Chapter 77 The mole
Aiden came home at midnight to find Ariella surrounded by documents, laptop open, three empty coffee cups on the table.
“You’re still up,” he said quietly.
“We have a problem.” She said handing him Victoria’s evidence without preamble. “James Winters has a partner, Someone inside Frost Industries. Someone who’s been helping him this whole time.”
He read in silence, She watched his face change in confusion, horror, and rage.
“Victoria Winters came here?” His voice was dangerous. “To our home? Where our daughter sleeps?”
“She brought proof, Real proof. That her ex-husband killed her daughter, your mother, and probably Ethan.”
“Or she’s lying too. Playing the same game as James, just with better props.” But his hands were shaking as he held the documents. “I don’t know who to trust anymore, Ari. Everyone has an agenda. Everyone’s protecting something.”
“Look at the IP addresses. The phone records. This isn’t fabricated.”
“Neither were the documents James sent. They’re both real. They both tell different stories, and somewhere in the middle is truth we can’t reach because everyone involved is either dead or lying.”
Elena whimpered from the bedroom. They both tensed, waiting, but she settled back to sleep.
“Victoria said there’s a mole,” Ariella continued. “Someone who leaked our contract to the press. Someone feeding James information from the inside.”
“That could be anyone. Frost Industries employs thousands of people.”
“No.” Ariella pulled up her laptop. “It has to be someone with access to personal information. Someone who knew about the contract before it was public. Someone who knew where we’d be, what we were planning…”
She stopped.
Pulled up the timeline she’d been building, the contract leak, the press ambush at the hospital, The ‘random’ photographer at their wedding. The timing of Winters’ letter, arriving exactly when they’d be most vulnerable.
“Someone who knew Elena would be born,” she said slowly. “Who knew we’d be exhausted and overwhelmed and easier to manipulate.”
Aiden went very still. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying someone very close to us has been playing both sides from the beginning.”
She pulled up financial records Marcus had sent months ago, Shell company transactions. Money trails they’d traced during the original investigation.
There.
A payment. Fifty thousand dollars. From one of Winters’ companies to a consulting firm.
A consulting firm owned by someone they knew.
“No,” Aiden said, seeing it. “No, that’s impossible.”
“Is it?” Ariella’s hands were shaking. “Look at the dates. The payment was made two weeks before our wedding, before the contract leaked, The consulting fee was for ‘strategic advisory services.’”
“That doesn’t mean…”
“The consulting firm is registered in Delaware. The same state as three of Winters’ shell companies. The same signature structure. The same…”
Her phone rang.
An Unknown number.
She answered, hands shaking. “Hello?”
“Mrs. Frost.” The voice was familiar, warm, and friendly. “I hear you’ve been doing some digging tonight.”
Ariella’s blood ran cold. She hit the speaker so Aiden could hear too.
“Who is this?”
“You know who this is, We’ve known each other for over a year now. I’ve been very helpful to you. Perhaps too helpful, but that’s about to change.”
Aiden grabbed the phone. “Where are you calling from?”
“Does it matter? I’m calling to offer some friendly advice. Stop investigating, Accept that Richard and James were both guilty, Let sleeping dogs lie. Take care of your beautiful daughter and forget about justice.”
“You leaked our contract,” Ariella said. “You’ve been feeding Winters information. Why?”
“Because he pays better than the Frosts did and because I don’t like being lied to.” The voice hardened. “Richard promised me a position. Board seat, Real power. Then he died and left me nothing but a generous severance package. So yes, when James reached out from prison offering compensation for minor assistance, I took it.”
“Minor assistance?” Aiden’s voice was shaking. “You destroyed our privacy. Put targets on our backs…”
“I leaked a contract that was already semi-public knowledge. Don’t be dramatic. But now you’re digging into things that could cause real problems for James, me, and people who prefer certain truths to stay buried.”
“Like Catherine’s murder?” Ariella demanded.
“Careful, Mrs. Frost. You have a six-month-old daughter. Accidents happen to children you know, house fires, Car crashes. Terrible tragedies that devastate young families.”
Aiden lunged for the phone but Ariella held tight.
“If you touch our daughter…”
“I won’t have to, James has friends. Patient friends. Friends who wait years for the right moment.” The voice turned pleasant again. “But none of that has to happen. Just stop digging. Destroy Victoria’s evidence, Accept the plea deal James’ lawyers will offer and Everyone walks away happy.”
“We’ll never…”
“You will, Because the alternative is I release evidence that you both committed securities fraud during the Frost Industries takeover, Evidence that would send you both to prison. Leaving little Elena in foster care. Tragic, really.”
“You’re bluffing,” Aiden said.
“Am I? Check your email in five minutes. I sent a preview. Just enough to show I’m serious.”
The line went dead.
They stared at each other.
“It’s Marcus,” Ariella whispered. “It has to be Marcus. He’s the only one who had access to everything…”
Aiden’s phone dinged. Email from an encrypted address.
Subject: Preview
Inside: documents. SEC filings. Transaction records. All showing irregularities in how Aiden had restructured Frost Industries during the takeover. All technically legal but easy to spin as fraud with the right prosecutor.
And a photo.
Elena. Sleeping in her crib. Taken from inside their apartment.
Tonight.
“They were here,” Aiden said, voice hollow. “While we were reading Victoria’s evidence. Someone was in our home. Taking pictures of our daughter.”
Ariella was already moving. Grabbed Elena from the crib, held her close. “We’re leaving, now. Pack a bag…”
“And go where? They know where we are. They’re watching us.”
“Then we go to the FBI. To the police. We…”
“With what evidence? A threatening phone call from an unknown number? Photos that could have been taken by anyone? Documents that make us look guilty?”
Elena woke, started crying. Ariella rocked her, trying to stay calm, but failing.
“We can’t just do nothing,” she said.
“We won’t.” Aiden’s voice changed. Hardened. “But we’re not running. We’re not letting them dictate terms.”
“What are you suggesting?”
“I’m suggesting we figure out who the mole is. Prove it, Then we burn their entire operation to the ground.”
“That could take weeks. Months. And in the meantime they’re threatening our daughter…”
“Which means we’re close. We’re close to something that scares them. So we press harder.”
“Aiden…”
“Trust me. Please.” He took her hands. “We’ve survived everything else. We’ll survive this too. But we have to be smart, Strategic, We have to…”
His phone rang.
Marcus.
They stared at it.
“Could be him,” Ariella whispered. “Could be the mole calling to sound innocent.”
“Or it could be Marcus with actual help.”
Aiden answered. “Yeah?”
“Where are you?” Marcus sounded panicked. “Are you both safe? Is Elena safe?”
“Why?”
“Because Victoria Winters was just found dead in her hotel room, Apparent suicide. And the FBI is looking for you both for questioning.”
The world stopped.
“We didn’t…” Aiden started.
“I know. But someone’s framing you. Someone who knew Victoria visited you tonight. Someone who’s tying up loose ends.” Marcus’ voice dropped. “Don’t come to my office. Don’t go anywhere predictable. I’ll meet you somewhere public in one hour. Text me the location. And Aiden? Assume everyone is compromised. Everyone. Even me.”
He hung up.
Ariella and Aiden looked at each other, holding their daughter between them.
“We’re running out of people to trust,” she whispered.
“Then we trust each other. And we protect Elena. That’s all that matters now.”
Outside, a car engine started, They were being watched.
And whoever was watching had just killed their last witness.