CHAPTER 4: THE LIES AND LEAKS

“Whoever told you that you are safe here lied to you. The walls have ears, and even the truth wears a mask.”

Sofia stands frozen in the hallway, the door cracked open just enough to let the sound reach her. The woman’s voice is soft, but it carries clearly through the wood.

She steps back slowly, her bare feet making no sound on the floor. She does not want to be caught listening. She does not want to give him a reason to be angry or defensive, that's why she walks back inside her own suite and closes the door without a sound.

She sits on the edge of the bed. She does not try to convince herself it was nothing. She does not tell herself it was a business call or a family member. She knows what she heard. She knows that voice was not there for the first time.

The next morning, she walks into the kitchen at seven o’clock. Daniel is already there drinking coffee. He looks up when she enters, his expression exactly as it always is. He does not look guilty. He does not look like a man who had company in the middle of the night.

“Did you sleep well?” he asks. The question sounds routine, like he is asking about the weather.

“I heard someone in your suite last night,” Sofia says. She does not beat around the bush. She does not soften her words. She wants to see what he will say.

Daniel does not flinch. He does not set his cup down roughly or look away. He takes a slow sip of coffee before he answers. His eyes remain steady on hers.

“That was Chloe,” he says. “She is my ex-girlfriend. We have known each other for years. She needed advice about a personal matter. I did not think it would disturb you. I should have been more careful.”

“Why was she inside the penthouse?” Sofia asks. “Why not talk over the phone? Why come here when we are supposed to be building a public image as a married couple?”

Daniel stands up and walks to the counter. He refills his cup, his back turned to her for a moment. When he faces her again, his jaw is tight, his patience wearing thin.

“Chloe is part of my past,” he says. “But she is also part of my social circle. People would notice if I cut her off completely. It would raise questions I do not want to answer. It is easier to speak to her here than at a restaurant or a hotel lobby.”

“So you bring her into our home,” Sofia says. “Into your suite. In the middle of the night. And you expect me to accept that as normal?”

“I expect you to honor the terms of our agreement,” he says. “No questions about who I see or where I go. That clause was in the contract. You signed it. You knew what you were agreeing to.”

“I knew what I was agreeing to on paper,” Sofia says. “I did not know I would be sharing my roof with the woman who still holds your heart.”

Daniel takes a step toward her. He stops before he gets too close. His voice drops, low and firm, leaving no room for argument.

“She does not hold my heart. That part of my life is over. But she is still someone I care about as a friend. Do not make this something it is not. Do not turn a kindness into a conspiracy.”

Sofia looks him in the eye. She does not back away. “If it is only friendship, then why do you hide it? Why does she come after dark? Why does she use the private elevator instead of the main one?”

Daniel does not answer right away. He looks at her for a long moment, as if weighing how much to say. Finally he shakes his head.

“You are reading too much into this,” he says. “We have work to do. Be ready to leave in twenty minutes. We are going to the office together.”

He walks out of the kitchen before she can ask anything else. She hears his footsteps go down the hallway toward his suite. She stands there alone with her coffee going cold on the counter. She knows he did not tell her the whole truth. She knows there is more he is hiding.

At the office later that morning, she sits at the desk he assigned her. She goes through emails and schedules. She does her work efficiently, without complaint. But she also pays attention to the things she is not supposed to see.

She notices that whenever Chloe calls, Daniel leaves the room. He takes his phone and walks out into the hallway or down to the garden terrace. He never speaks about business matters when he is on the phone with her. Or at least, he never speaks about business matters where anyone else can hear.

Two days later, a major deal collapses. Daniel had been working on acquiring a media company for weeks. All the terms were set. But the other side pulled out suddenly, citing leaked internal documents as their reason.

Sofia sees the report on Daniel’s screen when he leaves his desk. The dates on the leaked files line up exactly with the times Chloe visited the penthouse. Every single time she came over, confidential information appeared in the news or reached rival companies a few days later.

She starts keeping a quiet record. She writes down dates and times in a notebook she keeps locked in her desk drawer. She cross-references them with news alerts and business announcements. The pattern is clear and consistent.

That evening at dinner, Daniel is quiet and tense. He pushes food around his plate without eating. He looks up at her suddenly, his expression sharp and suspicious.

“You have been very quiet all day,” he says. “What are you thinking about?”

“I am thinking about the deal that fell apart,” she says. “I am thinking about how private information seems to be leaving this company very easily lately. I am thinking about who has access to the files and who has a reason to want to see you fail.”

Daniel sets his fork down carefully. He leans back in his chair and studies her face. His eyes narrow slightly.

“Are you making an accusation?” he asks. “Because if you are, you better have proof. People talk. Rumors ruin reputations. I will not have you destroying someone’s name based on nothing but suspicion.”

“I am not spreading rumors,” she says. “I am noticing patterns. The leaks happen after certain visits. That is not imagination. That is fact. You can choose to ignore it if you want, but do not pretend it is not happening.”

“Who exactly are you implying is responsible?” he asks.

“I am not naming anyone,” she says. “I am just asking you to look at the timeline yourself. Compare the dates. Ask yourself who benefits every time something goes wrong here.”

Daniel stands up abruptly. He pushes his chair back hard against the floor. He looks at her with a mix of anger and something else.

“I know Chloe,” he says. “She would never do something like that. She has been in my life for a long time. She has stood by me through things you do not even know about. Do not think you can come in here and point fingers at people who were here long before you arrived.”

“I am not trying to replace anyone!” Sofia emphasized. “I am trying to save the company I signed a contract to help protect. If she is not involved, then she has nothing to worry about. But if she is…”

“She is not,” Daniel says firmly. “And this conversation is over. Do not bring this up again. Not to me, not to anyone else. If I hear you speaking about this to staff or anyone outside this building, I will consider it a breach of contract.”

He walks out of the dining room. He leaves her sitting there alone again. She finishes her meal slowly. She does not feel defeated. She feels more certain than ever that she is right.

Later that night, she stays up working on her laptop. She accesses the company server logs from her account. She looks for login times and IP addresses. She wants to see if anyone unauthorized has been viewing restricted files.

She finds multiple entries. The account used to access the files belongs to Daniel. But the login times do not match his schedule. And the IP address traces back to a location Chloe has been seen visiting multiple times in the last month.

She does not want to be accused of fabricating evidence. She wants to have proof that cannot be erased or deleted.

She stands up and walks to the window. The city lights stretch out below her. She thinks about what this means. If she tells Daniel, he will likely get angry and push her further away. If she stays silent, the leaks will continue and the company will keep losing money and deals.

She thinks about her father’s business. She thinks about the contract she signed. She thinks about the child she might one day want to bring into a world that feels more like a battlefield than a home.

Her phone buzzes on the table beside her. It is another message from the unknown number. She opens it without hesitation now.

“You are getting closer. Be careful. The deeper you dig, the more likely you are to get buried along with the truth.”

Sofia sets the phone down. She looks at the screenshots still displayed on her laptop screen. She knows she cannot stop now. She knows that walking away is not an option, not really. But if the person sending these warnings is already watching her every move, then how many steps will she take before she runs straight into the trap they have laid for her?