Chapter 9: The Enemy Inside My Company
The name stayed in the air.
Heavy.
Impossible.
"Melissa.""
Emily nodded.
I stared at her.
"No.""
The word came out automatically.
Because sometimes your mind rejects the truth before your heart can process it.
Melissa?
My assistant?
The woman who knew every important date in my life?
The woman who brought Lily birthday gifts?
The woman who had been beside me during the hardest years of my company?
"No," I repeated.
Emily looked at me sadly.
"That's what I said too.""
I turned away.
The conference room suddenly felt too small.
"You need proof.""
Emily nodded.
"I have some.""
She opened her bag and removed several files.
"I spent six years collecting everything.""
I looked at the documents.
"Why didn't you come back sooner?""
Her expression changed.
"Because I was afraid.""
"Of Melissa?""
"Of what she had.""
I opened the first file.
Bank records.
Emails.
Photographs.
Then I saw something that made my hands freeze.
A photograph of Melissa meeting Richard Caldwell.
Two years earlier.
In secret.
"Richard?""
Emily nodded.
"Your assistant wasn't working alone.""
My jaw tightened.
"Why?""
Emily looked at me.
"Because your company wasn't supposed to become what it became.""
I looked up.
"What does that mean?""
She pointed to the documents.
"Six years ago, Whitmore Enterprises was struggling. You were about to sign the biggest partnership of your career.""
I remembered.
The Caldwell investment.
Richard had offered funding when everyone else rejected me.
"He helped me.""
Emily shook her head.
"No.""
Her voice was quiet.
"He controlled you.""
I looked at the papers again.
The signatures.
The dates.
The transfers.
Then I saw something.
A payment.
From Richard's company.
To Melissa.
My stomach turned.
The conference room door suddenly opened.
Daniel rushed in.
"Alexander.""
I looked up.
"What?""
His face was pale.
"We found Melissa.""
"Where?""
He hesitated.
"At the airport.""
A cold feeling moved through me.
"She's leaving?""
Daniel nodded.
"She bought a one-way ticket.""
I stood.
"Where?""
He looked at the paper in his hand.
"London.""
Emily immediately looked at me.
"She's running because she knows you found out.""
I grabbed my coat.
"Call security.""
Daniel moved.
But Emily grabbed my arm.
"Wait.""
I turned.
"What?""
Her eyes were serious.
"Melissa isn't the person you should be worried about.""
I frowned.
"Why?""
"Because Melissa follows orders.""
A silence fell.
"Then who gives them?""
Emily looked at the documents.
Then at me.
"The person who has been controlling everything from the beginning.""
I already knew the answer.
But I needed to hear it.
"Who?""
Emily whispered:
"Your father.""
I froze.
The room went silent.
My father had been dead for eight years.
"That's impossible.""
Emily shook her head.
"No.""
She looked at me.
"What's impossible is believing everything you were told.""
I stared at her.
"My father died.""
"Did you see the body?""
The question hit me harder than expected.
Because the answer was no.
I had been told there was an accident.
I had been told everything was handled.
I had been told not to ask questions.
For eight years, I accepted it.
Because sometimes grief makes you stop searching.
A sound came from my phone.
A message.
Unknown number.
I opened it.
One sentence.
*"Stop digging into the past, Alexander.""*
Then another message appeared.
A photo.
My father.
Alive.
Standing outside the Whitmore building.
Taken that morning.
My hands went numb.
Emily looked at my face.
"What is it?""
I turned the phone toward her.
The color drained from her face.
Because she recognized the man in the picture.
May you like
Then she whispered the words that changed everything.
"He's not the only one who came back.""
