Reeling from the board meeting, Aurora felt a strange mix of triumph and unease. Julian Thorne’s tight-lipped approval was a victory, but his abrupt exit and the hushed phone call about an “old family matter” left a lingering chill. A mysterious ‘her’ was involved. The man was an enigma. Walking through the polished halls of Thorne Industries, the sleek modern aesthetic felt sharper, colder than usual. Her mind replayed Julian’s stiff posture, the subtle clench of his jaw as he listened to the unknown caller. He was never truly rattled, yet a tremor had crossed his usually stoic face. Stopping by the kitchenette for a quick coffee, she heard voices. Two junior executives, oblivious to her presence around the corner, were murmuring. Their tones were low, conspiratorial. “...can you believe he still comes in early after all that?” one whispered, stirring sugar into his mug. “Hardly surprising,” the other replied, a scoff in his voice. “The Thorne name demands it. But the whispers never really died, did they? About his mother.” Aurora froze, her hand halfway to the coffee machine. Julian’s mother? She knew almost nothing about his family, a void in his otherwise meticulously curated public persona. “No, not really. Especially with the art scandal,” the first one continued, lowering his voice further. “Imagine, a Thorne being involved in something so… bohemian. And then the disappearance of those pieces.” Art scandal. The words resonated in Aurora’s mind, a discordant note in the symphony of Thorne Industries’ corporate perfection. Julian, a man who saw art as a sterile asset, having a family connection to a scandal involving it? It felt profoundly out of place. “Always wondered what happened to that collection,” the second man mused. “They say she was quite the painter herself, before… well, before everything went south. Julian’s father supposedly bought up all her work, locked it away somewhere.” Bought up all her work. Locked it away. A private collection, hidden from public view. This information sparked something within Aurora, a curiosity that transcended her professional role. She had to know more. Quietly, she backed away from the kitchenette, her coffee forgotten. The executives’ words echoed in her thoughts. A disgraced artist, a hidden collection, a scandal tied to Julian’s own mother. It painted a picture far more complex than the man she knew. Her mind raced, connecting Julian’s rigid control over the art department, his almost visceral aversion to anything too expressive, to this veiled family history. Was his coldness a shield? A reaction to a past trauma? Considered the company’s vast digital archives. They contained everything from sales reports to historical blueprints. Perhaps somewhere, buried deep, there would be a mention, a record of this art scandal. Returning to her office, she logged onto the internal network, her fingers flying across the keyboard. Searching for ‘Thorne Art Scandal’ yielded nothing. ‘Julian Thorne Mother’ was equally fruitless. The company was too good at scrubbing its digital footprint. Thinking differently, she searched for 'Thorne Family Art Acquisitions' during the specific period the executives had hinted at – roughly thirty years ago. A few obscure entries surfaced, mostly related to property purchases, but one line caught her eye:

Chapter 6: Whispers of the Past