CHAPTER 8 — THE BETRAYAL INSIDE HER COMPANY
CHAPTER 8 — THE BETRAYAL INSIDE HER COMPANY
The first thing I learned that morning was that money could be stolen.
The second was that loyalty could be manufactured.
The third was that the people closest to me could betray me without ever touching my bank account.
They could simply wait.
Wait until I trusted them.
Wait until I gave them access.
Wait until I believed the company was safe because my name was on every document.
I stood in the center of the private operations room, staring at the screen that had identified Sydney as a secondary Vale heir.
My company.
My father's secret company.
My inheritance.
All of it suddenly felt like a house with someone already living in the walls.
Victoria stood beside me.
Jason remained near the door.
Elena was gone.
Or rather, Elena had never existed.
Only Victoria did.
I looked at the dashboard again.
"How many people have access to this system?"
Victoria hesitated.
"Four."
"Names."
She looked at me.
"Yourself."
I almost laughed.
"I've never accessed it before."
"I know."
"Then three."
"Your father."
"He's missing."
"Yes."
"Who else?"
Victoria's face tightened.
"Your company's chief financial officer."
I stared at her.
"Who?"
"Marcus Bell."
The name meant nothing.
Then I remembered.
Marcus had worked for Carter Security for eleven years.
He had been the man who told me not to worry about the company's financial structure.
The man who always prepared my quarterly reports.
The man who had once told me:
"If you ever need anything, Meline, you know you can trust me."
I felt sick.
"And the fourth?"
Victoria didn't answer.
I turned toward her.
"Victoria."
She looked down.
"Jason."
Silence.
I turned slowly.
Jason didn't deny it.
"You had access?"
"Limited access."
"To this system?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"I was ordered to monitor the company."
"By Richard?"
"No."
"Then who?"
He hesitated.
"My father."
"Thomas?"
"Yes."
I stared at him.
"So while you were dating me, you were monitoring my company."
"I stopped."
"When?"
"The day I realized I loved you."
I looked away.
I wanted to believe him.
That was the problem.
Every time I wanted to trust someone, another lie appeared.
I called Marcus.
He answered immediately.
"Good morning, Meline."
"Where are you?"
A pause.
"At headquarters."
"Don't leave."
His voice changed.
"Is something wrong?"
"Very."
"Do you want me to come to the office?"
"No."
I looked at Victoria.
"Stay exactly where you are."
"Of course."
I ended the call.
Victoria frowned.
"You're going to headquarters?"
"Yes."
"That's dangerous."
"Everything is dangerous now."
Jason stepped forward.
"I'm coming."
I looked at him.
"No."
"Meline—"
"If you really want to prove you're not working against me, stay here."
He stopped.
I walked out.
Carter Security Group occupied thirty-two floors of a glass tower downtown.
Thousands of employees worked there.
Engineers.
Analysts.
Developers.
Security specialists.
Executives.
People who had built their careers around a company they believed belonged to me.
They smiled when I entered.
They greeted me.
They congratulated me on my wedding.
Nobody knew what had happened.
Nobody knew that my family had tried to steal from me.
Nobody knew that my fiancé had another identity.
Nobody knew that the woman who had been my attorney for years was actually Victoria Vale.
And nobody knew that the company they worked for was worth far more than any of them imagined.
I reached the executive floor.
Marcus Bell was waiting.
He smiled.
"Meline."
"Marcus."
He looked at my face.
"Is everything okay?"
"No."
His smile faded.
"What happened?"
I walked past him.
"Lock the doors."
He hesitated.
"Why?"
"Because I said so."
He closed them.
I sat behind my desk.
"How long have you worked for my father?"
Marcus went still.
"I don't understand."
"Eleven years."
"Yes."
"How long have you worked for Richard Vale?"
His face changed.
Only slightly.
But I saw it.
That was enough.
"That's absurd."
"Is it?"
I opened my laptop.
A file appeared.
Bank transfers.
Offshore payments.
Consulting fees.
Shell companies.
Marcus's name appeared repeatedly.
He swallowed.
"Where did you get that?"
"From my company's hidden system."
He stared at the screen.
"You accessed it."
"Yes."
"You weren't supposed to."
"Neither were you."
He stood.
"Meline, listen to me."
"No."
"You don't understand what you're dealing with."
"Then explain."
He remained silent.
I stood.
"You've been transferring money from my company."
"Not stealing."
"What do you call it?"
"Protecting it."
I laughed.
"By sending millions to offshore accounts?"
"Those accounts were controlled by your father."
"Why?"
"Because Richard was trying to take the company."
I frowned.
"Then why help him?"
"I wasn't helping Richard."
"Who were you helping?"
Marcus looked at me.
"Your father."
I stared.
"You're saying my father ordered you to move the money?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because the company had to disappear."
"From whom?"
He whispered:
"From the government."
The room seemed to shrink.
"What did my father do?"
"Nothing."
"Then why hide the company?"
"Because the government wasn't looking for him."
"Who were they looking for?"
Marcus looked toward the windows.
"Thomas Vale."
I frowned.
"Thomas is dead."
"That's what everyone believes."
My blood went cold.
"What are you saying?"
Marcus didn't answer.
I stepped closer.
"Tell me."
He whispered:
"Thomas Vale never died."
I stared.
"No."
"He disappeared."
"Victoria said he was dead."
Marcus shook his head.
"Victoria believed it."
"How could she not know?"
"Because your father made sure she didn't."
I felt dizzy.
"What happened to Thomas?"
Marcus looked at me.
"He went underground."
"Why?"
"Because he discovered who was actually controlling the family."
"Richard?"
Marcus shook his head.
"No."
"Then who?"
He hesitated.
"Your mother."
I froze.
Again.
Always my mother.
Always another secret.
Always another lie.
"You're telling me my mother controlled Thomas?"
"Not exactly."
"Then explain."
Marcus walked to the window.
"Thomas discovered that your mother had been working with an intelligence network."
I stared.
"What kind?"
"Financial intelligence."
"Why?"
"To dismantle the Vale empire."
I frowned.
"Then why would she steal from me?"
"She didn't."
"She tried to stop me from inheriting."
"Because she believed the inheritance would get you killed."
I shook my head.
"Everyone keeps saying they're protecting me."
Marcus looked at me.
"Because they were."
I slammed my hand against the desk.
"Then why did they lie?"
"Because the truth would have made you a target."
I stared at him.
"Too late."
Marcus finally confessed.
The money I'd thought was stolen had been moved into protective accounts.
The company I'd thought was struggling had been deliberately kept small.
The acquisitions I'd been told were failures were actually strategic purchases.
The data centers I'd been told were obsolete were among the most secure facilities in the country.
And the employees I'd thought were ordinary engineers?
Many were intelligence specialists.
Cybersecurity experts.
Former investigators.
People recruited specifically to protect the hidden company.
I stared at Marcus.
"How many people know?"
"About the real company?"
"Yes."
"Forty-three."
"Forty-three?"
"Only forty-three people know the entire structure."
"And you?"
"I'm one of them."
"Who are the others?"
Marcus hesitated.
I already knew the answer would hurt.
"Give me the list."
He opened a file.
Names appeared.
I recognized some.
My father's accountant.
My company's chief legal officer.
Two board members.
Three senior engineers.
My mother's financial adviser.
And—
Sydney Carter.
I stared.
"Sydney knew?"
Marcus nodded.
"She was involved."
"No."
"She was."
"How?"
"She was assigned to monitor your inheritance."
"By whom?"
"Your mother."
I sat down.
Sydney hadn't been betraying me.
She had been watching me.
But why?
My phone rang.
Sydney.
I answered immediately.
"Where are you?"
"Safe."
"Who are you with?"
"Nobody."
"Tell me where you are."
She hesitated.
"I can't."
"Why?"
"Because someone is following me."
"Who?"
"I don't know."
I heard her breathing.
Then she whispered:
"Meline, don't trust Marcus."
I looked across the room.
Marcus was standing perfectly still.
"Why?"
"He isn't working for Dad."
My blood ran cold.
"Then who?"
"Richard."
I stared at Marcus.
He smiled.
Not warmly.
Not nervously.
He smiled like a man whose secret had finally been exposed.
I reached for the panic button.
Marcus moved first.
He pulled a gun.
"Don't."
I froze.
"Marcus."
"I'm sorry."
"You said you were protecting me."
"I am."
"By pointing a gun at me?"
"Because you're about to destroy everything your father built."
"You mean everything Richard built."
He shook his head.
"You still don't understand."
"Then explain."
Marcus stepped closer.
"Your father built the company."
"Yes."
"Thomas Vale built the network."
"Yes."
"Richard wants the network."
"Yes."
Marcus smiled.
"But none of them understand the final piece."
I stared at him.
"What final piece?"
"You."
He reached toward my laptop.
I moved back.
"Don't touch it."
"Too late."
He entered a command.
The screen went black.
Then a countdown appeared.
10:00
I stared.
"What did you do?"
"The system is going to erase itself."
"No."
"Ten minutes."
"Stop it."
"I can't."
"You can."
"I was ordered not to."
"By Richard?"
Marcus nodded.
"He's going to destroy the company."
"Why?"
"Because if you inherit it, he loses everything."
I stepped toward him.
"You'll lose everything too."
He smiled sadly.
"I already did."
Suddenly the door opened.
Jason stood there.
His gun was raised.
"Put yours down."
Marcus turned.
"Jason."
"I said put it down."
Marcus laughed.
"You're still pretending to be a hero?"
Jason's expression hardened.
"You don't know me."
"I know exactly who you are."
Marcus lowered his weapon.
Then fired.
The shot hit the wall beside Jason.
Jason returned fire.
Marcus ran.
I chased him.
He reached the emergency stairwell.
I followed.
Jason shouted behind me.
"Meline, stop!"
I didn't.
I reached the stairs just in time to see Marcus disappear below.
Then my phone vibrated.
A message.
Unknown number.
YOU HAVE TEN MINUTES.
Another message followed.
SAVE THE COMPANY OR SAVE YOUR SISTER.
My heart stopped.
A photograph appeared.
Sydney.
Bound to a chair.
A dark room behind her.
And standing beside her—
a man with a silver bird ring.
Daniel.
Under the photograph was one final message:
CHOOSE.
I stared at the screen.
Then another message appeared.
THE ACCOUNT THEY HID WAS NEVER THE REAL PRIZE.
I looked toward the server room.
The countdown continued.
07:42
The company was being erased.
Sydney was being held hostage.
And somewhere in the city, Daniel was waiting for me to make the wrong choice.
I closed my eyes.
Then I remembered something my father had said.
The company was built to protect you.
I opened my laptop.
The countdown kept falling.
07:19.
I smiled.
Because if my father had truly built this company to protect me—
he must have known someone would eventually try to destroy it.
And he would have left me a way to fight back.
I opened the hidden system again.
A password prompt appeared.
FINAL AUTHORIZATION REQUIRED.
Below it was one question:
WHO DO YOU TRUST?
I stared at it.
For the first time in my life, I knew the answer.
Nobody.
I typed:
MYSELF.
The system unlocked.
And every hidden account in the Carter empire appeared on my screen.
Including one account that had never appeared in any investigation.
An account registered eighteen years ago.
Owner:
MELINE CARTER.
Balance:
$2,400,000,000.
I stared at the number.
Then I saw the account's transaction history.
There had been only one withdrawal.
Three days before my wedding.
The recipient wasn't my parents.
It wasn't Richard.
It wasn't Daniel.
It wasn't Jason.
The money had gone to an organization called:
THE VICTORIA PROJECT.
I slowly looked toward the door.
Because Victoria was standing there.
Watching me.
And she looked terrified.
"Who," I whispered, "gave you two billion dollars?"
Victoria didn't answer.
She only said:
"Meline..."
Her voice trembled.
"You weren't supposed to find that account until after I was dead."
The countdown continued.
May you like
04:11.
And somewhere far away, Sydney screamed.
