The news hit Cambria like a bolt of lightning. Knox. Her first instinct was to deny it. Knox, her most trusted, no, her family. The man who had been with her from the very beginning, the one who had always been there, watching, supporting her. The man she had once thought of as a brother.
But the evidence was undeniable. Elara's message had left no room for doubt. Knox had been feeding Elena information. He had been working with her all along. The shock reverberated through her entire body, and for a moment, everything felt like it was spinning out of control. She wanted to scream, to rail against the injustice of it all, but no sound escaped her.
Maddox, standing across from her, looked as though he too was trying to process the enormity of what Cambria had just learned. His face went pale, his lips tightening in frustration.
"No," he said, his voice barely a whisper. "No, it can't be true. It doesn't make sense."
Cambria didn't know how to respond. Her entire world had just been upended. Knox, someone she had trusted so completely, someone who had been by her side through every decision, every triumph, every failure, had been secretly working with Elena.
She had always known Knox was ambitious, but this? This was a betrayal on a level she hadn't been prepared for.
"I can't believe it," Cambria said, shaking her head as if doing so would somehow erase the truth. "Not Knox. He was always loyal. He was... He was family."
But the more she thought about it, the more the pieces started to come together. Knox had always been a little too eager, a little too quick to offer solutions, too quick to agree with her ideas. And yet, she had always written it off as ambition, as drive. He had always been good at reading people, at knowing what they wanted to hear. But now she realized he had been reading her all along. He had seen her as a way to move up in the world, just as Elena had.
She clenched her jaw, trying to force back the tears that were threatening to spill. She wouldn't cry. Not now. Not when everything was falling apart.
"I have to confront him," she said, her voice steady despite the turmoil inside.
"No, Cambria," Maddox protested, stepping forward. "This isn't the way. We need to approach this carefully. Knox will be expecting us to react impulsively. We need to stay one step ahead of him."
But Cambria shook her head, the fury in her chest building. "I've spent too much of my life trusting the wrong people. I can't keep waiting for things to fall apart. I have to act. Now."
Maddox's eyes searched hers, filled with a mixture of concern and something else. He was afraid of what Cambria might do. He had reason to be.
"Please," he said softly, his voice almost pleading. "Don't let him win, Cambria. If you go to him now, it'll only play into his hands. He wants you to react. Don't give him that satisfaction."
Cambria's breath hitched as she struggled to rein in the wild surge of emotion that was threatening to overwhelm her. She couldn't afford to lose control, not now, not when everything was on the line. But the thought of Knox, of the lies he had woven around her, made her feel as though she was drowning in a sea of betrayal.
"I can't wait anymore," she finally said, her voice like ice. "I have to know the truth. I have to confront him. Now."
Maddox stepped forward, his expression hardening as if making a decision. "Then I'm coming with you," he said, his voice unwavering.
Cambria turned to face him, her eyes burning with the fire of betrayal. "You're not coming with me," she said coldly. "This is my fight. You've done enough damage already."
Maddox's face twitched, the pain of her words visible, but he didn't back down. "I'm not letting you do this alone, Cambria. You don't have to face this on your own. I made a mistake before, but I can fix it. I want to help you."
She narrowed her eyes at him, the anger inside her boiling over. "You can't fix this. You've already helped Elena destroy everything I've worked for. I don't need you, Maddox. I don't need anyone right now."
Her words stung, and for a second, she saw a flicker of regret in his eyes. But then, he nodded, taking a step back. "I'll respect your decision, Cambria," he said quietly. "But don't let this consume you. Don't let anger be the thing that drives you forward."
Cambria didn't respond. She couldn't. The truth was, she was scared, scared of confronting Knox, scared of the reality that the people closest to her had been playing games all along. But more than that, she was angry. And anger was a fire she was afraid would burn everything to the ground.
Elara's Warning
As Cambria made her way to the elevator, she took one last glance at Maddox, who stood in the doorway of her office, watching her. She could feel the weight of his gaze on her back, but she didn't stop. There was no time to waste.
Elara was waiting for her in the lobby, her face pale and tense. "Cambria, you need to be careful," she said, grabbing Cambria's arm as soon as she stepped out of the elevator. "Knox is dangerous right now. If he's working with Elena, he's already one step ahead of us. You can't confront him without knowing his next move."
"I know," Cambria replied, her voice steely. "I don't care. I need to hear it from him. I need to know if he's been lying to me all this time."
Elara shook her head, frustration clear in her eyes. "I understand, but this isn't just about Knox. He's a pawn in Elena's game. We need to focus on the bigger picture. Elena's still out there, pulling the strings."
But Cambria wasn't listening. Her mind was already focused on one thing: finding Knox.
"I'll deal with Elena later," Cambria said, her eyes narrowing. "Right now, I need to deal with the person who's been hiding in my shadows."
As Cambria stepped out of the building, her phone buzzed again. It was a message from Elara.
"Cambria, we've tracked Knox's movements. He's at your family's estate. He's meeting with someone... someone important."
Cambria's blood ran cold. "Someone important?"
She typed quickly, her fingers trembling. "Who?"
Elara's reply came almost instantly.
"I'm not sure yet, but it's someone close to your father. Someone you didn't expect."
The words hit her like a punch to the gut. Who could it be? Someone close to her father? Someone she had trusted?
Cambria's heart pounded as the pieces of the puzzle slowly began to fall into place. The truth was close now, too close. And she wasn't ready for what she was about to find.
With a final glance at Elara, Cambria turned toward her car, determined to confront Knox and learn everything he had been hiding. The storm was coming, and she wasn't going to let anyone stand in her way.
But as she drove toward the estate, she had one nagging question lingering in the back of her mind.
Who was the real enemy?
And would she survive the answer?