Chapter 4: The Enemy Inside My Company
The photograph stayed on my screen for what felt like an eternity.
I didn’t blink.
I didn’t breathe.
I just stared at the image of my wife standing inside my company’s private office with the man who had destroyed my family.
Three days before the gym.
Three days before Ethan saw them.
Three days before I thought my marriage had fallen apart.
But it hadn’t fallen apart.
It had been attacked.
“Michael?””
Laura’s voice sounded distant.
I looked up.
She was watching my face carefully.
She knew.
She knew that the picture had changed everything.
“Where was this taken?””
My voice was calm.
Too calm.
Laura swallowed.
“Your office.””
I looked back at the phone.
“Why was she there?””
The question wasn’t for Laura.
It was for myself.
Because suddenly, every strange moment from the past few months came rushing back.
The late-night phone calls.
The questions about my business.
The sudden interest in my meetings.
The way Laura started asking about our company structure.
I had thought she was finally becoming interested in my work.
I had been proud.
I thought my wife wanted to understand the world I spent so much time building.
I was wrong.
She wasn’t trying to understand my company.
She was trying to understand how to take it.
“I never wanted this,” Laura whispered.
I looked at her.
“Then why did you help him?””
Her eyes filled.
“I didn’t know what he was doing at first.””
“At first?””
She closed her eyes.
That answer hurt more than anything else.
Because it meant there was a point where she knew.
And she stayed.
“I met Nathan at the gym six months ago,” she said.
I said nothing.
“He was charming. He knew exactly what to say.””
I almost laughed.
Of course he did.
That was his entire skill.
“He told me you were too focused on work. That you were building a company but forgetting about your family.””
My jaw tightened.
“He said that?””
“Yes.””
“And you believed him?””
She looked down.
“I was angry at you.””
The honesty caught me off guard.
Not because it justified anything.
Because it was real.
“When?””
“When you missed Ethan’s school performance.””
I remembered.
Three months earlier.
A major investor meeting had been scheduled the same night.
I had promised Ethan I would be there.
I missed the final ten minutes.
I still remembered his face when I arrived.
Disappointed.
Quiet.
That memory had haunted me.
“I apologized.””
“I know.””
Laura wiped her cheek.
“But Nathan was there when I was upset. He listened.””
I stared at her.
“And I didn’t.””
She didn’t answer.
That silence was enough.
For a moment, I felt the old pain.
The pain of losing my wife.
But then I remembered something.
People could be unhappy in a marriage.
They could feel lonely.
They could want change.
But they still had choices.
Laura chose him.
She chose deception.
She chose to put Ethan in the middle of it.
“Why didn’t you tell me?””
Her voice became smaller.
“Because I was embarrassed.””
“Embarrassed?””
“Yes.””
She looked at me.
“I started noticing things about him.””
“What things?””
“He knew too much.””
I waited.
“He knew about our finances. He knew about your company. He knew things I never told him.””
My expression hardened.
“And you still kept seeing him?””
“I was scared.””
That stopped me.
“Scared of what?””
She looked toward the hallway.
Toward Ethan’s room.
“He threatened me.””
The room went silent.
“What did he threaten you with?””
Laura hesitated.
Then she walked to the couch and picked up her phone.
Her hands were shaking.
She opened a conversation.
Messages.
Hundreds of them.
I read the first few.
At first, they looked normal.
Flirting.
Compliments.
Plans.
Then they changed.
*You need to convince him to sign.*
*Stop pretending you care about him.*
*You knew what this was from the beginning.*
My eyes moved faster.
More messages.
More threats.
*If you tell Michael, I’ll make sure everyone knows what you did.*
*Your son will know exactly why his family fell apart.*
I stopped.
My chest tightened.
“He used Ethan?””
Laura nodded.
“He knew Ethan was the one thing I couldn’t risk.””
I looked away.
Because now I understood something.
Nathan didn’t just manipulate her.
He studied her.
He found the weakness.
And he used it.
The next morning, I went back to Carter & Vale.
But this time, I didn’t walk in like a businessman.
I walked in like someone hunting for answers.
My assistant, Megan, looked surprised when she saw me.
“Mr. Carter? I thought you were taking the day off.””
“I need access logs from the private office.””
Her expression changed.
“Is something wrong?””
“Yes.””
I paused.
“But I need facts before I make accusations.””
Megan nodded immediately.
“Of course.””
Ten minutes later, she placed a tablet in front of me.
“Security records.””
I opened them.
The private office required authorization.
Every entry was recorded.
I searched the date from the photograph.
Three days before the gym incident.
And there it was.
My heart stopped.
*9:14 p.m. — Laura Carter.*
*9:16 p.m. — Nathan Brooks.*
I stared at the names.
Two minutes apart.
“They were inside for forty-seven minutes,” Megan said quietly.
I looked at her.
“Who gave them access?””
She hesitated.
“I don’t know.””
“Find out.””
“Yes, sir.””
I continued scrolling.
Then I saw something else.
A third entry.
My eyes narrowed.
*8:52 p.m. — Daniel Reed.*
I froze.
Daniel.
My chief financial officer.
A man who had worked beside me for six years.
The man who knew every detail about the company.
Every contract.
Every account.
Every weakness.
“No.””
Megan looked confused.
“Sir?””
I pointed at the screen.
“Who is Daniel meeting with today?””
She checked her calendar.
“He’s scheduled with investors this afternoon.””
I stood.
“Cancel it.””
“Cancel the meeting?””
“Cancel every external meeting until I say otherwise.””
She stared at me.
“Is there a security issue?””
I looked at the access log.
Then at the photograph of Nathan and Laura.
“Yes.””
My voice became cold.
“There’s someone inside this company helping them.””
That night, I sat across from Laura at the kitchen table.
Ethan was asleep upstairs.
For once, the house was quiet.
But it wasn’t peaceful.
Not anymore.
“I need to know everything,” I said.
Laura nodded.
“I’ll tell you.””
“When did Nathan first mention my company?””
She thought.
“About two months after we met.””
“What did he say?””
“He asked if you had partners.””
“And?””
“I told him you had investors.””
I closed my eyes.
“What else?””
“He asked who had access to financial records.””
I looked at her.
“Did you answer?””
Her eyes filled with shame.
“Yes.””
I leaned back.
The hardest part wasn’t discovering she betrayed me.
It was realizing she didn’t understand the damage until it was too late.
“What did you tell him?””
“Names.””
My stomach tightened.
“Whose names?””
“Your executives.””
I nodded slowly.
“Daniel.””
Her face changed.
“You know about him?””
“Not yet.””
I stood.
“I suspect him.””
Laura looked terrified.
“Michael…”
“What?””
“If Nathan has someone inside your company…”
She stopped.
I waited.
“What?””
Her voice dropped.
“He might already have what he needs.””
I looked at her.
“What do you mean?””
She hesitated.
Then she said:
“Before everything happened, Nathan told me the transfer was only the first step.””
A cold feeling moved through me.
“The first step toward what?””
She looked at me.
And the fear in her eyes gave me the answer before she spoke.
“Destroying you.””
My phone buzzed.
A new email.
This time, from David.
I opened it.
One sentence.
No explanation.
No greeting.
Just a warning.
*Michael, I checked the company accounts. Someone accessed the acquisition files tonight.*
I read it again.
Then another line appeared beneath it.
*The person who accessed them used your employee credentials.*
My fingers tightened around the phone.
Because suddenly, this wasn’t about protecting my company anymore.
It was about finding the person who had been standing beside me the entire time.
The person who had smiled at me.
Shaken my hand.
Called me a friend.
And helped my wife’s lover come after everything I built.
Then my phone received one final notification.
A security camera image.
Someone entering my office.
I opened it.
And my blood ran cold.
Because the person in the picture wasn’t Nathan.
It wasn’t Laura.
It was someone I trusted.
May you like
Someone I had invited into my home.
*Daniel Reed was standing inside my office at midnight — carrying a folder with my name on it.*
