Mirrors Over Wine
The restaurant was quiet, tucked away in a corner of South Bank with warm lights and jazz playing low. Lex arrived early, trying to shake the weight of Rhea's voice from her head.
Siddharth waved her over, already seated with three glasses of red wine. He smiled like he always did—grounded, easy. The kind of smile that reminded Lex what safety looked like.
"You look like you've just seen a ghost," he said as she sat.
Lex laughed softly. "Something like that."
"London meetings will do that to you."
Lex hesitated, swirling her wine. "Do you… know Rhea Malin?"
Siddharth raised an eyebrow. "From Zurich? Yeah, she's new, but she's good. Impressive background. Why?"
Lex looked away. "She used to go by another name."
Siddharth's smile faded. "Lex…"
"I'm not imagining it," she cut in. "We… knew each other. Years ago."
Manik leaned back, studying her. "Okay. I believe you. What happened?"
"She left," Lex said simply. "No warning. Disappeared. And now she's back, pretending like we never existed."
Siddharth was quiet for a beat. Then: "Maybe she's protecting something."
Lex blinked. "What do you mean?"
He glanced around, lowered his voice. "I don't know everything. But before she joined our firm, there were rumors. Data leaks. Some kind of private case she got pulled into. Top level. Legal lockdown."
Lex frowned. "You're saying Rhea—Muri—was involved in something?"
"I'm saying," Siddharth said gently, "people change names for all kinds of reasons. Not just to forget. Sometimes… to survive."
Lex felt her pulse quicken. "So she's hiding something."
Siddharth gave a slow nod. "Or someone."
---
Later That Night
Lex couldn't sleep.
The way Rhea had looked at her… like she wanted to remember and forget at the same time.
The tension in her voice. The warning in her eyes.
And now Manik's words echoed like a drumbeat in her head:
"Sometimes… to survive."
Lex got up, pulled out her laptop, and typed in Rhea's name.
But it wasn't Rhea she searched for.
It was Muri.
And what she found changed everything.