Chapter 6 - The Betrayal Inside His Empire
“Don’t move.”
The security officer’s name was Mason Cole.
He had worked for Adrien for nine years.
Adrien had trusted him with business trips, private residences, and family information.
Now Mason held a gun on Daniel.
Claire stood frozen.
Adrien’s voice became dangerously calm.
“Mason.”
“Sorry, sir.”
“Put it down.”
“I can’t.”
Adrien took one step.
Mason raised the weapon.
“Don’t.”
Claire looked toward the service stairs.
Victor’s men were coming upward.
They had seconds.
Daniel suddenly threw the laptop.
Mason flinched.
Adrien moved.
He slammed Mason against the wall.
The gun fired.
Claire screamed.
The bullet struck the ceiling.
Daniel tackled Mason.
Adrien grabbed Claire.
“Run!”
They raced down another corridor.
Behind them came shouting.
Claire could barely breathe.
They reached an old laundry room.
Adrien locked the door.
Daniel joined them moments later carrying the flash drive.
“Mason?”
“Unconscious.”
“Gun?”
“I took it.”
Claire looked at Daniel differently.
“You carry yourself like an accountant.”
“I contain multitudes.”
Despite the danger, she almost laughed.
Adrien looked for another exit.
A laundry chute.
Claire stared.
“You cannot be serious.”
“It goes to the basement.”
“You know this?”
“I spent summers here.”
Daniel opened it.
“You first.”
Claire looked inside.
Darkness.
“Absolutely not.”
Gunshots hit the door.
Claire climbed in.
The chute ended painfully in a pile of old linens.
Adrien landed beside her.
Daniel followed.
They escaped through a maintenance tunnel Adrien remembered from childhood.
By the time Victor’s men reached the basement, they were already running toward the forest.
The trusted security officer who had remained with the vehicle was gone.
So was their car.
Daniel checked his phone.
“No signal.”
Claire looked at Adrien.
“What now?”
He pointed toward the lake.
“There’s a caretaker cottage two miles east.”
They walked through freezing darkness.
At the cottage, an elderly caretaker named Walter recognized Adrien immediately.
“Mr. Blackwood?”
“We need a phone.”
Within an hour, state police arrived.
This time Adrien refused private security.
The evidence from Thomas’s hidden office was turned over.
Victor disappeared before police could locate him.
Rebecca did something even more shocking.
She called a press conference.
Claire watched it from Adrien’s temporary hotel suite.
Rebecca stood before cameras looking composed but devastated.
“I have recently learned that senior members of Blackwood Holdings may have engaged in financial misconduct without my knowledge.”
Claire stared.
“She’s blaming Victor.”
Adrien nodded.
Rebecca continued.
“I am cooperating fully with authorities.”
Then she looked directly into the camera.
“I am also deeply concerned for Adrien Blackwood, who appears to have become increasingly unstable under the pressure surrounding his father’s death.”
Adrien’s eyes hardened.
Rebecca was turning the story around.
“She knows exactly what she’s doing,” Daniel said.
The board scheduled a vote.
Rebecca wanted Adrien removed permanently.
But now Adrien had evidence.
Not enough for murder charges yet.
Enough to expose Graystone.
Enough to destroy Victor.
Maybe Rebecca too.
There was one problem.
The flash drive contained an encrypted folder they had not opened.
Daniel spent hours attempting it.
Finally, Claire remembered Thomas’s password.
March fourteenth.
314.
The folder opened.
Inside were letters.
Dozens.
Between Thomas and Rebecca.
Adrien read the first.
His face changed.
Claire felt uneasy.
“What?”
Adrien gave her the letter.
Rebecca had not merely worked with Thomas.
Thomas had secretly recruited her to investigate Victor.
Claire stared.
“That changes everything.”
Daniel read another.
Rebecca had been helping Thomas track Graystone.
She was not stealing.
She was investigating.
Then why had Victor claimed he worked for her?
They opened more letters.
One explained it.
Thomas suspected someone else.
Someone on the Blackwood board.
He had used Rebecca as an intermediary.
Victor believed Rebecca was directing operations.
But she had actually been following Thomas’s instructions.
Adrien stood abruptly.
“Rebecca may not be guilty.”
Claire stared.
“But she lied about being at the hotel.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Adrien called her.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Then Claire’s phone buzzed.
A message from Rebecca.
I NEED TO TALK TO YOU. ALONE.
Adrien immediately said, “No.”
Claire looked at him.
“She contacted me, not you.”
“That’s exactly why you’re not going.”
“She may trust me.”
“She may be manipulating you.”
“Or she may be scared of you.”
Adrien’s expression tightened.
Claire stepped closer.
“If Rebecca was investigating Victor with your father, she might know who actually ordered his death.”
Daniel agreed.
“She could be our only living witness.”
Adrien hated it.
But eventually, he allowed Claire to meet Rebecca in a public park with police surveillance nearby.
Rebecca arrived wearing sunglasses and a long coat.
She looked nothing like the polished CFO from the office.
She looked terrified.
Claire sat across from her.
“You have five minutes.”
Rebecca looked around.
“Adrien thinks I betrayed him.”
“Did you?”
“Not the way he thinks.”
“Then explain.”
Rebecca’s eyes filled.
“Thomas discovered Victor was stealing. But Victor was protected by someone on the board.”
“Who?”
Rebecca hesitated.
“Adrien’s uncle.”
Claire frowned.
“Adrien has an uncle?”
“His mother’s brother. Richard Vale.”
Claire knew the name.
Richard Vale had served as Blackwood Holdings board chairman for more than a decade.
He was considered Adrien’s closest family connection.
Rebecca continued.
“Thomas discovered Richard was using Victor to move money through Graystone.”
“Why?”
“Richard had gambling debts. Then it became more. Bribes. Offshore accounts.”
“And Thomas?”
“He planned to expose him.”
Claire felt cold.
“Richard ordered the accident.”
Rebecca nodded.
“I didn’t know until afterward.”
“Why didn’t you tell Adrien?”
“Because Richard threatened him.”
Claire stared.
“He said if I spoke, Adrien would die too.”
Rebecca looked down.
“I stayed close because I thought I could protect him.”
“You became engaged to him.”
Rebecca’s face twisted with pain.
“That part wasn’t planned.”
Claire understood.
She had loved Adrien.
Maybe still did.
“What happened to the acquisition leak?”
“Richard forced me to send it. He told Adrien I betrayed him.”
Claire whispered, “So he separated you.”
Rebecca nodded.
“He needed Adrien isolated.”
A shadow moved behind the trees.
Rebecca saw it first.
Her face drained.
“Claire.”
“What?”
“Run.”
A man approached.
Richard Vale.
Sixty years old.
Elegant coat.
Calm smile.
Adrien’s uncle.
He sat beside Rebecca as though joining friends for coffee.
“Claire Bennett.”
Claire stood.
Richard smiled.
“I have heard so much about you.”
Police were nearby.
Claire knew that.
But something was wrong.
Richard looked too relaxed.
“Where’s Adrien?” he asked.
Claire remained silent.
Richard sighed.
“You really are loyal.”
Rebecca whispered, “You’re finished.”
Richard looked at her.
“No.”
Then he smiled.
“You are.”
Sirens suddenly erupted in the distance.
Richard stood.
Claire’s phone rang.
Daniel.
She answered.
His voice was frantic.
“Claire, get out of there.”
“What happened?”
“The board meeting was moved.”
“To where?”
“Blackwood Tower.”
Claire’s blood turned cold.
“Adrien went there.”
“Yes.”
Daniel continued.
“And Richard’s men have locked down the executive floor.”
Claire looked at Richard.
He smiled.
“You were never the target, Ms. Bennett.”
Then he leaned closer.
May you like
“You were the distraction.”
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