Chapter 1

I drove back to the hotel with Lila Voss’s words still echoing in my mind.

“You have until tomorrow night to decide. If you refuse… I will come for you. And I will come for your father.”

I didn’t know if she was bluffing. But something in her voice told me she wasn’t. She sounded calm. Certain. Like someone who had already made up her mind.

When I arrived at the hotel, I went straight up to the presidential suite. I locked the door behind me and sat down at the desk. My hands were still shaking slightly, but my mind was clearer than it had been in days.

I wasn’t going to run.

I wasn’t going to give up.

But I also wasn’t going to be reckless.

I picked up my phone and called Richard.

“I need you to do something for me,” I said as soon as he answered. “I need you to increase security around my father. Right now. Put people on him 24/7. I don’t care how much it costs.”

Richard sounded concerned.

“Elena, what happened?”

“Lila Voss just called me,” I said. “She threatened to kill both me and my father if I don’t give up the company by tomorrow night.”

There was a long silence on the other end.

“I’ll take care of it immediately,” Richard finally said. “But Elena… this is getting very dangerous. Maybe you should consider stepping back for a while. Let us handle things.”

“I can’t,” I replied. “If I step back now, they win. And I’m not going to let that happen.”

After I ended the call, I sat in silence for a while, thinking.

Lila Voss wanted me to be afraid. She wanted me to feel alone. But I wasn’t alone. Not completely. I still had Richard. I still had some allies on the board. And most importantly, I had the truth.

I opened my laptop and began going through the files Lena Moreau had given me again. This time, I paid closer attention to anything related to Lila Voss and Adrian Langford.

After nearly two hours, I found something.

It was an old email chain between Lila and Adrian, dated almost a year ago. In it, they discussed their plans to “remove obstacles” from Langford Holdings. One of the names mentioned repeatedly was Thomas Reed.

But there was another name that appeared several times.

Richard Langford.

My father.

My hands froze over the keyboard.

I read the emails again, hoping I had misunderstood. But the messages were clear. Lila and Adrian had been in contact with my father. They had been feeding him information. And in some of the messages, it sounded like he had been helping them — or at the very least, turning a blind eye to what they were doing.

I felt like I couldn’t breathe.

My own father.

Had he really been working with them this whole time?

I picked up my phone and stared at it. I wanted to call him. I wanted to demand answers. But I stopped myself.

If my father was involved, then calling him could be dangerous. He might warn Lila and Adrian. Or worse, he might try to have me removed before I could expose him.

I needed to be smart.

I needed proof.

I spent the rest of the afternoon digging deeper into the files. I cross-referenced every mention of my father with financial records and meeting logs. Slowly, a picture began to form.

It wasn’t as simple as my father being a traitor.

From what I could tell, he had been trying to play both sides. He had been working with Lila and Adrian in secret, probably to protect himself and the company. But at the same time, he had been trying to keep me safe by keeping me in the dark.

It didn’t excuse what he had done. But it made things more complicated.

By evening, I had a clearer understanding of the situation.

Lila Voss and Adrian Langford were the main threats. They wanted to take over Langford Holdings and destroy everything my mother had built. Thomas Reed was helping them from the inside. And my father… he was caught in the middle, trying to survive.

I closed my laptop and stood up.

I needed to talk to my father. Face to face. But I wasn’t going to do it unprepared.

I called Richard again.

“I need you to arrange a meeting with my father,” I said. “Tomorrow morning. Somewhere private. And I need you to be there with me.”

Richard hesitated.

“Elena, are you sure that’s a good idea? After everything we’ve found…”

“I’m sure,” I said. “I need to look him in the eyes and ask him directly. I need to know the truth.”

Richard sighed.

“Alright. I’ll set it up. But I’m bringing security. Just in case.”

After I ended the call, I sat down on the bed and stared at the wall.

I felt exhausted. Emotionally drained. But I also felt something else — a quiet, steady determination.

I had come too far to back down now.