Chapter 34 Bella's POV
Chapter Thirty-four
Bella’s POV
It felt like I'd been drenched in a bucket of cold water. I felt blood drain from my face.
“It could be my mother or someone else entirely. Don't worry I'll handle it.”
My eyes narrowed at him. “Handle it how?”
“You told me not to overreact, don't worry I won't,” he replied softly.
“Don't reply to any more emails. Don't delete them either. I'll handle it.”
“Xander… please be careful.”
Just then we heard a knock. “Come in.”
It was Grace. “Sir, the head of security said the entire CCTV footage from last week has been completely wiped clean. They are trying to recover it.
Xander and I locked eyes immediately.
“What did you say?” he asked.
“Wiped sir. Every footage from Friday till Monday morning is gone.”
I saw him clench his fists. This wasn't a coincidence, they wanted to cover up their tracks.
He exhaled. “Tell IT to retrieve whatever they can.” Grace turned around to leave but he called her. “And Grace, not a word about this conversation. Understood?”
“Yes sir,” she nodded and closed the door behind her.
I exhaled shakily. “Xander, what's happening?”
He held my shoulder to calm me down. “Just breathe, Bella.”
I nodded and tried to steady my breathing. His cologne filled my senses, calming me down. I noticed that this is the first time in days we've actually been in close proximity.
He looked at me gently, he seemed to have noticed that too.
“Don't push me away, Bella.” He leaned in till our foreheads touched. “Please.”
For a second, I forgot how to breathe. His voice almost made my knees give way. It melted into my defences and broke me.
“Xander… “ I whispered. I did not know whether to pull away or lean in.
He cupped my jaw, thwarting every possible chance for me to run away. “You don't have to keep pretending like you're fine,” he murmured. “You're scared. I can see it.”
I shut my eyes briefly. “I can't do that, Xander. I can't afford to fall apart, not now. I can't let them see me panic.”
“I understand. But you don't have to be strong in front of me. Let me be the one to protect you.’
He left me speechless, again. Tears welled up in my eyes as I stared at him.
“I'm not a damsel in distress, Xander.”
“I know,” he sighed. “But you don't have to do it alone, Bella,” he said softly.
I meditated on his word as his breath fanned my face. He brushed his thumb lightly against my cheek as I blinked away the tears threatening to spill.
A knock broke through the moment. We both stepped back quickly.
Grace voice came from the other side. “It's Grace. There's a problem with the server room, sir.”
“Come in.”
She came in with her chest huffing slightly like she ran to deliver the message. “IT said someone had tampered with the server. They said it looked deliberate.”
Xander turned towards me. “Stay here, lock the door. Don't open the door for anyone unless it's me, got it?”
I nodded. “Got it.”
He left with Grace. His footsteps faded down the hallway.
I suddenly became aware of how big the office was in silence. My pulse pounded in my ears as I locked the door.
I sat on the couch and scrolled through the anonymous emails again, scrolling in case I missed something.
Then, something caught my eyes. At the very bottom of the email, there was a faint watermark. It wasn't a logo, it was a faint watermark.
It looked like G.R.C… or G.D.C?
I zoomed in. The text was faint but why did it sound familiar?
Then it hit me. It was Grace. Grace D. Dickson.
I froze. No, it couldn't be. Grace has been nice to me since the day I started. She was the only person that treated me as an equal, not like a charity case.
I remembered the way she has been conveniently around every time strange things happened. The emails, the wiped footage, she was always there.
My stomach twisted into knots. But why Grace? I never did anything wrong to Grace.
I was suddenly distracted by a creak at the door. My heart stopped as I held my breath.
“Who… who is that?” I called out with my voice trembling.
There was no response. I heard another creak.
I rushed to grab the nearest weapon beside me. I got a stapler and walked slowly towards the door.
Grace called out. “It's me, Bella. Open up.”
I froze and stared at the door.
She called out again softly, “Open up. Are you okay?”
My hands hesitated on the door lock. Then I noticed the shadow of two figures. Grace wasn't alone.
“Bella, open up.” Xander’s voice came through behind the door.
I felt relief wash over me so fast, my knees nearly gave out. I pressed a hand to my chest to steady my breathing.
I turned the knob slowly. The door cracked open, just enough for me to take a peek through.
Xander’s face came in view with Grace standing behind him.
“See? Grace said, stepping in a little closer. “Everything is fine.”
The sight of her made my stomach twist. I glanced at her nervously.
“Why are you both up here?”
Xander replied. “Because… we found something.”
My brows furrowed. “What did you find?”
“Someone planted an external drive in one of our ports, that's how the footage was wiped. They didn't just delete the data… they copied it first.”
Grace added. “We think it's someone in the company.”
Then out of nowhere, my phone buzzed. I opened it and glanced on the screen. It was a new mail.
“He can't protect you forever.”
Attached to the email was a picture of me at the staircase earlier.
I felt blood drain from my face. Xander noticed my mood and peered over my phone. His gaze darkened.
“You need to pack a bag. You're staying with me tonight.”
My eyes widened. “What?”