Chapter 6 - The Woman Who Was Sent To Destroy Me
I did not sleep that night.
Not because I was afraid.
Fear was simple.
Fear told you to run.
What kept me awake was something much worse.
Doubt.
For two years, I had believed Delphine loved me.
I had believed every conversation.
Every smile.
Every promise.
Now I had to question every memory.
Every moment.
Every word.
The hardest part about betrayal was not discovering someone had lied.
It was realizing how much of your life had been built around that lie.
At five in the morning, Adrian entered my office carrying a folder.
He looked like he had not slept either.
“Tell me you found something.”
He placed the folder on my desk.
“We found Delphine’s travel arrangements.”
I opened it.
A flight.
Private terminal.
Tomorrow morning.
Destination: Switzerland.
I looked at him.
“Victor was right.”
“Yes.”
“How long until she leaves?”
“Less than twenty-four hours.”
I closed the folder.
“Then we don’t stop her.”
Adrian frowned.
“We don’t?”
“No.”
“Emmett, if she leaves—”
“She won’t.”
He studied me.
“Then why let her think she can?”
Because I finally understood the game.
Delphine wanted me to chase her.
She wanted panic.
She wanted mistakes.
She wanted me to act before I knew the full truth.
And whoever was behind her wanted the same thing.
But they had forgotten one thing.
I had spent my entire life learning patience.
“Because I want to know where she runs.”
Before confronting Delphine, I needed answers from someone else.
Victor Hale.
The man who had been my father’s closest adviser.
The man who had watched me grow up.
The man who knew every secret my family had ever buried.
We met in an abandoned office building outside downtown.
No security.
No cameras.
No witnesses.
Just two people who knew too much.
Victor arrived exactly on time.
That was always his habit.
Precise.
Controlled.
Like every second of his life belonged to him.
He looked older than I remembered.
Not physically.
Emotionally.
“You look like your father.”
The first words out of his mouth.
I almost laughed.
“Everyone keeps saying that.”
“Because it’s true.”
I placed the photograph on the table.
My father.
Victor.
Delphine’s mother.
Victor looked at it.
And for the first time, I saw regret.
Real regret.
“Tell me.”
He sat down slowly.
“Your father discovered something before he died.”
“What?”
“Someone inside his company was moving money.”
I stared at him.
“You?”
“No.”
His answer was immediate.
Too immediate.
But I believed him.
Because a guilty man usually tries to explain.
An innocent man tries to survive.
“Who?”
Victor looked away.
“I never found the entire operation.”
“But you knew about Delphine’s family.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Her mother worked with your father.”
“Doing what?”
Victor was silent.
That silence was enough.
“She was an accountant.”
I frowned.
“My father trusted her?”
“He did.”
“Why?”
“Because she was good at hiding things.”
The words sat heavily between us.
“What things?”
Victor opened another folder.
Inside were copies of financial records.
“The company your father discovered was not stealing money directly.”
“Then what?”
“They were creating fake accounts.”
“Why?”
“To control people.”
I looked confused.
Victor continued.
“Your father built his empire on loyalty. Employees stayed because they believed in him. Partners trusted him.”
He looked at me.
“But someone realized trust could be turned into a weapon.”
“By creating problems?”
“Yes.”
“Then offering solutions.”
I understood.
A person creates chaos.
Then becomes the only person who can fix it.
That was how control worked.
“Delphine?”
Victor nodded.
“Her family helped create the system.”
I looked at the photograph.
“Why did she choose me?”
Victor’s expression changed.
Because he knew that was the question I had been avoiding.
“Because your father left something behind.”
“The file.”
“Yes.”
“What is it?”
Victor looked at me.
“I don’t know.”
I stood.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I never saw the contents.”
“Then why does everyone want it?”
“Because your father trusted only one person with the location.”
“Who?”
Victor’s eyes met mine.
“You.”
The room went silent.
I shook my head.
“That’s impossible.”
“No.”
Victor leaned forward.
“Your father knew people would come after you.”
“Why didn’t he tell me?”
“Because he believed telling you would put you in danger.”
I remembered the letter.
Do not trust anyone who enters your life too quickly.
My father knew.
He had known.
And he had tried to warn me.
When I returned to the hotel, Delphine was waiting.
This time, she was not pretending.
No smile.
No perfect expression.
Just anger.
“You met Victor.”
Not a question.
I stopped.
“How did you know?”
She looked away.
Another mistake.
She knew too much.
“You’re watching me.”
“I’m protecting myself.”
“No.”
I stepped closer.
“You’re protecting your secrets.”
Her eyes became cold.
“You have no idea what you’re doing.”
“Then explain.”
She said nothing.
“Explain why you met Victor.”
Silence.
“Explain why you created fake accusations against employees.”
Her face changed.
Just slightly.
But enough.
“You investigated me.”
“I had to.”
“Because you trusted a stranger over me?”
“No.”
I looked directly at her.
“Because you stopped being the person I thought you were.”
That hurt her.
I saw it.
For one second, beneath everything else, there was something human.
Something real.
Then it disappeared.
“You think I’m the villain.”
“I think you know more than you’re telling me.”
She walked toward the window.
“When I met you, I knew who you were.”
“What does that mean?”
She turned back.
“It means I knew you were powerful.”
There it was.
The truth.
Not all of it.
But enough.
“You researched me.”
“Yes.”
“Before we met?”
She didn’t answer.
I already knew.
“Why?”
Her eyes lowered.
“Because I needed to understand you.”
“For what?”
She whispered:
“For what was coming.”
That night, Adrian discovered something.
Something that changed the investigation.
He entered my office holding a tablet.
“We found the missing file.”
I stood immediately.
“Where?”
“Not where we expected.”
“Where?”
He turned the screen toward me.
A hotel storage location.
A private locker.
Number 317.
The same number.
My heart slowed.
“How?”
“Your father created it.”
“When?”
“Two weeks before his death.”
I stared at the screen.
“What’s inside?”
Adrian hesitated.
“We don’t know.”
“Why?”
“Because the locker requires two keys.”
I frowned.
“Two?”
“Yes.”
“Where is the second one?”
“That’s the problem.”
He looked at me.
“One key was found in your father’s office after he died.”
“And the second?”
“Missing.”
I looked back at the number.
The same mark hidden in the basement.
The same number connected to everything.
Then my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
No one spoke.
Only a sound.
A child crying.
My expression changed.
“Hello?”
A woman whispered.
“Mr. Kingsley…”
I recognized the voice.
Clara.
“Where are you?”
“He found me.”
My body went still.
“Who?”
Silence.
Then:
“Victor was wrong.”
“What do you mean?”
A shaky breath.
“The person controlling Delphine…”
The line crackled.
“…is not her.”
A loud noise came through the phone.
A door opening.
Clara gasped.
Then whispered:
“He’s here.”
The call ended.
I stared at the phone.
Adrian looked at me.
“What happened?”
I grabbed my coat.
“Everything we thought we understood is wrong.”
“Where are we going?”
I looked toward the door.
“To find Clara.”
Because for the first time since this started, I understood the truth.
Delphine was not the end of this.
May you like
She was only the first piece.
And someone much more dangerous had been standing behind her the entire time.
