Chapter Four: A Secret Shared

The words hung between us with the weight of a death sentence.

"You really are an Omega."

Ronan did not raise his voice. He did not look shocked, triumphant, or amused.

He simply looked at me.

For years I had imagined this exact moment. Sometimes it ended with my arrest. Sometimes it ended with my family abandoning me. Other times it ended with shareholders demanding my resignation before the market even opened.

No matter how many times I imagined it, one thing never changed.

The secret always destroyed everything.

I drew a slow breath and forced myself to stand straighter.

"If you came here to celebrate," I said quietly, "I suggest you enjoy it while you can."

His expression remained unreadable.

"I am not celebrating."

"You finally have what you've wanted since the academy."

"I wanted to beat you."

"You just did."

"No."

His answer came immediately.

"This isn't a victory."

I laughed once, though there was no humor in it.

"You have proof that the heir to Silverfang has lied to every investor, every regulator, and every member of the board for more than twenty years. By tomorrow morning my career will be over, my family will lose control of the company, and Ashcroft Group will become the strongest corporation in the country."

I looked directly into his eyes.

"If that isn't victory, I don't know what is."

Ronan didn't answer.

Instead, he looked around the office.

The overturned chair.

The scattered documents.

The broken glass capsule on the floor.

The disabled lighting panel.

Finally, his attention settled on the shattered injector cartridge lying beside the desk.

He walked over and crouched beside it.

"The person who came in here wasn't looking for your medical records."

"How can you be certain?"

"They already knew what you are."

A chill spread through me that had nothing to do with the cool air flowing through the ventilation system.

"What makes you say that?"

"They brought an aerosol designed to expose someone's scent."

He picked up one of the broken fragments with a handkerchief.

"That isn't something you carry unless you know exactly who your target is."

I looked toward the open doorway.

The attacker had never searched randomly.

They had gone straight to my desk.

Straight to my office.

Straight to me.

Someone had planned this.

Someone inside the building.

My thoughts immediately turned toward the conference room.

Only a handful of people knew where I had gone.

Marcus.

The Helix executives.

The legal advisers.

My own board members.

Or...

Someone watching the security cameras.

Ronan stood.

"How many people have unrestricted access to this floor?"

"Less than thirty."

"Too many."

"I know."

He slipped the glass fragment into his pocket.

"I'm keeping this."

I frowned.

"You expect me to trust you with evidence?"

"No."

"Then why should I let you take it?"

"Because if building security finds it before we do, whoever planted it will make sure it disappears."

I hated admitting that he was right.

He walked toward the emergency control panel beside the door and pressed the manual reset switch.

A second later, the lights flickered back to life.

The office looked even worse than before.

Documents covered the floor.

A coffee mug had shattered near the entrance.

One of the filing cabinets had been forced open.

Whoever entered hadn't been searching carefully.

They had been searching desperately.

My phone began ringing.

The caller ID displayed only one name.

Marcus.

I answered immediately.

"Where are you?"

His voice sounded anxious.

"The board is demanding an explanation. Chairman Hale says the delay is becoming unacceptable."

Chairman Hale.

My father's oldest adviser.

He had served Silverfang for nearly thirty years.

He was also the loudest supporter of replacing me with my cousin.

"I'll be there shortly."

"There is something else."

Marcus hesitated.

"The chairman requested access to your office while you were gone."

I looked around the room.

"When?"

"About ten minutes ago."

My heart sank.

"Did he come inside?"

"No."

"The electronic lock denied access."

I slowly lowered the phone.

Ten minutes ago.

That matched almost perfectly with the attack.

Either Chairman Hale had genuinely wanted to enter...

Or someone had used his request as a distraction.

"I'll be there in five minutes," I said before ending the call.

Ronan had been listening without interrupting.

"Hale," he repeated.

"He wanted access to my office."

"Or he wanted everyone to know he wanted access."

"You think someone is framing him?"

"I think someone intelligent is creating several suspects instead of one."

That was exactly how I would have planned it.

Spread suspicion.

Confuse the timeline.

Force investigators to chase each other instead of the truth.

I disliked how similarly Ronan and I thought.

It made him far more dangerous than any other rival.

I picked up the remaining documents and returned them to my briefcase.

Most of them were ordinary acquisition files.

One folder was missing.

I searched again.

Then a third time.

The folder was gone.

Ronan noticed.

"What disappeared?"

I looked at the empty compartment.

"The confidential bidder evaluation."

"What was inside?"

"The complete financial weaknesses of every company competing for Helix."

His eyes narrowed.

"Whoever took that can predict every move you'll make tomorrow."

"And every move you'll avoid."

For the first time since entering the office, genuine concern crossed Ronan's face.

"This was never about exposing your identity."

I looked at him.

"What do you mean?"

"Your secret was the distraction."

He nodded toward the missing folder.

"The real target was the acquisition."

The realization hit me all at once.

The stolen suppressant.

The attack.

The disabled power.

The aerosol.

Every incident had kept my attention fixed on protecting my identity.

Meanwhile, someone had quietly stolen the one document that could decide a multi-billion-dollar negotiation.

Whoever planned this had known exactly which fear would blind me.

A knock sounded at the office door.

This time it was quick and urgent.

"Chairman Vale?"

Marcus.

"Security has locked down the executive floor."

I exchanged a brief look with Ronan.

Marcus continued before either of us answered.

"They found a body in the underground parking garage."

The room fell silent.

Marcus's next words came through the closed door, each one colder than the last.

"The victim worked for Helix BioTech."