Chapter 18. The Traitor

Nobody slept.

Ethan got his team to search the building within twenty minutes of getting the message. They looked at security footage and access logs. They checked every person who had entered and exited since we got there. Ethan worked fast and quiet. I watched him from across the room. Thought about what he had said.

Both of us.

He said it like it meant something more than just the shares, the trust and my uncle. Like it was about something else entirely. I did not know what to think about that so I put it aside and focused on what was right in front of us.

Someone in this building was reporting to my uncle.

I looked at each face carefully.

My mother—She was scared and broken when she came here. It was not her.

My father—He kept this secret for twenty years to protect me. It was not him.

Grace— She spent four years gathering evidence even when it was hard for her. It was not her.

Victoria—She just got here. She had barely said a word.

Then there was Daven.

Daven who came to us with information. Daven who was recruited by my uncle. Daven who spent three years telling my uncle everything about me.

I stood up.

"It is Daven, " I said.

Ethan looked at me.

"You do not know that, " he said.

"He is the one who knew your grandfather's name was in the founding documents before you told us " I said.

Then he picked up his phone. Called his security team.

"Bring him out, " he said.

Two minutes later Daven was standing in the room. He looked at me first at Ethan then at the look on our faces and something in him seemed to break.

"How long? " I said.

He closed his eyes.

"Daven."

"I stopped three weeks ago, " he said. His voice was low and tired. "When Grace talked to me and I understood what I was really a part of. I stopped telling  everything."

"But before that " I said.

"Before that. Tell us Everything. Where you went. Who you talked to. What you said. 

“He  knew everything about you Sofia because I told him everything for three years.”

The room was very quiet.

I had known this. But hearing it out loud in that flat tired voice was different. It felt heavy and cold in my chest.

"Tonight, " Ethan said. "Did you tell my uncle about the letter?"

"I did not have to, " Daven said. "He already knew your father was bringing it. He has known about the letter for years. He just did not know when it would come up."

"So he used the letter to send that message, " Ethan said.

"Not because someone here told him. Because he already knew."

Daven nodded.

I sat back down.

So there wasn’t a traitor in the room. My uncle had known about the letter all along. Which meant he was ahead of us longer than we thought.

"What does my uncle have on us? " I said. "He said he would release something that would destroy us both. What is it?"

Daven looked at Ethan.

"He has something on you, " Daven said to Ethan.  "Something from before. Something you thought was buried."

I looked at Ethan.

His face was completely blank.

"What is it? " I said to him.

He did not answer immediately.

"Ethan."

"There was a deal, " he said slowly. "Seven years ago. Before I took over Voss Holdings completely. A deal that should not have happened. I was twenty-six. I made a decision that I have spent every year trying to keep a secret."

"What kind of deal? " I said.

He looked at me for a moment. I could see him thinking. Not about whether to trust me or maybe telling me would put me in danger.

"The kind that ends careers, " he said finally. "That Sends people to prison."

The silence that followed was complete.

I looked at this man I had made a deal with. This man who had protected me and stood up for me and said "both of us" like it meant something real.

And I understood that I did not know everything about him.

Not even close.

His phone buzzed.

He read the message then looked  at me and his expression changed completely.

"My legal team just found something, " he said. "In the founding documents. Sofia. Your grandfather did not just leave you shares in Voss Holdings."

I stared at him.

"He left you the controlling vote, " Ethan said.

"Which means now. Tonight. You have more power over my company than I do."