Chapter 31 Thirty

Chapter 31 Thirty
Eric pov

The moment we returned to the executive floor, I felt the air in the building shift. It was subtle at first. A secretary glancing up a little too fast. A manager lowering her voice when she saw Cassandra walking beside me. The usual rhythm of the office had changed.

Someone knew we were getting closer.

I walked Cassandra to my office so she could wait inside. She agreed without argument, although I could tell she did not like sitting behind a closed door while I handled the coming conversation.

“I will be back,” I said. “Stay here.”

She nodded once.

As soon as I stepped into the hallway, I called the one person who had been working in my department long enough to remember every staffing change from the last decade.

“Kim,” I said when she answered.

“Yes, sir.”

“Meet me in Conference Room Three. Now.”

She arrived before I did. Kim was older, steady, and sharp in a way few people noticed until they needed something found. She greeted me politely and sat when I gestured toward the chair across from mine.

“I need information,” I said.

“You always do,” she replied calmly.

“Four years ago a woman visited a small administrative office downtown,” I began. “She asked about a former employee named Cassandra Cole. The woman was described as composed, confident, possibly blonde or light brown hair, stylish but understated, with a quiet tone. She spoke about me as if she knew my schedule.”

Kim listened without blinking. “Someone from inside the company.”

“Yes.”

“Do you want a list of every woman who fits the description and worked for Kingston Enterprises at that time?”

“Yes,” I said. “But I want your instinct first.”

Her face softened in thought. She considered the description again, weighing it against years of memory. I trusted her judgement. She had seen people rise and fall inside this company. She understood patterns.

“There is one possibility you may not want to hear,” she said finally.

“Tell me.”

“Ava Sterling.”

I did not react outwardly, but a cold recognition settled in my chest.

Ava had been a senior assistant to my father’s legal advisor. Smart. Reserved. Unfailingly polite. She never made mistakes, never raised her voice, never asked unnecessary questions. She had always been in the background, efficient and forgettable in a deliberate way.

She had also been one of the few employees with unrestricted access to schedules, travel plans, and private records.

“Explain,” I said.

Kim folded her hands. “Four years ago your father was working closely with a group of executives on a restructuring project. Ava handled many of the confidential documents. She often stayed late to finish tasks he trusted only her with. She was silent about everything she overheard. Too silent.”

I leaned back slightly. “What do you mean.”

“Whenever she left a room, no one remembered what she had said. It was like she erased herself from conversations while keeping every detail. She had a talent for knowing more than she admitted.”

Her words fell neatly into the puzzle forming in my mind.

A woman who erased Cassandra from the hotel records would need access to the system.

A woman who knew my movements that well would need routine exposure to my schedule.

A woman who stayed invisible would avoid suspicion.

“Where is she now,” I asked.

Kim hesitated. “She transferred to a different department last year. She wanted to work closer to the executive suites.”

Closer to me.

I stood. “Bring her to me.”

Kim shook her head. “She will not come if she senses something is wrong.”

“Then I will go to her.”

Kim rose to follow. “I will stand by the door. If she tries to leave, she will not get far.”

I walked ahead of her, each step firm and controlled. My mind shifted into the focused quiet I used during hostile negotiations. No emotion. Only direction.

Ava’s office was on the twenty-fifth floor. The door was open when we reached it. She sat at her desk, typing calmly, unaware that her world was about to change.

She looked up when she noticed me. Her expression lit with polite surprise, the same neutral smile she always used.

“Mr. Kingston, good afternoon. I was not expecting you.”

I stepped inside. “We need to talk.”

“Of course.” She closed her laptop gently. “How can I help.”

I studied her carefully. There was no tension in her shoulders, no sign of discomfort. Her posture was controlled, just as Cassandra had described from secondhand memory.

“I have a question,” I said.

“Ask anything.”

“Four years ago did you go to an administrative office downtown. Did you ask about an employee named Cassandra Cole.”

Her face did not change for half a second.

Not shock. Not confusion.

A pause. A very small one. But it was enough.

“No,” she said smoothly. “I have never heard that name before.”

I watched her eyes while she spoke. People can control their voices, but their eyes reveal small shifts. Hers stayed steady.

Too steady.

“You never visited that office,” I said.

“No.”

“You never inquired about a woman who worked there.”

“No.”

“You never asked anyone to tell visitors that she had moved.”

Her eyelids pulsed in a single, quick blink. It was the first break in her composure.

“I believe there has been some misunderstanding,” she said.

She reached for her laptop.

Kim stepped quietly into the doorway.

Ava noticed.

Her hand froze in midair.

The atmosphere tightened. The room felt smaller.

I lowered my voice. “Someone erased her name from the hotel records. Someone tried to stop me from finding her. Someone warned people to hide the truth.”

Ava swallowed once. Not nervous. Calculating.

“I see,” she said.

Her voice remained soft.

“What exactly are you accusing me of.”

“I am not accusing,” I said. “I am identifying patterns. And your name is in every path I follow.”

She smiled faintly. It was not warm. It was a shield.

“You are mistaken.”

“Then you will not mind answering a few more questions.”

She tilted her head, studying me with an expression that almost resembled disappointment.

“I would answer anything,” she said. “But I believe you are pursuing the wrong person.”

“Who is the right one,” I asked.

She looked directly at me. Her voice stayed gentle.

“Someone much closer than you think.”

Before I could respond, she closed her laptop, stood smoothly, and walked toward Kim as if ending a routine meeting.

Kim stepped in front of her. “You are not dismissed.”

Ava paused but did not look bothered.

She turned her head toward me again.

“I hope you find who you are looking for,” she said.

Her tone was calm. Her posture relaxed. There was no fear in her eyes.

Not even a flicker.

Which meant one thing.

She was not working alone.

And the person she protected was someone she believed I would never suspect.