Chapter 5 - The Leak
Two weeks after the gala, a crisis struck the Vale Syndicate.
A shipment of medical supplies and high-end electronics, destined for one of Ronan’s legitimate shipping lines, was seized by federal agents at the Port of Chicago. The seizure was too precise, too coordinated to be a coincidence. Someone had leaked the exact manifests and arrival times.
The atmosphere in the house turned hostile.
The dark, silent men in black SUVs arrived daily, their faces grim as they filed into Ronan’s study. Marco’s security team was on high alert, their hands never far from the holsters beneath their jackets.
Seraphina felt the familiar, suffocating grip of anxiety returning. She stayed on the third floor, listening to the muffled shouts and tense murmurs coming from the study below.
One evening, as she was preparing Ronan’s schedule for the following week, the study door flew open. Marco walked out, followed by a young man who worked as one of Ronan’s accountants. The young man was bleeding from a cut on his lip, his face pale with terror.
"I swear, Mr. Vale! I didn't do it!" the accountant pleaded, his voice high-pitched and hysterical. "I don't know who leaked the files!"
"Take him to the basement," Ronan’s voice boomed from inside the room, cold, flat, and entirely devoid of mercy. "We’ll see how long his memory stays fuzzy."
Seraphina shrank back into the shadows of the hallway, her hands covering her mouth to stifle a gasp. The sheer brutality of Ronan’s world was staring her in the face, a stark reminder of the monster she had grown comfortable with.
When the hallway cleared, she walked slowly into the study.
Ronan was standing by the window, his jacket off, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His knuckles were red, and his chest rose and fell with heavy, angry breaths.
He turned to look at her, his eyes dark and wild. "What are you doing here, Seraphina? I told you to stay on the third floor."
"I... I wanted to bring you your schedule," she said, her voice shaking. She looked at his red knuckles. "Did you... did you hurt him?"
Ronan closed his eyes, inhaling deeply as if trying to control the beast inside him. When he opened them, the anger had been locked away behind his usual stoic mask.
"This is my world, Seraphina," he said quietly, walking over to his desk and picking up a glass of whiskey. "It is not clean. It is not polite. When someone betrays me, people die. That is how we survive."
"But what if he’s innocent?" she asked, her voice rising with a rare flash of defiance. "What if you are hurting him for nothing?"
Ronan stared at her, his expression unreadable. "I do not make mistakes, Ms. Hale. But if you are so concerned, perhaps you can help me find the real traitor. The leak came from the digital server. Only three people have access to that password. Me, my chief accountant, and..."
May you like
He paused, his eyes dropping to the schedule she was holding.
"And you."
