Chapter Seven;The Hidden Network

NADIA POV

I started with the ones he had thrown away.

I made a list. Names. Faces. People Julian had pushed out of the company over the years. People who had been loyal to me. People who had been loyal to the work. People who had been discarded like they meant nothing.

I called them one by one.

Some of them did not answer. Some of them hung up when they heard my voice. Some of them told me they could not help me. They were afraid. They had families. They had bills. They could not afford to go up against Julian Ashford.

But some of them listened.

Some of them remembered.

Some of them had been waiting for this call.

The first was a man named David.

He had been my head of engineering. He had helped me build the patent. He had worked beside me for years. He had believed in me when no one else did. Julian had fired him six months ago. No reason. No warning. Just gone.

He met me at a coffee shop across town. He looked older than I remembered. Tired. Worn down. But his eyes were sharp. His mind was sharp.

"I heard you left him," he said.

"I did."

"About time."

I smiled. It was the first real smile I had smiled in weeks.

"I need your help," I said.

"What kind of help?"

"I need to prove that Julian forged my signature. I need to prove that he transferred my company to Serena without my knowledge. I need to prove that he stole from me."

David leaned back in his chair. He looked at me for a long moment. Then he nodded.

"I kept copies," he said.

"Copies of what?"

"Everything. Every document. Every email. Every transfer. I knew something was wrong. I knew he was up to something. I started keeping records."

He reached into his bag and pulled out a folder. Thick. Heavy. Familiar.

"I have been waiting for someone to ask," he said.

JULIAN POV

The company was falling apart.

It started small. A missed payment. A delayed shipment. A client who suddenly stopped returning calls. I did not think anything of it at first. Business was business. Things happened. Deals fell through. People changed their minds.

Then it got worse.

Three major clients pulled their contracts in one week. The board called an emergency meeting. The investors started asking questions. The lawyers started sending letters.

I did not understand.

I had done everything right. I had built this company. I had made it successful. I had made it profitable. I had made it untouchable.

But it was not untouchable.

It was crumbling.

And I did not know why.

I called Serena.

"The company is in trouble," I said.

"I know."

"You know?"

"I have been watching the news."

"This is not a joke, Serena."

"I am not laughing."

I closed my eyes. I could feel the anger rising in my chest. I could feel the frustration. I could feel the fear.

"Did you do something?" I asked.

"Me?"

"Did you do something to the company?"

"Why would I do something to the company? The company is mine. Or it will be. Why would I destroy something that belongs to me?"

I did not answer. I did not know how to answer. She was right. She had no reason to sabotage the company. She had no reason to hurt me. She was on my side.

Was she not?

I went to my study that night.

I opened the bottom drawer. The folder was still there. I pulled it out. I spread the documents across the desk. The forged signatures. The transfers. The bank statements.

I looked at them.

I looked at them for a long time.

Then I saw something I had not seen before.

A name.

At the bottom of one of the transfer documents. A name I did not recognize. A name I had never seen.

I typed it into my laptop.

I waited.

The search results came up.

I stared at the screen.

I did not understand.

The name belonged to a man I had never met. A man who had no connection to my company. A man who had no connection to me.

But he was connected to someone else.

He was connected to Nadia.

He was her lawyer.

---

NADIA POV

Rachel called me that night.

"He knows," she said.

"Knows what?"

"He found the transfer document. The one with my name on it. He knows you have a lawyer."

I smiled. A slow, cold smile.

"Good," I said.

"Good?"

"I wanted him to know."

"Why?"

"Because now he is scared. Now he is wondering what else I know. Now he is wondering what I am going to do."

"And what are you going to do?"

"I am going to take everything from him. The way he took everything from me."

---

The next day, I met with another former employee.

Her name was Maria. She had been my head of marketing. She had been with me from the beginning. She had believed in me when no one else did. Julian had fired her too. No reason. No warning. Just gone.

She met me at a park. She brought her daughter. She looked happy. Happier than I had ever seen her.

"I heard what happened," she said. "I am sorry."

"Do not be sorry. I am not."

She looked at me. She looked at the fire in my eyes. She looked at the determination on my face.

"You have a plan," she said.

"I do."

"What do you need?"

"Everything you have. Every email. Every document. Every record. Everything Julian ever sent you. Everything Julian ever asked you to do. Everything Julian ever tried to hide."

She nodded. Slowly. Like she had been waiting for this.

"I kept everything," she said. "I knew one day you would need it."

---

JULIAN POV

I could not sleep.

I lay in bed and stared at the ceiling. The bed was too big. Too empty. Too quiet. I had never noticed how quiet it was without her. I had never noticed how cold it was. I had never noticed how much I needed her.

I did not love her.

I knew that.

But I needed her.

I needed her to keep the company running. I needed her to keep the house in order. I needed her to keep my life from falling apart.

And she was gone.

She had left me.

She had taken everything.

And she was coming for the rest.

---

I picked up my phone. I texted Serena.

We need to talk.

She replied instantly.

About what?

Nadia. She is planning something.

There was a pause. A long pause. Then:

She is planning nothing. She is a housewife. She has no power.

She has a lawyer.

Another pause. Longer this time.

What kind of lawyer?

The kind that takes everything.

Serena did not reply.

I put the phone down.

I closed my eyes.

I did not sleep.

---

NADIA POV

I stood in my hotel room and looked out the window.

The city was bright. The city was beautiful. The city was full of people who had no idea what was happening. People who had no idea that a war was being waged in their midst. People who had no idea that a woman who had been erased was about to rise.

I pressed my hand against my stomach.

"We are going to win," I whispered. "We are going to take back everything he stole. We are going to make him pay for everything he did. And then we are going to walk away and never look back."

I picked up my phone. I called Rachel.

"Are you ready?" she asked.

"I am ready."

"Then let us begin."