Chapter 88: What initiative?

It was Stella.

She stepped out of the car with the composed certainty of a woman arriving for business, not chance.

She was dressed up in the kind of corporate outfit that entertainment celebrities wore - a customized blazer with a mini skirt, and was looking absolutely stunning.

Her public relations team and personal assistant were walking behind her, all headed towards where Tom couldn’t approach without a plan, as if the entrance of Goldy Realty Group were simply another doorway built for her schedule.

Tom stared for half a second longer than he could afford, then the connection locked into place. The ambassadorial deal... This was where she was signing it.

Relief hit him so hard he almost laughed under his breath.

He quickly got out of the Mercedes and walked toward her.

"Hey."

Stella stopped. The black, cat-eyed sunglasses on her face angled toward him, and for a moment surprise cut through her polished arrival face.

"What are you doing here?"

"I need to meet someone inside but I don’t have a badge." Tom said to her quietly.

Her silence lasted just long enough to make the request feel simple rather than desperate. Then she gave a short nod.

"So you want to follow me in." it wasn’t a question by the sound of her tone.

He nodded once and let a small smile show. "Yes."

Stella did not smile back. She looked at him for another second, assessing, then turned slightly toward the people behind her. "Join the team."

Tom stepped into the group without another word. They moved toward the building together, Stella at the front with her chin lifted, the rest of them falling into the shape of official accompaniment. At the security barrier, the officer’s whole posture changed the moment he recognized her.

"Good morning, Ms. Marchetti."

He did not ask for identification. He did not ask for purpose of visit. The barrier opened under the weight of her presence alone.

Tom passed through with the others and only once he was fully inside the lobby did a low scoff of disbelief leave him. The same desk that had shut him out the day before had just dissolved in front of her name.

They were only a few steps past the entrance when Stella slowed enough to speak without looking fully at him.

"I believe our paths are different from here."

He nodded sharply then she continued on with her team, already returning to the version of the morning that belonged to contracts and cameras. Tom stopped where he was and watched her go.

The System chimed the moment she left his side.

```

[MAIN MISSION — PART 1]

Status: Completed

```

A second panel opened almost immediately.

```

[MAIN MISSION — PART 2]

Go to Floor 3.

Find a way into the General Manager’s office.

Remain hidden where you can hear any conversation going on in the office.

Do not get caught.

[TIME LIMIT]

90 seconds

```

Tom’s eyes moved across the text once. "What kind of a mission is this?"

The timer had already begun falling.

He did not waste a second argument on it. He crossed the lobby, entered the elevator, and pressed for the third floor. The climb felt too short for the way his pulse had started moving. When the doors opened, Floor 3 felt different in its tasteful decoration, however he didn’t have time to be admiring the scenery, He needed the General Manager’s office Fast.

A cleaner was moving along the corridor with a cart and Tom went straight to her.

"Excuse me. Where is the General Manager’s office?" he asked.

The woman looked up, then properly took him in. Her brows furrowed as she realized it was an unfamiliar face. No staff badge she recognized. Her expression tightened at once. "You’re not from here. May I know why you are looking for the General Manager’s office?"

The timer continued to fall in the corner of his vision and he swallowed hard, knowing time was against him.

Then he remembered what could work fast...

Tom did not raise his voice. He simply let authority settle into his posture and dominance into the calm of his tone, enough pressure to push without sounding frantic.

"I’m his cousin, I came to surprise him. Nobody can know, please?" he said gently and added a small smile at the end of it.

The cleaner studied him for a fraction longer. Whatever she saw in his face and bearing was enough to make her decide that arguing would be more trouble than pointing.

"Third door on the left after the turn." she said.

"Thank you."

Tom moved at once. He found the door, checked the corridor once, and slipped inside.

The office was large, ordered, and lived-in enough to belong to someone with real authority. Tom looked through it in a hurry, finding where he could hide.

There was a desk, chairs, shelving.

... None of those could hide him - then his eyes caught a side door that likely led into a private washroom. He had only just started scanning for maybe a better place than that to disappear when movement sounded outside the office door.

The footsteps and voices were approaching the door very fast.

Tom’s body reacted before thought finished forming. He walked through the room as quiet as possible, pushed into the private toilet, and eased the door nearly shut just as the main office opened. His heart was hammering so violently he could feel it in his throat. This was different from missions that asked for charm or appetite. This was intrusion. One mistake and there would be no elegant recovery.

Footsteps entered the office, accompanied with voices. They belonged to two men... Tom could make out that much.

At first there were only pleasantries, the polished, empty exchange of people settling into a conversation with mutual use already implied.

Tom stayed pressed against the quiet side of the toilet door, breathing through his mouth, forcing every movement in his chest to stay shallow.

Then he could register one of the voices fully...

Adrian Cole.

Tom went still, his eyes widened slightly. The recognition landed so sharply it briefly drowned out the timer, the office, even the risk of discovery.

Adrian Cole here in the General Manager’s office when he hadn’t arrived with Stella and hadn’t followed her to the floor she was headed?

What the hell was he doing here?

And what, exactly, had the System dropped him into?

Tom wondered then the panel flickered at the edge of his vision.

[Host should take the initiative from here.]

[Remain hidden.]

[Do not get caught.]

Tom’s fingers curled hard against his palm.

Initiative?

He almost said it out loud, the question rising too fast and too sharp under the pressure in his chest.

What initiative?