Chapter 4

When I opened my eyes the next morning, I was slumped against the chair in my office, still wearing yesterday's clothes.

I must have fallen asleep while going through the financial records.

For a few seconds, I stared at the ceiling, remembering everything—Damon, Catharine, the betrayal, and twelve years spent believing I was building a marriage.

The grief was still there, buried beneath my ribs, but it no longer controlled me.

I had spent twelve years helping Damon build his empire. I knew its strengths, its weaknesses, and, more importantly, the people who had made it successful.

If he wanted to play a game of deception, I would make sure I understood the rules better than he did.

I freshened up and returned to the financial records.

The four million dollars already gave me enough evidence to expose Damon, but something bothered me.

My father had once told me, “Sere, people rarely steal once. When they discover they can get away with it, they build a system around it.”

I had never forgotten those words. So I traced every payment connected to the four million.

The money had been disguised as consulting and marketing expenses, but one name kept appearing.

Jake Hawthorne, one of Damon's most trusted Betas.

I narrowed my eyes as I followed the transactions. The money moved through several accounts before disappearing into a company that barely seemed to exist.

Someone had built the system carefully. Unfortunately for them, I knew the company's financial structure just as well.

I picked up my phone and called Evan.

He answered almost immediately, “Any news?”

“I found the person moving the money.”

“Who?”

“Jake Hawthorne.”

I sent him the records.

“Don't touch anything yet,” I warned. “I don't think four million is the real number.”

There was a brief silence.

“What do you want me to look for?”

“Anything connected to Jake that doesn't appear in the ordinary company records.”

A few moments later, another folder appeared on my screen.

“Open it,” Evan said.

I did. My expression changed.

Another six million dollars.

The money had been routed through a shell company registered as an investment firm. Jake's name appeared repeatedly, along with another name, Catharine Vale.

“At least six million more,” Evan said quietly.

“At least.”

“You think there's more?”

“I know there is.” I leaned back. “People don't steal ten million dollars and suddenly become honest.”

“What are you planning?”

“For now, I'm investigating.”

“You're going to handle this yourself?”

I raised an eyebrow. “I managed this company before Damon even knew how to negotiate with half our clients.”

“I know,” he replied. “I just wanted to hear you say it.”

I ended the call and returned to the records.

For hours, I compared old statements with current accounts and reviewed contracts I had once personally approved.

The pattern became clearer.

Damon's company had been bleeding money for years through bad acquisitions, inflated expenses, and questionable partnerships.

Yet it had survived. Not because Damon was brilliant, because I had built something strong enough to survive him.

And the people keeping the company alive had never truly belonged to him.

They belonged to my father. Then they belonged to me.

That realization gave me my next move.

I contacted the company's major shareholders first.

One told me he had been waiting for me to take a stronger position again. Another admitted several shareholders had been dissatisfied with Damon's management for years but remained silent because they trusted my family's legacy.

Then I contacted our biggest clients.

One after another, they agreed to stand with me.

The clients trusted me, not Damon.

That was my trump card.

They had tolerated him because he carried my family's name and because I had once trusted him with the company.

If I took those relationships back, Damon would be left with little more than an empty shell.

He could keep the office and the title. But the power behind his empire would belong to me.

For the first time, I smiled.

My phone rang.

It was Evan, “There is something else you should consider.”

“What?”

“The Wular Bay Dock project is opening for bids in a few days.”

I straightened.

“The Raven heir is returning to oversee it personally.”

He sent me the proposal.

I opened the file.

It was one of the biggest infrastructure projects in the region.

“You asked me to help establish a new company,” Evan continued. “Why not use this as your first move?”

I stared at the proposal.

He was right.

I didn't want to spend the rest of my life standing in the ruins of Damon's empire. I wanted to build something of my own.

“I'll do it.”

“Whose name?”

“Elara's.”

There was a pause.

“Are you sure?”

“Damon must never know there's a connection between the company and me.”

“Fair enough.”

“I'll decide how it's structured. You can help me secure what I can't access, but I won't hand you control over something I'm building.”

A low laugh came through the phone, “That's more like you.”

We ended the call.

I looked through the glass walls of my office at the company my father had built.

For years, I had mistaken protecting it for protecting Damon.

Now I understood the difference.

I wasn't rebuilding his empire. I was reclaiming mine.

…

That evening, I met Evan and Elara at his office.

I placed a black pendrive on his desk, “This contains everything I've found.”

He connected it to his computer. The three of us watched as he opened the records.

“How much?” Elara asked.

“Keep scrolling.”

The number continued climbing until it reached nine million dollars.

Elara stared at the screen, “Nine million?”

“Nine million transferred over three years,” I said. “Different accounts, different descriptions, different shell entities. But eventually, the money reached Catharine.”

“How did Damon hide this much?”

“He didn't hide it from me,” I replied calmly. “He hid it from someone who wasn't looking.”

Evan continued scrolling.

Then his expression changed, “What are these?”

“Hospital bills.”

“For whom?”

I pointed to the name, “Catharine.”

Silence filled the office.

I opened another document.

There was a property inquiry, a luxury villa in Westwood City worth Four million dollars.

Elara's eyes widened. “She's looking for a four-million-dollar villa?”

“She is.”

“And you look far too pleased about that.”

“Why shouldn't I be?”

Elara narrowed her eyes, “Serena, what are you planning?”

I closed the folder.

Nine million dollars had already been funneled to Catharine.

Now she wanted another four-million-dollar home.

Perhaps it was time I helped her find one, “I'm going to meet her.”

Evan's gaze sharpened, “You know where she is?”

“I know where she's looking for a house.”

“And how exactly are you going to meet her?”

I slipped the documents into my bag, “By accident.”

Elara stared at me, “An accidental encounter?”

“In Westwood City.”

Evan watched me for a moment before a slow smile appeared, “You've already planned this.”

“Not yet.” I turned toward the door. “But I will.”

A soft laugh escaped my lips.

Catharine had no idea I was about to walk into her life.

On purpose.