Chapter 55 FIFTY-FIVE
The Westbrook Industries quarterly dinner was the kind of event Lennox had learned to tolerate but never enjoy. Too many people watching her, wondering who she was and why Callum had married her so suddenly. Too many fake smiles and polite questions that felt like interrogations.
She wore a black dress Callum had bought her, something simple but expensive that made her look like she belonged in rooms like this. He kept his hand on her lower back as they moved through the crowd, introducing her to board members and investors and people whose names she immediately forgot.
Victor was there, of course. Always there, always watching with that concerned-friend expression that made her skin crawl. He'd been hovering around Callum lately, offering advice on the company and dropping casual comments about marriage and trust and how important it was to really know your spouse.
She'd been avoiding him all night but that only lasted so long.
Callum excused himself to take a call from Tokyo, kissed her temple and promised he'd be back in five minutes. The second he was gone, Victor appeared at her elbow with two glasses of champagne.
"Lennox. You look lovely tonight."
"Thank you." She didn't take the champagne.
"I've been meaning to talk to you." He set both glasses down on a nearby table, smiled in that grandfatherly way that probably worked on most people. "I realize we haven't had much chance to get to know each other properly. You married Callum so quickly and then things have been so busy with the company, and I know we’ve talked before but don’t mind this old man, I’m just looking out for you both."
"It has been busy."
"Of course." Another pause, longer this time. "I hope you don't mind, but I did some looking into your background. Just standard due diligence, you understand. When someone marries into a family like the Westbrooks, especially someone in Callum's position, it's important to know who they are."
Her heart kicked hard against her ribs but she kept her expression neutral. "That makes sense."
"The thing is, I found it quite difficult to find much information about you. Before you started working at Morrison and Chen, your digital footprint is remarkably sparse. Almost like it was scrubbed clean." He tilted his head, studying her. "That's unusual for someone your age. Most young people have social media accounts going back years, old photos, that sort of thing. But you? It's like you appeared out of nowhere three years ago."
She forced a laugh that sounded false even to her own ears. "I've never been big on social media. I like my privacy."
"Clearly. Though it does make one wonder what you're so private about."
"Nothing interesting, I promise. Just a boring person who doesn't post pictures of their lunch."
"Hmm." Victor's smile didn't waver but his eyes were sharp, assessing. "And your previous employment before Morrison and Chen? The timeline seems a bit unclear."
"I did freelance work. Consulting, mostly. It's hard to track that kind of thing."
"I imagine it would be. Freelance work is wonderfully vague, isn't it? Difficult to verify. Difficult to disprove." He picked up one of the champagne glasses, took a slow sip. "You know what I find fascinating, Lennox? People who are very careful about their digital presence. People who understand how to cover their tracks. That takes a certain kind of expertise."
"I don't know what you mean."
"Don't you?" He moved closer, lowering his voice so only she could hear. "I've been in business a long time. I've learned to recognize when something doesn't add up. And you, my dear, don't add up at all."
She wanted to step back, put distance between them, but that would show weakness and she couldn't afford that. "I'm sorry you feel that way. I'm just a normal person who fell in love with Callum. There's nothing mysterious about it."
"Perhaps. Or perhaps you're very good at hiding what you don't want people to see." His smile turned colder. "I'm going to figure out what you're hiding, Lennox. It's only a matter of time. And when I do, I'll make sure Callum knows exactly who he married."
Then Callum was there, appearing at her side with his hand already reaching for hers. "Everything okay?"
"Perfectly fine," Victor said smoothly, his expression shifting back to benevolent warmth. "Just getting to know your lovely wife better. She's quite remarkable, Callum. You're a lucky man."
"I know." Callum's hand tightened around hers. "We should get back to the table. Dinner's about to be served."
Victor nodded, raised his champagne glass in a small salute. "Of course. Enjoy your evening."
He walked away, disappearing into the crowd. Lennox felt like she couldn't breathe properly.
"What did he say to you?" Callum asked quietly.
"Nothing. Just small talk."
"You're shaking."
"I'm cold. These events are always freezing." She managed a smile. "Can we sit down?"
He looked like he wanted to push, wanted to demand answers, but instead he just led her to their table and pulled out her chair. Kept his hand on her shoulder while they ate, like he was trying to ground her.
She barely tasted the food. Her mind was spinning, replaying every word Victor had said. He knew something. Maybe not everything, maybe not about Cipher specifically, but he knew enough to be suspicious. Enough to start asking questions that could unravel everything.
The dinner dragged on forever. Speeches and toasts and networking conversations that felt like white noise. Callum kept glancing at her, concerned, but she plastered on a smile and pretended everything was fine.
Finally it was over. They said their goodbyes and got into the car and she thought maybe she could breathe again once they were home.
But when they got back to the penthouse and she went to her room to change, something felt wrong. Nothing obvious, nothing she could point to and say definitively that someone had been there. Just a sense that things weren't quite where she'd left them.
Her laptop was on her desk where it always was. Closed, plugged in, exactly how she'd left it this morning.
She opened it. Logged in. Everything looked normal at first. Her files, her browser history, her desktop wallpaper. All the same.
Then she checked her system logs and her blood went cold.
Someone had accessed her laptop while she was gone. Someone who knew what they were doing because they'd tried to cover their tracks, but they'd made one small mistake. The timestamp on her security software showed it had been disabled for forty-seven minutes this afternoon, right when she and Callum had been at the office together before the dinner.
Which meant someone had been in the penthouse. In her room. On her computer.
Her Cipher files were buried under layers of encryption and hidden partitions. Whoever had been looking wouldn't have found them, not without serious time and expertise. But they'd been looking. Searching for something.
She shut the laptop, hands trembling.
A knock on her door made her jump.
"Lennox?" Callum's voice, concerned. "Are you coming to bed?"
She shoved the laptop in her bag, tried to steady her breathing. "Yeah. Sorry. Just needed to change."
She opened the door and he was standing there in just his pajama pants, hair messy like he'd been running his hands through it. Looking at her like he could see right through whatever facade she was trying to maintain.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing. Just tired."
"You've been weird since Victor talked to you. What did he say?"
"I told you, nothing important."
"Lennox." He stepped closer, cupped her face in his hands. "Talk to me. Please."
She wanted to. God, she wanted to tell him everything so badly it hurt. Wanted to explain about Victor and the investigation and the fact that someone had been in their home going through her things. Wanted him to help her figure out what to do.
But she couldn't. Because if she told him any of it, she'd have to tell him all of it, and he wasn't ready to hear that his wife was a hacker who'd been lying to him from the beginning.
"I'm just overwhelmed," she said instead. "These events are a lot and I'm not used to it. That's all."
He didn't believe her. She could see it in his eyes. But he didn't push, just pulled her against him and held her there in the doorway like he was trying to absorb whatever fear she wouldn't share.
"Come to bed," he said finally. "We can talk about it tomorrow if you want."
She followed him to his room, let him pull her down onto the mattress, wrapped herself around him like he was the only solid thing in a world that was falling apart.
But she couldn't sleep. Just lay there listening to his breathing even out while her mind raced through possibilities and plans and the growing certainty that Victor wasn't just suspicious anymore.
He was hunting her. But the question was did he truly care or was he covering up something?