Denial

Gilen Mansion, that was where the address lead to.

"Veronica… could it really be…" Roland was at a complete loss.

As much as he'd felt relieved previously, he now felt betrayed, disappointed, and distraught.

The pain felt real, like his heart was being clutched and twisted inside of him. He imagined Veronica being the one to do it, sneering as the blood poured out of his chest.

"No." Roland resolutely denied it. "This is another trick, another scapegoat. Nightingale must have found out about Anna's speculations while monitoring the company."

A frenzied look appeared in Roland's eyes as he leaned into the computer again.

Rather than the flurried but still composed aura he'd emanated before while tracking Nightingale, the current Roland seemed desperate, like this was his last chance to save the image of Veronica—his Roni—he held within.

He pounded on the keyboard as he tried to find some evidence of Veronica's innocence, every key press was forceful enough that it might break they key.

Outside his office, Barov was watching with deep concern etched into his brow.

It was by chance that Barov had noticed the change in Roland; he has simply looked up in the middle of his work and become distracted by Roland's sharp profile as it caught the light through the window.

As someone who had worked for Roland for years, Barov easily deduced what was going on.

'It seems he's found something he didn't want to, or wasn't expecting to, find.

'Most likely, he's investigating Nightingale still; after all, the discovery that the hack originated within the building is deeply disturbing.

'I just hope that whatever he's found isn't too shocking or that he's mistaken. God, please, be mistaken.'

While he was thinking such, the elevator bell rang out, echoing through the office, bringing Barov's attention back to the world around him.

Surprisingly, the person within the elevator was…

"Anna, how can I help you?" greeted Barov with a kind but somewhat awkward smile. He'd hardly spoken to her since her outburst.

"Is Roland available? I'd like to speak to him."

"I'm sorry, but that won't be possible."

Anna went to say something, but Barov continued speaking. "As you're no longer a member of the department and not a department head, you need to make an appointment to meet with him. Besides, he's currently busy."

"Is it to do with the security breach? Actually, that's why I'm here; I wanted to see if he's made any progress with tracking down Nightingale."

…

After a few hours of frenzied investigating, Roland, his brow covered in sweat and the bags under his eyes dark, came to a conclusion…

"I have not made a mistake," he muttered to himself.

"It really came from Veronica's home, and it wasn't passing on the data elsewhere.

"There's a chance that it's someone who works there, but the odds of that are low; to hide a rig necessary for such an operation within the mansion, only Veronica could do such a thing, right?"