The next morning, while they were still savoring the days of peace, the calm was brutally shattered.
Hana, NOX's communications manager, entered unannounced, her face drawn.
"Aru, Kio... you have to hear this," she announced, her voice trembling.
Aru felt his heart clench.
"What?" he asked, already worried.
Hana slid a phone leaning against the wall toward Aru. The screen displayed an anonymous message shared on an internal NOX forum:
"Do you really think this foundation is sincere? NOX is just a PR stunt for Renka. Aru isn't just an ally: he's your puppeteer."
An icy silence fell. Kio blanched.
"This is absurd..." he blurted. Aru looked up, his jaw clenched.
"Did you write that?" he spat, his voice cracking. Kio stepped back as if struck.
"Aru, no… I would never…"
But Aru wasn't listening anymore. The wound was deep: he felt betrayed, manipulated, humiliated in front of their team.
"How could I have believed all this?" Aru murmured, his voice low, broken by pain.
Kio reached out a hand, hesitating.
"Aru… I assure you, this message is false. Someone wants to divide NOX."
Aru looked away, tears threatening to fall.
"Maybe… or maybe I don't know you at all."
The words fell like a blade. Kio felt his world crumble.
"You're hurting me,"
Kio sobbed.
"I… I believed in us."
Aru stepped back again, all the way to the wall.
"I don't know what to believe anymore," he moaned.
"Everything seems like a lie." Kio's gaze turned imploring.
"Tell me there's something real, something that isn't manipulated." A tremor passed through Aru's voice.
"My love for you... it was true, wasn't it?" Kio knelt before him, tears in his eyes.
"Yes. It's all I know that's true."
Yet Aru walked away, without a word, leaving Kio in the center of the empty living room, breathless, heartbroken. This sudden gap between them was no longer a simple argument: it was a chasm, dug by doubt, threatening to engulf their love.
The loft, usually a refuge, now echoed with a heavy silence. The morning of the chasm The sun barely filtered through the half-closed shutters.
Aru sat on the windowsill, his shoulders hunched, his gaze vacant. He stared at the street below, searching for a logic his heart refused to offer. Kio, who remained seated in the center of the living room, picked up a small frame from the table.
A photo of them, smiling, taken during their first NOX conference. A fragment of happiness he wished he could engrave for eternity. He approached Aru gently.
"Aru, please…" But Aru didn't move.
"I don't know what else to say," Kio began, his voice breaking.
"I… I'm sorry." Aru turned his head, his eyes misty.
"Sorry?" he repeated bitterly.
"Is that all you can say?" Kio swallowed, clutching the frame to himself.
"No. I meant that I… I miss you. But I understand if you can't forgive me."
The words fell like stones.
"Maybe I loved you less than I thought," Aru whispered, without looking at him.
"Maybe it was all an illusion." Kio felt the world shatter around him.
The Confrontation.
A few hours later, Aru left the loft to isolate himself in a deserted cafe. Kio followed him, sitting at the next table, not daring to approach him. Aru tapped nervously on his laptop.
NOX was showing a drop in engagement, aggressive messages. An axe to their project. Kio took his courage in both hands.
"Aru, listen to me… This message, this leak… I swear I had nothing to do with it. Someone is trying to weaken us." Aru looked up, tears ready to fall.
"And how do I know you're telling the truth? That this time, you're not the one playing a power game?"
Kio stood up, walked behind Aru's chair, and placed his hands on her shoulders.
"Because I'm ready to prove your loyalty. To expose everything."
"Everything?" Aru spat.
"Even our memories, our words?" Kio hesitated, then looked deep into Aru's eyes.
"Yes. Even that." Aru stood up, weakly.
"Then show me." Kio took out his phone and opened the secure messaging app.
He scrolled through the conversations, showing the exchanges with Aru, the notes, the NOX projects, proving the lack of an internal conspiracy. Each revealed message was a blade of truth.
One by one, the phrases of affection, of planning, of shared struggle, lined up, undeniable. Aru followed, silent, his heart swinging between anger and relief.
The First Step Toward Healing
When Kio finally put down his phone, a heavy silence reigned. Aru closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"I see… the truth," he whispered.
Kio reached out a hand, hesitant.
"Give me a chance to mend this rift."
It took Aru a few seconds before placing her hand on Kio's.
"Just one. No more." Kio gently closed Aru's hand in his own.
This tiny gesture was the first step in gluing together the wreckage of their love, still fragile, but ready to be reborn. As soon as their hands touched, Kio knew he could no longer back down.
They had agreed on only one chance. And he intended to honor it. Gathering Clues Back at the loft, Kio and Aru got to work as soon as the door closed. With computers turned on, they reviewed all of NOX's internal email logs, analyzed recently active IP addresses, and consulted Aru's reports on suspicious servers.
"Look at this," Aru said,
pointing to a series of anonymous login attempts on the NOX server, all originating from an IP address located in a secondary Renka Industries headquarters. Kio frowned.
" He's… one of ours. "
They dug deeper into the investigation, tracing the chain of access. Every day, they collected new clues: hidden emails, ghost accounts, pseudonyms invented to cover their tracks.
A name emerged
One evening, Aru came across an encrypted exchange: an anonymous account was sending precise instructions to another pseudonym linked to Renka Industries' human resources.
" He's not an external troll ", Aru murmured.
Someone has the keys to the company. Kio blanched. He remembered the tensions with certain board members, jealous of his progressive decisions.
" We need to confront the HR department. "
The decisive confrontation.
The next day, under the pretext of a crisis meeting, Kio asked to meet with the director of human resources, Ms. Tanaka. In a videoconference room, Aru, a discreet spectator, watched the tension rise.
"Ms. Tanaka," Kio began,
"I need to understand why unauthorized access was detected from your department."
Ms. Tanaka, visibly uncomfortable, scanned the room.
"I… I don't know what you're talking about."
"The logs are clear," Aru insisted, sharing the screen.
"I noted suspicious data transfers and communications"
Tanaka paled, lowered her head.
"It was at my request," she admitted, her voice cracking.
"Some members of the council were afraid that NOX would harm Renka's reputation. They wanted to sabotage the project from within. The truth revealed."
The room seemed to freeze.
"Who?" Kio asked, her voice hard.
"I can't…" Tanaka said, a mixture of shame and fear.
"They threatened me. If I refused, they would ruin my career." Kio felt anger rising.
"They won't have your forgiveness. What you did almost shattered what matters most to me. "
Tanaka looked up, tears streaming.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Renka. I really am."
Aru placed a hand on Kio's shoulder.
"Thank you for your candor. We'll settle this legally."
First Steps Toward Justice
The meeting ended in a frosty atmosphere. Aru and Kio now had a name: an anonymous group of jealous directors. They prepared the lawsuits and informed the board.
When news of the internal manipulation broke in a press release, there was shock. The newspapers announced: "Scandal at Renka Industries: Organized Sabotage to Discredit NOX." Kio and Aru exchanged a look.
Their first battle was won. But the war wasn't over.