Chapter Two: The Woman Everyone Forgot

She did not raise her voice, but the room became still. “Lin Jianwei, you observe people well. You also know how to make observation sound like concern. Recording me, studying me, then claiming you alone know my truth is not concern.” Heat climbed Jianwei's ears. She wanted to argue, but remembered the photograph Wen had asked her to delete, still hidden in the camera. “You're right,” she said, setting it down. “I don't have proof. But Qiao Sui is real. Don't let security take her yet.” Wen studied her. Perhaps it was Jianwei's refusal to defend herself, or perhaps the coffee really did contain the precise amount of hazelnut Wen preferred. Finally she said, “Give her twenty minutes. Check personnel files.” Obsidian's system contained no Qiao Sui.