Chapter 4 Shadow in the office

Trust is a fragile thing. When broken, it doesn't just crack, it shatters.

And as I stood in my office, staring at what Eli uncovered, I realized...

Someone close to me had betrayed me. Again.

I

My office was dark when I arrived. The city skyline bled in through the windows, casting long shadows across the glass table and leather chairs.

I hadn't called security. I hadn't warned Eli I was coming.

I just needed answers and I needed them now.

The envelope was right where he said it would be. Propped on the edge of my desk, like a trap waiting to be triggered.

No name. No seal. Just a single word written in thick, angry pen strokes:

"TRUTH."

I hesitated for half a second before tearing it open.

Inside were photos.

Printed, high-resolution surveillance shots, time-stamped, labeled. My heart dropped as I flipped through them.

The first showed Isabelle Moretti at a private dinner.

The second side profile I'd recognize anywhere was of Eli Kingston, sitting across from her.

What the hell?

They were laughing. Drinking wine. Talking close. Way too close for two people who were supposedly enemies.

I flipped to the next.

Eli handed her a folder. She scanned it. Shaking his hand.

My chest clenched.

I dropped into my chair, gripping the photos in disbelief. These weren't just casual meetings. These were negotiations. Deals. Secrets exchanged like currency.

And Eli... Eli was my confidant. My right hand. The man who stayed by my side after Cosmas left.

He was supposed to be the one person I could trust.

My phone buzzed again.

Eli: It's not what it looks like.

A chill spread across my spine.

I looked up just in time to see the door to my office swing open.

"Eli," I said, voice flat.

He stepped inside slowly, holding up his hands like a man walking into a crime scene.

"Rita. Please. Let me explain."

I threw the photos across the desk.

"Start talking."

He sighed, picking one up. "Yes, I met with Isabelle. But I wasn't working for her."

"You gave her documents!"

"Copies. Nothing important. I used them to get close to her."

My eyes narrowed. "Why?"

"Because I suspected she was sabotaging you. Even after the divorce, she had spies in your company. I needed to find out how deep it went."

I folded my arms. "You could've told me."

"I couldn't risk it," he said, his eyes pleading. "If she knew you were onto her, she would've buried you in lawsuits and press scandals. I did it to protect you."

I wanted to believe him.

God, I wanted to.

But I'd been burned before. And this wasn't the first time someone said they were protecting me while stabbing me in the back.

"Why didn't you come clean the moment you found something?" I asked.

"Because I didn't expect Cosmas to return," he said, bitterness seeping into his voice. "I thought I had more time to build a case. You showing up at his event just sped everything up."

I leaned back, arms still crossed. "What did you find?"

Eli hesitated.

"That bad?" I pressed.

He walked to the desk and pulled out a flash drive. "Cosmas didn't just sign a deal with Verdane. He signed over access to your designs, your invention, Rita. The encrypted specs you submitted for international patent approval two months before your divorce."

I froze.

"My blueprint?"

He nodded grimly. "They've been using your software, refined it, renamed it, and filed the patent in Dubai through a shell company."

My stomach dropped.

"I built that algorithm from scratch. Every line of code, every integration model..."

"I know," Eli said softly. "And they stole it."

Rage welled up in my chest.

First, they used me to secure a merger.

Now, they were profiting off my work.

"You said they," I murmured. "You think Cosmas knew?"

"I think..." Eli exhaled. "There's more to this. A lot more. And I don't think Isabelle had the brains to pull it off alone."

"So who did?"

He hesitated, then met my gaze.

"Your former assistant, Lila. She filed the overseas patent application under her name last year under a company backed by Verdane and Moretti."

"No," I said immediately. "Lila? She was like a sister to me."

"She was also two months late with your filing," Eli replied, pulling up a screenshot of the IP registry. "Long enough to get it in under her name first."

My mind reeled. "So you're telling me my husband, my friend, and my assistant all used me to get what they wanted?"

Eli didn't answer.

He didn't need to.

I stood slowly, pressing a hand to my chest to keep my heart from shattering all over again.

I had been a pawn in a game I didn't even know I was playing.

And I was done being used.

"I want to hit them where it hurts," I said quietly.

Eli's brows lifted. "What do you mean?"

"I mean I'm done playing defense. Verdane, Moretti, Lila... they built an empire off my back. I'm going to take it down piece by piece."

His lips curved, just slightly. "Now you're talking like the Rita I remember."

"No," I said. "This is the new Rita."

The one who doesn't forgive.

The one who doesn't forget.

The one who burns back.

I walked to the window, watching the city shimmer below.

"Set up a meeting with my legal team. I want every lawsuit, every patent challenge, every financial thread traced and pulled. If they want war" I turned to Eli, my eyes sharp " we'll give them war."

---

My phone rang. Unknown number.

I almost didn't answer.

But something in me said do it.

"Rita," I said.

Silence. Then a man's voice:

"You don't know me, but I know what they did to you. I have proof. Meet me tonight. Pier 9. Come alone."

The line went dead.

And just like that, the game changed again.