.
I thought I would scream.
I thought I would demand answers.
Instead, my voice came out quiet.
“Please.”
Something in her face broke.
She stepped aside.
We entered.
Her apartment was almost empty.
No photographs.
No decorations.
Nothing personal.
“I didn't kill Daniel,” she said.
I stared at her.
“I didn't ask.”
“You were thinking it.”
“Were you with him that night?”
“Yes.”
The room became silent.
“Why?”
“Because he called me.”
“About what?”
“The file.”
She looked at Noah.
“Daniel trusted the wrong person.”
Noah's expression hardened.
“What does that mean?”
“Elena,” I said.
She ignored me.
“Daniel gave you copies of the evidence.”
Noah nodded slowly.
“He did.”
“But someone followed him.”
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
She looked at me.
“Daniel was terrified.”
My throat tightened.
“He told me to keep the original somewhere safe.”
“Where?”
Elena walked to a cabinet.
From behind a loose panel, she pulled out a sealed envelope.
“I've been keeping it for three years.”
Noah stepped forward.
“Why didn't you give this to the police?”
“Because Daniel told me not to trust them.”
She handed me the envelope.
Inside were documents.
Names.
Payments.
Signatures.
Enough evidence to destroy powerful people.
My hands shook.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
Elena's eyes filled with tears.
“Because Daniel begged me not to involve you.”
I thought of his final recording.
She deserves a life without this.
“He was protecting me.”
“Yes.”
“Then why did he say not to believe you?”
Elena became still.
“I didn't.”
The room went silent.
“What?”
“I never told you Daniel left you.”
I remembered the voice note.
If Elena tells you I left you, don't believe her.
Elena shook her head.
“Someone manipulated the recordings.”
Noah looked at me.
“Could they have?”
“The messages were sent years later,” I whispered.
“Someone has access to Daniel's recordings.”
Elena suddenly stood.
“Wait.”
She ran into another room.
When she returned, she held Daniel's old notebook.
“He kept notes about everyone involved.”
She opened it.
Most pages contained drawings and numbers.
Then we saw a name circled repeatedly.
Noah.
I looked at him.
He stared at the notebook.
“I've never seen that.”
Elena turned another page.
There was a sentence.
Noah knows more than he's telling Maya.
My stomach dropped.
Noah stepped backward.
“Maya, I swear—”
The lights went out.
Elena screamed.
Something crashed in the hallway.
Then, in the darkness, my phone vibrated.
A final voice note.
I pressed play.
Daniel whispered:
“Maya…”
I began crying.
“If you're listening to this with Noah, leave.”
Noah moved.
I heard his footsteps.
“Don't let him—”
The message ended.
The lights came back on.
Noah was gone.
So was the envelope.