The storm didn't end with the press conference.
If anything, it had only quieted the surface. Beneath the calm, something was shifting subtle, treacherous, like fault lines preparing to crack wide open.
Liam stood in front of the office's glass wall, watching the city sprawl below. Charlotte's intel team had delivered a list of potential suspects employees, aides, even one junior executive with ties to Evelyn's closest allies.
Vivian entered quietly, a folder in her hands. "Background reports. Cross-referenced with media leaks. Charlotte flagged four names."
Liam took it from her, flipping through. His jaw tightened. "I trusted some of these people."
"Maybe that's what they counted on," she replied softly.
A knock interrupted them.
Charlotte stepped in, sharp and brisk as ever. "We've narrowed the leak to someone on the 43rd floor. Communications division. The timing matches. And Liam…" She hesitated, which was rare. "It looks like they've been feeding more than just press tips. Financial data. Insider details."
Vivian's eyes widened. "Industrial espionage?"
Charlotte nodded grimly. "We're not just dealing with a traitor. We're dealing with a thief."
---
They moved quickly.
Within the hour, the name was isolated: Marcus DeWitt, a senior analyst who'd worked at Ashford for nearly seven years. Quiet, efficient, rarely noticed the kind of person who slipped under the radar, which made him the perfect mole.
Security detained him discreetly. Liam insisted on no public scene, not yet.
In the small conference room turned interrogation chamber, Marcus sat stiffly in a chair, eyes flitting between Liam, Vivian, and Charlotte.
"I want the truth," Liam said, voice cold. "Did you leak the press conference draft? The financials?"
Marcus swallowed, then sneered. "You think I'm the only one? Half this tower is rooting for your downfall. I just gave the outside world what it already suspected."
Vivian stiffened. Charlotte didn't flinch.
Liam stepped forward. "Who are you working for?"
Marcus smirked. "Ask your mother."
Silence dropped like a blade.
Charlotte leaned in, voice low. "You better start talking before this goes legal. Right now, we still have the option of keeping this internal. But if we bring in the Feds, you're not walking out of here on your own."
Marcus hesitated. Sweat formed at his temple. "It wasn't just her. There are others. People who think you're reckless. That the company needs stabilizing."
"By selling secrets?" Vivian asked. "That's your idea of stability?"
He laughed bitterly. "You think this is about money? It's about legacy. Your little fairytale family ruined the plan. Evelyn promised us a future. She said you were temporary."
Liam looked at Charlotte. "Get everything you can out of him. Then call legal. Quietly."
Charlotte nodded. Marcus was removed.
---
Later that night, Evelyn sat in her penthouse library, sipping tea, eyes fixed on the flickering fire. The call came just after midnight.
"Marcus has been compromised," the voice said.
Evelyn didn't blink. "And?"
"He named you."
A pause. "Let them come."
"You'll be exposed."
"Not if we move faster. Initiate the next phase."
She ended the call and leaned back, smiling faintly. The boy was smarter than his father. But he still played with too much heart.
---
At Ashford Tower, Liam stood alone in his father's old office. The ghosts of board meetings past lingered in the wood-paneled walls.
Charlotte entered quietly. "Marcus is in holding. Legal will prep a case."
"And Evelyn?"
"If we confront her now, she'll deny everything. You know how she works. She'll bury it under layers of deniability."
Liam nodded. His voice dropped. "I need to know... was this about the company? Or about me?"
Charlotte hesitated. Then, "Evelyn wants control. If she can't rule the company through you, she'll destroy you to rebuild in her image."
Vivian appeared in the doorway. "Then we stop her."
Liam turned to face them both, the fire in his eyes tempered now by something deeper. "No more defense. From now on, we go on the offensive."
Charlotte offered a grim smile. "Then I'll need clearance. And resources."
"You'll have both," Liam said. "We find the rest of her allies. We cut every tie."
Vivian nodded. "It's not just business anymore. It never was."
They stood together in the dim light, a line drawn at last. No more hiding. No more shadows.
Let Evelyn come.
They would be ready.
The next morning, Ashford Tower buzzed with a new kind of tension not fear, but focus. Charlotte moved through the building like a shadow, pulling files, marking connections, and whispering instructions to her private contacts. A digital map of Evelyn's known associates lit up the situation room like a spider web.
Vivian stood over the projection, arms crossed. "It's deeper than we thought."
"It always is," Charlotte muttered. "Three more names just lit up on encrypted communications all mid-level managers. Two in finance. One in R&D. She's been planting people for years."
Liam entered, fresh from an emergency board call. His tie was loose, sleeves rolled up. "The board is rattled. But no one's walking. Not yet."
Charlotte tilted her head. "That means Evelyn's going to move fast. If she knows Marcus broke, she'll start cleaning house."
Vivian stepped forward. "Then we expose her first."
Charlotte hesitated, then nodded. "There's one more thread. A server ping from a private location not tied to the company, but someone's using Ashford access codes remotely. I'm tracing it now."
Liam's brow furrowed. "Can we bait them?"
A slow smile crept across Charlotte's lips. "Already working on it."
---
That night, while most of the tower slept, Charlotte launched the decoy.
A staged document false board minutes, forged stock data, and a fabricated memo suggesting Liam intended to step down was planted on a sandbox server and tracked. It didn't take long.
"Someone bit," Charlotte whispered an hour later. "The data was accessed and copied from a device linked to Evelyn's estate. Through a proxy, but sloppy. Rushed."
Liam leaned over her shoulder. "So she's scared."
"She's desperate."
Vivian hovered nearby, arms folded. "So what's our next move?"
Charlotte's fingers flew over the keys. "We let her play her hand. We monitor the response. If she forwards this to shareholders or tries to leak it, we intercept and expose the forgery. Publicly."
Liam nodded slowly. "We don't just survive this. We make her choke on it."
---
But even as the plan unfolded, Liam couldn't shake a growing unease.
That night, alone in his apartment, he found himself standing by Daniel's bedroom door. His son was fast asleep, curled around his favorite stuffed lion. The innocence of it hit Liam like a blow.
He didn't hear Vivian approach until her hand touched his arm.
"You okay?"
He didn't answer right away. "He doesn't know any of this. What it means. What it costs."
Vivian's voice was soft. "That's the point, isn't it? We protect him so he never has to."
Liam looked at her, something in his expression cracking open. "I thought I could build something untouchable. But I never accounted for betrayal that came wearing my name."
Vivian didn't look away. "You're not your mother, Liam."
"No," he said, voice low. "But I carry the pieces of her. And I wonder sometimes if I know how to stop them from cutting."
Vivian reached up, brushing his cheek lightly. "Then let's learn. Together."
He caught her hand and held it. For the first time in days, the silence between them wasn't cold.
---
By morning, the bait had worked.
Charlotte stormed into Liam's office, laptop in hand. "She moved the forged document to a private investor group chat. Said you were 'unstable,' that Ashford needs new leadership."
Liam smiled grimly. "Then it's time we go public."
Charlotte raised a brow. "You sure?"
"I'm done reacting," he said. "Let's force her into the light."
---
By noon, Ashford Industries released a controlled media statement. It included screenshots of the forged document, a digital trace of its origin, and a quiet but damning note:
"We are aware of the attempts to destabilize Ashford Industries through internal sabotage. Those responsible will be held accountable. Integrity has always been the foundation of this company and it remains unshaken."
The fallout was immediate. Anonymous staff tipped off blogs. A whistleblower from the finance division confirmed they'd been approached to "monitor" Liam's decisions. Rumors of Evelyn's shadow influence spread like wildfire.
Vivian watched it all unfold from the war room. "She's going to strike back."
Liam joined her at the window. "Let her. This time, we're ready."
Charlotte stepped in, eyes gleaming. "We're not just ready," she said. "We've already won the first battle."