Part 44 –
You can prepare for war,
Train for betrayal,
Armor your heart
But nothing prepares you
For the moment the traitor whispers your name like a prayer.
The Anonymous Message
The email came at midnight.
No name. No subject. No traceable IP.
But the message chilled Lila Wolfe to her core:
"Lucien isn't hiding.
He's hunting.
The next strike will not be for power.
It will be for blood.
You must choose who you trust.
One of them is not who they say they are."
Attached was a blurry image security footage from a train station in Vienna.
And there he was: Lucien Luthor, stepping into a black car with diplomatic plates.
Lila's breath caught.
"Diplomatic immunity," she whispered. "He's using someone's protection."
She forwarded the image to her legal and security teams, then sat back, hand trembling slightly.
He wasn't just escaping now.
He was planning.
And someone close to her was feeding him information.
The Circle of Trust Shrinks
The next morning, Lila stood in the war room with Ethan, Marion, and Charles Chen her newly appointed cybersecurity chief.
She laid it out plainly.
"There's a mole," she said. "Carter Vale was only the first. Someone else gave Lucien access to internal movements. Our budgets. My travel. Possibly even Ethan's hospital location."
Charles nodded. "We're scanning every employee's digital footprint. But if it's someone with clearance... they're good. Very good."
Marion folded her arms. "How do we proceed?"
Lila looked at the screen displaying Lucien's Vienna footage.
"We bait the trap."
Setting the Trap
Project Eden was progressing faster than expected, with three companies already onboard for acquisition. Lila decided to announce one of them a sustainable ocean-tech startup as the official partner of Wolfe Industries, staging a full media event in Monaco.
But it was a lie.
The company wasn't even acquired yet. The event was a decoy.
"Let's see who tips him off," Lila said.
They carefully leaked select travel details to only five individuals each trusted, each watching the others.
Monaco glistened under a champagne sun as Lila arrived in a high-profile motorcade. Paparazzi snapped photos. Reporters asked about Project Eden.
But her eyes never left the shadows.
The Ghost Appears
Three days later, she received a second message.
"You're getting warm.
But not fast enough.
Watch the one who knows your father's secrets."
She froze.
Her father Richard Wolfe had died in a car crash five years ago. Officially an accident.
Only two people knew the truth about his shady deals, the things Lila had buried when she rose to CEO.
And only one of them still worked at Wolfe Industries.
Alaric Dane. Senior board member. Her father's old advisor. A man she had never trusted, but had never found reason to dismiss.
Until now.
A Whisper from the Past
That night, Lila returned to Wolfe Tower's executive archives. Inside, she unlocked the fireproof cabinet holding her father's original journals pages of mergers, blackmail, and names he'd written down in half-code.
She found it buried beneath old contracts:
"A.D. promised silence. Bought in Prague. But he fears Lucien."
Her breath stilled.
"Alaric has a connection to Lucien," she whispered.
Marion appeared at the door. "Charles confirmed something else encrypted messages between Alaric's account and an offshore server used by Lucien's shell company."
The pieces slid into place.
She wasn't just being hunted.
She was being watched by someone who had stood beside her for years.
Preparing for Confrontation
Lila stood on the rooftop of Wolfe Tower later that night, wind tugging at her coat as the city glowed below.
Ethan joined her, silent.
She didn't look at him as she said, "It's Alaric. He's the mole. Maybe more."
Ethan slipped his hand into hers.
"You're going to confront him."
"I have to."
"What if he denies it?"
"Then I'll remind him that I didn't survive Lucien's fire just to be burned from within."
Ethan turned to her, eyes fierce. "Then let's light a fire they can't ignore."