Chapter 9 - The Mole Inside the PenthouseThe enemy wasn't outside the door. The enemy already had a key.
Security interrogated everyone.
Six employees.
Four guards.
Two assistants.
The housekeeper.
The private chef.
Nobody admitted anything.
But Isa knew one thing.
Someone had been inside their home.
Declan refused to let her work alone.
She hated it.
"I am not a fragile person."
"I know."
"Then stop treating me like one."
"I'm treating you like someone Victor wants dead."
"That isn't the same thing."
"It is when I'm responsible for keeping you alive."
The argument ended when his assistant entered.
"Mr. Vale, there's an issue with the company accounts."
Declan went still.
"How much?"
"Seventy million."
Isa stared.
"Stolen?"
"Transferred."
"To where?"
"Three shell companies."
Declan's face darkened.
"Someone is moving money."
Isa stepped closer.
"Could it be Victor?"
"No."
"How do you know?"
"Because Victor wouldn't steal from me."
"Then what does he want?"
Declan looked at her.
"The ledger."
She suddenly understood.
The money was a distraction.
Someone wanted the company destabilized.
So Declan would abandon the acquisition.
The marriage would fail.
The estate would transfer.
And Victor would inherit.
"Someone wants you broke."
"Someone wants me dead."
Isa's phone buzzed.
She looked down.
A message.
LOOK BEHIND YOU.
She turned.
Nothing.
Then the lights went out.
A gunshot echoed somewhere inside the penthouse.
Declan grabbed her.
They dropped behind the kitchen island.
Another shot.
Security rushed in.
Seconds later, silence.
The attacker was gone.
But something remained on the floor.
A silver ring.
Isa stared.
"I know that."
Declan picked it up.
Victor Hale.
Except Victor was supposedly in Switzerland.
"He's here," Declan said.
The security team found no trace.
Until the elevator logs appeared.
A guest had entered the building twelve minutes earlier.
Name:
Isa Burn.
She stared.
"I was upstairs."
Declan looked at the record.
Someone had used her identity.
Her stomach turned.
"He has access to my information."
"Yes."
"Maybe he's not trying to kill me."
Declan looked at her.
"Then what?"
"Maybe he's trying to make it look like I'm the problem."
The next morning, the stock market crashed.
Harrison Strategic lost eighteen percent.
News channels blamed internal instability.
And then a photo appeared online.
Isa walking into the executive office.
Declan behind her.
The caption read:
NEW CEO'S MYSTERY FIANCÉE ACCUSED OF CORPORATE FRAUD.
Isa stared at the headline.
"That's impossible."
Maya called.
"You need to get out of the building."
"Why?"
"Federal agents are here."
Isa's heart stopped.
"What?"
"Someone filed a fraud complaint using your identity."
She looked at Declan.
He had already understood.
"They're coming for you."
"For me?"
He nodded.
"Because the mole isn't trying to kill you anymore."
May you like
He took her hand.
"They're trying to destroy you."
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