Senju looked straight at Adam and asked, "What is your relationship with Wil?"

Adam’s body went stiff.

For a second, he did not answer.

His mind had already started running, but his face could not hide the first shock. Senju was standing right in front of his room. She had come at night. She had asked about Wil without any warning.

"What?" Adam said. "What are you saying? I don’t know any Wil."

He wanted to ask why she was here. He wanted to ask how she had found his room. He wanted to push the question away before it became dangerous.

But before he could say anything else, Senju spoke again.

"Don’t lie," she said.

Adam’s mouth closed.

Senju did not move from the doorway. Her eyes stayed on his face.

"I know you have some relation with Wil," she said. "You proved it the moment I came here."

Adam’s fingers tightened against the door.

Senju continued, "You said my name. We have never met before, Adam. Not even once. So how did you know me?"

Adam realized it then.

He had made a mistake.

The moment he saw her face, he had said her name without thinking. He had been too surprised. He had reacted like someone who already knew her.

’Damn it.’ Adam thought. ’I gave myself away.’

Senju saw the change in his eyes.

She had spent enough time around people to understand small reactions. A person did not need to confess with words. Sometimes the body gave away the truth before the mouth did.

Senju had learned that skill through work. She had watched people hide fear in meetings. She had watched people smile while holding back questions. Adam’s reaction was not calm enough to fool her.

Adam was still trying to decide what to say.

Senju softened her voice a little.

"You don’t need to be scared," she said. "I didn’t come here to hurt you."

Adam did not answer.

Senju took a slow breath.

"I just want to know who Wil is," she said. "I have wanted to know that for a long time."

Adam kept watching her.

Senju looked around the hallway once, then lowered her voice.

"If you know me, then you must know this too," she said. "We work for Wil. Aster Core is his company. At least, that is what it is for us."

Adam’s eyes changed a little.

Senju had not said that casually.

She had given him something first.

She had placed one of her own secrets in front of him. She was not only pushing him to answer. She was also showing that she was willing to take a step from her side.

Adam understood that.

He also understood that Senju was not going to leave with a simple lie.

By saying that Aster Core was Wil’s company, Senju had also given him something from her side. She was trying to show that she was not only taking answers from him. She was also placing one truth in front of him so he could feel that she was serious.

’I always knew Senju had something in her mind.’ Adam thought. ’I knew she was looking at Wil too carefully. But I didn’t think she was chasing my identity like this.’

He let out a slow breath.

Then he moved away from the door and raised one hand toward the room.

"Come inside," Adam said. "We should talk inside."

Senju looked at him for a moment.

Then she stepped into the room.

Adam looked once into the hallway. No one was there. Still, he did not feel safe until he closed the door.

He shut it quietly and locked it.

Whatever they were going to talk about now could not go outside this room.

Senju walked to the chair near the small table and sat down. Adam moved to the bed and sat across from her.

For a few seconds, neither of them spoke.

Senju broke the silence first.

"Tell me," she said. "What is your relationship with Wil? And who is Wil?"

Adam looked at her.

He did not answer at once.

This was not a small thing. His whole second life had been built on hiding. Wil was not only a fake name. Wil was a wall. Behind that wall, Adam had moved money and trust through people who never saw his real face.

If this wall cracked in the wrong place, many things could break with it.

But the person in front of him was Senju.

Adam had known her from the future.

She was not a simple person, but she was not loose with secrets either.

He remembered one thing from his previous life. At that time, Senju had been caught in a case. Adam had never fully known whether the case was real or forced on her. He only knew that she had been cornered by an agency, and even then, she had not given names.

Not until the end.

That was one reason Adam could trust her more than most people.

Adam raised his eyes again.

"I will tell you," he said. "But before that, you have to promise me something."

Senju sat straighter.

"What?"

"You will not tell anyone," Adam said. "Not now, not later, not as long as you live."

Senju understood from his voice that this was not a normal secret.

She did not laugh.

She did not ask him to speak first.

She only nodded.

Her face had become serious too.

Senju had come here wanting an answer, but now she understood that the answer was heavier than she had expected.

"I promise," she said. "This will not go to anyone else."

Adam watched her for a few seconds.

Then he nodded once.

"Fine," he said. "I’ll tell you."

Senju waited.

The room felt smaller while she waited for him to speak.

Adam’s voice became low.

"The truth is, Senju," he said, "Wil is no one else."

He looked straight into her eyes.

"Wil is me." Adam said.