CHAPTER 13

I almost turned around when I saw my desk. For a second, I couldn't understand what I was looking at. Then I stopped walking.

The photographs were everywhere. Pictures of me from company events, campaign meetings, birthdays, even a few private photographs I'd kept tucked inside the frame beside my computer — they had all been ripped from their frames and scattered across my desk. Some were torn in half. Others had been scribbled over with black ink. My face had been crossed out again and again.

My stomach tightened. Someone had taken the time to do this. Not accidentally. Not in anger that lasted five seconds. They had stood at my desk and deliberately destroyed pieces of my life.

I looked around the marketing floor. People had noticed. A few employees quickly looked away when they caught my eye. I hated that. I hated being looked at like I was something fragile. After everything that had happened, I had promised myself I wasn't going to hide anymore.

I walked toward my desk. Maya appeared beside me before I could touch anything.

"Chloe."

"I'm fine."

"You don't look fine."

"I said I'm fine." My voice came out sharper than I intended.

Maya didn't take it personally. She picked up one of the photographs instead.

"This one was in a frame."

"I know."

She turned it over. There was something written on the back. Maya read it silently. Her expression changed.

"What?"

She handed it to me. Three words had been written across the back.

*You don't belong.*

My fingers tightened around the photograph. For a moment, I couldn't breathe. I had heard those words in different forms for years. Too big. Too ordinary. Too embarrassing. Not good enough. Not Vance material. Now someone had brought those words into the one place where I had spent years proving myself.

I put the photograph down. "I'm not giving whoever did this the satisfaction of seeing me leave."

Maya's eyes softened. "Good."

I sat down and looked at my computer. Nothing had been stolen. Nothing had been broken. That somehow made it worse. This wasn't about property. It was about me. Someone wanted me scared. Someone wanted me to feel watched. And after Liam's lawyer, the rumors, the pregnancy accusations, and everything else, my mind went straight to him.

"Liam."

Maya didn't answer immediately. "You think he did this?"

"I think he wants me to believe he did."

She frowned. "What does that mean?"

"I don't know." And that was the truth. I didn't know what Liam was capable of anymore. But I knew one thing — he had just told Adrian he wanted to watch him lose everything, and to stay away from me. And I was standing right in the middle of that war.

Maya crouched beside my desk. "We should report this."

"I will."

"Chloe—"

"I said I will."

She studied me for a moment before nodding. I picked up another photograph and carefully placed it back inside the frame. My hands were shaking. I hated that they were shaking. But I kept going.

By lunch, security had arrived. A security supervisor named Marcus stood beside my desk, asking questions while another employee photographed the damage.

"When did you last see the desk untouched?"

"Yesterday afternoon."

"Did anyone have reason to access this floor overnight?"

"Employees with authorized badges."

"Anyone specific?"

I thought about Liam. Then I remembered something. "Liam still has an employee badge."

Marcus exchanged a look with the other guard. "We'll check the access logs."

My heart skipped. "How long?"

"Give us an hour."

It took less than thirty minutes. Maya and I were sitting in a small security office when Marcus returned with a tablet in his hand. His face was serious.

"I found something."

He placed the tablet on the desk. A list of access records appeared on the screen. Then I saw the name.

*Liam Vance.*

My stomach dropped.

"Three twelve in the morning," Marcus said.

I stared at the timestamp.

"His badge accessed this floor at 3:12 a.m."

Maya leaned closer. "That's impossible."

Marcus looked at her. "Why?"

"Because Liam wasn't here."

"How do you know?"

Maya looked at me. I knew exactly what she was thinking. Adrian. Liam had been seen elsewhere.

"Someone saw him last night," I said, "at another location."

Marcus frowned. "That's what makes this strange." He pulled up another report. "The access system shows Liam's badge entering the floor at 3:12."

"Could someone have stolen his badge?"

"Possible."

"Could the system be wrong?"

"Possible."

I looked at the screen again. The name was still there.

*Liam Vance. 3:12 a.m.*

I felt cold. "Can we see the camera footage?"

Marcus hesitated. Then he opened another screen. The hallway appeared. The timestamp read 3:11 a.m. For several seconds, nothing happened. Then the elevator doors opened. A figure stepped out. The camera angle wasn't perfect, but the person was carrying something. They walked toward my section.

My pulse began to race. "Can you zoom in?"

Marcus did. The figure disappeared around the corner. A minute later, they returned. Then they left.

I stared at the screen. "That's the person who did it."

Maya nodded slowly. "But we can't see the face."

Marcus looked uncomfortable. "We're still checking the other cameras."

I swallowed. "Do it."

He switched to another angle. Nothing. Another. Nothing. Then he stopped.

"I've got something."

A camera near the parking entrance showed a timestamp: 3:18 a.m. Marcus looked at me. "Liam Vance was recorded somewhere else at the same time."

I stared at him. "What?"

He turned the screen toward me. There was Liam. Clear as day. He was entering a private club across town. The timestamp was unmistakable — 3:18 a.m. Seven minutes after his badge supposedly accessed our floor.

Maya whispered, "Then who was here?"

Nobody answered.

I looked back at the first footage. The figure disappeared into the hallway. Liam's badge had opened the door. But Liam couldn't have been in two places at once.

Unless — someone else had his badge. Or someone had found a way to make the system say his name.

I felt a chill crawl up my spine. Maya reached for my hand.

"Chloe..."

I couldn't look away from the screen. For the first time, I wasn't wondering whether Liam had done this. I was wondering who wanted me to believe he had.

And that frightened me far more.