Chapter 5: The Unspoken Threat

The air in Reed International had shifted no longer just charged with ambition and whispered alliances, but something far darker. A storm of secrets brewed in every corner, and Bella felt it pressing in from all sides. Conversations stopped when she entered a room. Veronica’s gaze clung to her like a shadow, cold and calculating. Jason’s questions cut deeper, no longer curious but almost accusatory. The facade of professionalism was cracking, revealing a battlefield beneath.

It wasn’t just corporate sabotage anymore. It was personal.

One morning, Bella arrived early to her office to find a plain manila envelope resting innocuously on her desk. No label. No sender. Just her name typed neatly across the front. Her heart stuttered as she peeled it open.

Inside was a single photograph. A grainy image. Lila, unmistakable in her favorite yellow jacket, captured mid-laugh at a Boston park. Taken from a distance. Stalked.

Bella’s breath caught in her throat. Her fingers trembled. This wasn’t a warning it was a threat. Her daughter, her greatest secret, was no longer hidden. Someone knew. And they weren’t just watching. They were letting her know they could reach her if they wanted.

She shoved the photo deep into her bag, locking the drawer with shaking hands. Panic threatened to overtake her, but she couldn’t afford to unravel. Not here. Not yet.

Was it Veronica? The woman clearly had it out for her but would she go this far? Or was it someone else in the shadows of Reed International, someone with access, someone willing to exploit a child for leverage?

Later that afternoon, Jason summoned her to his office. The tension between them had grown taut, a string pulled too tightly, vibrating with suspicion and something else neither of them dared name.

He didn’t waste time.

“I’ve been going over internal logs from five years ago,” he said, his voice clipped. “There was a power outage in the executive wing the night you left. Just under six minutes. Long enough to disable security systems, cameras, door logs. Convenient timing, wouldn’t you say?”

Bella forced her expression into neutrality. “I didn’t orchestrate a blackout, Jason. I left because I believed I had to.”

Jason leaned forward, his eyes narrowing. “Did you? Or were you paid to disappear?” He clicked on his screen and turned it toward her. “I found irregular wire transfers, large sums moved from discretionary accounts with no traceable origin. It looks like hush money. Payouts. Bella, were you—”

“Paid?” she exploded, her voice slicing through the air. “I walked away with nothing. You think I left because I wanted to? You think I wanted to disappear without a word?”

“Then tell me why,” he snapped. “Tell me what you saw that night. Because the deeper I dig, the more I question everything. You. Me. All of it.”

Bella’s lips parted, she wanted to scream, You were kissing her, You chose her, You destroyed us—but she couldn't. Not now. Not with that photograph burning a hole in her bag. Her daughter's life might depend on her silence.

She turned away. “It doesn’t matter anymore.”

Jason’s voice dropped. “The past doesn’t just stay buried, Bella. Especially not here.”

That night, as if the day hadn’t rattled her enough, Grace Monroe cornered her in the hallway outside the boardroom. Grace was elegance and poison wrapped in silk always smiling, always scheming.

“Bella, darling,” she cooed, draping an arm around her like an old friend. “I hear your comeback here has been… eventful. Some of us were surprised to see you return at all, considering how dramatically you left last time.”

Bella stiffened. “If you have a point, Grace, I suggest you make it.”

Grace’s smile widened. “Just that you should be careful. The Reed family doesn't like surprises. Especially when there’s an heir involved.”

Bella went cold. Her blood iced over in her veins.

“What did you say?” she whispered, her voice barely audible.

Grace waved a manicured hand as if brushing away dust. “Oh, just gossip. Rumors, really. But rumors have a way of becoming truth in places like this. You’d be wise to remember that.”

She walked away with the click of expensive heels, leaving Bella stunned and breathless. Grace knew. How much she knew was the question. How far had the whispers spread?

Later that evening, her phone rang. Dean.

“Bella,” his voice came through, warm and steady, a tether to another life. “I heard some things. From Olivia.”

Bella’s stomach clenched.

“She said you’re being investigated. Embezzlement. And she mentioned… a child. She didn’t say much, but—is it true? Are you in danger?”

Bella squeezed her eyes shut. Olivia. Dean’s sister. The most dangerous kind of person—well-meaning and indiscreet.

“Dean, I can’t talk about it,” she said, her voice brittle. “Not now.”

“You don’t have to go through this alone,” he urged. “Come back to Boston. Let me help. I—” He hesitated, then said softly, “I still care about you. That hasn’t changed.”

She swallowed hard. Dean offered safety, a world without suspicion or secrets. But Lila’s photograph haunted her, and Jason’s piercing questions gnawed at her every thought. The walls were closing in, and Bella didn’t know who she could trust anymore.

One thing was clear.

The danger wasn’t coming.

It was already here.