Jayden's mind raced as he watched Lena walk away, her silhouette vanishing into the dimly lit corridor. The door clicked shut behind her, and for a moment, the world outside the study seemed distant, irrelevant. The confrontation, the exchange of harsh truths, had left him feeling exposed, as though every layer of protection he had carefully built around himself had been torn away in an instant.
He stood there for a long time, the silence of the room pressing down on him, his thoughts a tangled mess. The heavy weight of responsibility, of guilt, and the undeniable pull of his past decisions gnawed at him. He could feel the ghosts of his actions, the people he had hurt, all watching him from the corners of the room, waiting for his next move.
His phone buzzed again, pulling him from his reverie. He glanced at the screen, the message from Tielen flashing in bold letters: We need to talk. Urgent.
Jayden sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. His life had been nothing but a whirlwind of urgent meetings, urgent messages, and urgent decisions. Nothing ever slowed down. Nothing ever truly stopped.
With reluctance, he opened the door and walked through the mansion's long hallways, his footsteps echoing off the cold marble floors. The mansion, once a symbol of his power and control, now felt like a cage. A gilded one, perhaps, but a cage nonetheless.
When he reached the meeting room, he found Tielen sitting at the long oak table, his expression unreadable, eyes fixed on a stack of papers in front of him. Tielen had always been the type to handle things with cold precision, never revealing more than he needed to. But today, there was something different about him—a sense of urgency that Jayden couldn't ignore.
"Jayden," Tielen greeted him with a nod, his voice calm but tense. "We have a problem."
Jayden took a seat across from him, folding his arms. "What now?"
Tielen slid the stack of papers toward him, his fingers brushing over the top. "These are reports on the dealings with the Asian market," he began. "And there's something strange about them. We've been undercut in several major deals, and the competitors are getting too close to our operations. But that's not the worst of it."
Jayden leaned forward, his brow furrowing. "What is?"
Tielen's eyes darkened as he met Jayden's gaze. "There's a leak. Someone inside our circle is feeding information to our enemies. And I think it's someone close to you."
The words hit Jayden like a thunderclap. His pulse quickened, and his mind spun. A traitor. A leak within his inner circle. Someone who had gained his trust, who had been by his side all this time… and now was betraying him.
"I'll find them," Jayden said, his voice low and dangerous. "No one betrays me and gets away with it."
Tielen nodded, but there was a hint of caution in his eyes. "It won't be easy, Jayden. Whoever it is, they've covered their tracks well. This isn't just a matter of finding a spy. This is a deep conspiracy."
Jayden's fists clenched. He had spent so long building his empire, making sure everything ran smoothly. The thought that someone he trusted had been working against him, feeding information to his enemies, was a betrayal too great to ignore. And if there was one thing Jayden couldn't tolerate, it was betrayal.
"Who do we suspect?" Jayden asked, his voice cold as steel.
Tielen hesitated, his fingers tapping lightly on the table as he thought. "There are a few possibilities, but the most likely candidate is Jeff."
Jayden's heart skipped a beat. Jeff, the man who had been his right hand for years, the one who handled all his oil and power plant business. It was a blow Jayden hadn't expected. But as the words sank in, his mind started to connect the dots.
Jeff had always been fiercely loyal, but lately, there had been subtle signs that something was off. Small decisions that didn't make sense, unexplained absences, and the occasional slip of the tongue that had raised Jayden's suspicions. He had brushed it all off as stress or the weight of running such a massive operation, but now it seemed far more sinister.
"I want him watched," Jayden said, his voice devoid of emotion. "We'll see if he's the one."
Tielen nodded, already reaching for his phone. "Consider it done. I'll set up surveillance on him immediately."
As Tielen made the call, Jayden leaned back in his chair, his thoughts swirling. He had trusted Jeff, just as he had trusted everyone else in his circle. But trust, it seemed, was a luxury he could no longer afford.
And yet, deep down, Jayden couldn't shake the nagging feeling that this betrayal was only the beginning. There was something bigger at play here, something more dangerous than the traitor within his ranks.
The past was catching up with him.
As Tielen finished the call, he looked at Jayden, his expression hardening. "There's something else you should know. It's not just about the leak. Someone has been orchestrating these moves from behind the scenes. Someone who knows us… too well."
Jayden felt a chill run down his spine. "Who?"
Tielen hesitated for a moment, then spoke in a low voice, his words heavy with significance. "I think it's someone from your past, Jayden. Someone who's been watching you. Someone who knows every detail of your life."
The room seemed to close in on Jayden as the weight of those words settled over him. His past. It had always been something he tried to bury, something he had hoped would stay hidden. But now, it was emerging from the shadows, threatening to tear down everything he had built.
"Who are they?" Jayden asked, his voice tight with growing dread.
Tielen's answer was simple, but it struck Jayden like a blow to the chest.
"They're the ones who know your secrets. And they're using them against you."
The room fell silent, the tension between them palpable. Jayden knew that everything was about to change. The game he had been playing for so long was no longer about money or power—it was about survival. And in this game, there were no rules.
He had thought he could control everything. But now, for the first time, he realized that his past had come to claim him, and it was more dangerous than he could ever have imagined.