Chapter 5 - The Betrayal
I wanted to quit.
For the first time since joining Cole Logistics, I wanted to run.
But Damian refused to let me.
“This isn’t your fault.”
“It became my fault the second they photographed me.”
“No.”
“You don’t get to decide that.”
His eyes softened.
“You’re right.”
It was strange how quickly he could disarm me.
That afternoon, my mother collapsed.
I rushed to the hospital.
Damian drove.
He didn’t ask whether he was welcome.
He simply arrived.
Eli sat beside me in the waiting room, shaking.
Mom was taken into emergency care.
I stared at the floor.
“This is all because of me.”
Damian crouched in front of me.
“No.”
“I brought this into the house.”
“You did not bring this.”
His voice was firm.
“Someone else did.”
Eli looked at him.
“Are you going to protect her?”
Damian answered immediately.
“Yes.”
Eli nodded.
“Okay.”
The doctor eventually told us Mom was stable.
Relief nearly knocked me over.
I leaned back against the wall.
Damian remained beside me.
Then his phone rang.
He answered.
His expression changed.
“Where?”
He hung up.
“What happened?”
“Someone accessed the Northstar files.”
“From your office?”
“Yes.”
“Who has access?”
He looked at me.
“Five people.”
“Who?”
He listed them.
My blood froze at the fourth name.
Priya.
“No.”
Damian didn’t react.
“You trust her?”
“Yes.”
“Then don’t assume.”
But I remembered every late-night conversation.
Every time I mentioned a report.
Every time Priya asked where I was.
I felt sick.
The next day, security footage showed Priya entering Damian’s records room at 11:48 p.m.
She claimed she had forgotten her badge.
Then we found transfers from a private account.
Money.
Large amounts.
I confronted her.
“Tell me the truth.”
She cried.
“It’s not what you think.”
“Then explain.”
“My brother owed money.”
My anger faltered.
“What?”
“He got involved with criminals. They threatened my family.”
“So you sold company information?”
“I gave them schedules, not financial records.”
“You helped them.”
“I never knew what they were planning.”
I wanted to hate her.
But she looked terrified.
“Who were you reporting to?”
She whispered:
“Martin.”
Damian entered.
Priya froze.
“Where is he?”
“I don’t know.”
“Who recruited you?”
“Someone inside the company.”
“Who?”
She looked at me.
Then Damian.
“Evan.”
Damian’s face hardened.
“No.”
“He promised he could protect my brother.”
“Where is your brother?”
“Missing.”
That changed everything.
Evan wasn’t working alone.
But before Damian could question her further, the security alarms erupted.
Someone had entered the executive floor.
We ran upstairs.
The records room door was open.
The box from Locker 314 was gone.
Only the cassette remained.
Damian picked it up.
Then he noticed an envelope taped beneath the desk.
Inside was a single sheet.
Ava Bennett was not supposed to survive.
My blood went cold.
Damian ripped the page in half.
“I’m done playing defense.”
He looked at security.
“Lock the building.”
Then he turned to me.
“You’re coming with me.”
“Where?”
“To find Martin.”
“How?”
He held up the cassette.
“Your father left more than one message.”
That night, we drove to an abandoned warehouse near the river.
Damian had tracked the original recording equipment.
Inside, we found a hidden room.
And someone waiting.
Martin Hale.
Older.
Grayer.
But very much alive.
He smiled.
“Richard’s son.”
Damian stepped forward.
“You murdered my father.”
Martin laughed.
“No.”
“You destroyed his life.”
“No.”
“You framed him.”
Martin shook his head.
“Your father framed himself.”
I stepped forward.
“What does that mean?”
Martin looked at me.
“You are Elena’s daughter.”
“Yes.”
“She never told you why she disappeared.”
“What did she do?”
“She stole the original ledger.”
“Why?”
“To protect your family.”
Martin’s eyes hardened.
“Richard Cole wasn’t the mastermind.”
I looked at Damian.
“Who was?”
Martin smiled.
“Your father was.”
Damian froze.
“No.”
“He built Northstar Holdings.”
“That’s a lie.”
“I have proof.”
Martin lifted a folder.
Then the lights went out.
Gunshots exploded through the warehouse.
Damian grabbed me and pushed me behind a concrete pillar.
People shouted.
Glass shattered.
When the lights returned, Martin was gone.
And so was Damian.
“Damian?”
No answer.
May you like
My heart stopped.
Then I saw blood on the floor.
