CHAPTER 38: The Mole

Victoria called at 7 AM, frantic.

"Don't go to work today. Either of you."

"Why?" I asked groggily.

"Someone leaked confidential documents to the press. Strategy memos. Witness lists. Everything."

I sat up straight. "What?"

"It's all over the business news. 'Sterling Legal Strategy Exposed.' James's team somehow got our entire trial plan."

Alexander grabbed the phone. "How is that possible? Those documents were attorney-client privileged."

"Someone on our side leaked them. A mole." Victoria's voice was tight. "Dad, someone close to you is betraying us."

---

By 9 AM, we were in Patricia's office with her entire team.

"This is a disaster," Patricia said, pacing. "Our strategy is compromised. They know every witness. Every piece of evidence. Every argument we planned to make."

"How did this happen?" Alexander demanded.

"Someone with access leaked it. Either someone in this office or someone in your inner circle." She looked at each of her associates. "I've been doing this for twenty years. I've never had a leak before."

"Then it's not your team," I said. "It's ours."

Everyone looked at me.

"Think about it. Who has access to everything? Who knows our schedule, our plans, our private conversations?"

Alexander's face darkened. "You think someone in my organization is the mole?"

"I think someone is being paid very well to feed information to James's team."

Marcus spoke up from the corner. "I've been thinking the same thing. The timing is too perfect. Every time we make a move, James counters within days."

"So what do we do?" Victoria asked.

Patricia straightened. "We feed false information. Set a trap. See who takes the bait."

---

The trap was simple but effective.

Patricia drafted a fake memo claiming we'd found a key witness—a woman named Sarah Mitchell who allegedly had proof of James's embezzlement.

Sarah Mitchell didn't exist.

"We send this to five people," Patricia explained. "Each version has a slight variation—a different date, a different amount. Whoever leaks it, we'll know by which version shows up."

"Who are the five?" Alexander asked.

Patricia listed them: "Marcus, your head of security. David, your CFO. Jennifer, your personal assistant. Robert, your head of PR. And Thomas, your COO."

"These are people I trust," Alexander said.

"One of them is betraying you," Patricia said flatly. "We need to know who."

---

Three days later, the leak hit the news.

"Sterling Team Claims Mystery Witness Will Prove Embezzlement"

The article quoted details from the fake memo—including the variation that had been sent to David, the CFO.

"David?" Alexander stared at the article in disbelief. "He's been with me for fifteen years."

"Which means he knows everything," Patricia said. "Bank accounts. Financial records. He's the perfect mole."

Marcus was already pulling up David's recent transactions. "There. Three wire transfers in the past month. $25,000 each. From the same Delaware LLC that funded James."

I felt sick. "He sold us out for $75,000?"

"Greed makes people stupid," Marcus said.

Alexander's face was stone. "Bring him in. Now."

---

David arrived an hour later, confused and nervous.

"Alexander, what's this about? Your assistant said it was urgent—"

"Sit down, David."

Something in Alexander's tone made David pale. "What's going on?"

Alexander slid the bank records across the table. "You want to explain these?"

David's eyes widened. "I—I don't know what—"

"Don't lie to me. I've known you for fifteen years. Don't insult me with lies."

David's composure cracked. "They approached me. Said they'd pay me to share information. Said it wasn't illegal, just... business intelligence."

"You gave my son's legal team our trial strategy. You compromised attorney-client privilege. That's not business intelligence, David. That's betrayal."

"I needed the money! My daughter's medical bills—"

"I would have given you the money!" Alexander's voice thundered. "All you had to do was ask! Instead you sold out my family!"

David was crying now. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. They said it was harmless. That James deserved to know—"

"Get out." Alexander's voice was ice. "You're fired. Effective immediately. Security will escort you out. And David? If you ever contact anyone in my family again, I will destroy you. Legally. Financially. Completely. Do you understand?"

David nodded, sobbing, and was led out by security.

After he left, Alexander sank into his chair.

"Fifteen years," he said quietly. "I trusted him for fifteen years."

I moved behind him, hands on his shoulders. "I'm sorry."

"Everyone has a price, apparently." He rubbed his eyes. "Who's next? Who else is going to betray us?"

"No one," Victoria said firmly. "David was weak. Desperate. Most people aren't."

"Most people haven't been offered $25,000 a month."

Patricia cleared her throat. "The good news is, now that we know about the leak, we can control what information gets out. Feed them false leads. Keep them off balance."

"And the bad news?" I asked.

"They still have our original strategy. We need to rebuild from scratch. Three months until trial. Starting now."

---

That night, Alexander was quiet.

We lay in bed, his hand absently rubbing my belly, but his mind was elsewhere.

"Talk to me," I said.

"I keep thinking about trust. How fragile it is. How easily broken."

"David was one person. That doesn't mean—"

"How many more are there, Bella? How many other people close to me have been bought off?"

"You can't think like that."

"Why not? David was family. Not blood, but family. And he sold me out without hesitation."

I turned to face him. "Look at me."

He did.

"I will never betray you. Victoria will never betray you. Catherine won't. Marcus won't. We're your real family. The people who matter. And we're not going anywhere."

"You promise?"

"I promise. No amount of money could make me turn on you. Ever."

He pulled me close. "I don't deserve you."

"Yes, you do. You chose me when it cost you everything. That kind of loyalty earns loyalty back."

Luna kicked against his hand.

"She agrees," I said.

He smiled slightly. "Smart girl."

"She takes after her mother."

"Humble too."

Despite everything—the betrayal, the stress, the upcoming trial—we laughed.

And in that moment, I realized something.

David's betrayal hurt. But it also showed us who our real allies were.

The people still standing beside us? Those were the ones who mattered.

Everyone else was just noise.