Chapter 65 The Leader

Chapter 65 The Leader
Bella's POV

"It's so late where are you going?" My father asked but didn't respond as I opened the car door.

I got out of the car without looking back.

"Eva, don't be so stubborn"

"We can talk things out at home"

"Eva!"

"Eva, come back here!"

He continued yelling my name from inside, the car but I didn't turn around. I just kept walking, my heels clicking against the pavement as I made my way to the one place I knew I could think clearly.

The organization's base.

I didn't even know why my feet brought me here instead of home. Maybe because home didn't feel safe anymore. Not after everything that happened tonight. Not after realizing my own father would rather protect a lie than stand beside the truth.

By the time I reached the villa, my mind was still spinning. Haley. Sasha. Gabby. My father choosing to protect the daughter he raised over the one he claimed to love just as much.

I pushed the thoughts aside as I stepped through the front doors.

The atmosphere inside was different from usual. It was tense and it gave me a terrible feeling and made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

People were rushing back and forth across the hallway, holding stacks of documents, speaking to each other in low, urgent voices. I recognized most of their faces.

These weren't regular staff members. These were senior people, the ones who only came out when something serious was happening.

One of them, a man I recognized as one of Ethan's top analysts, walked past me so fast he almost bumped into my shoulder. He mumbled a quick apology without even looking at me properly, his eyes fixed on the papers in his hands.

I watched him disappear down the hallway, his shoes tapping quickly against the marble floor.

Something big must have happened tonight. Bigger than what happened at the party, maybe.

I didn't stop to ask questions. I walked straight past everyone and headed upstairs to Ethan's study, my heart beating a little faster with every step.

When I reached the door, I knocked once and waited, the way I always did. But before I could knock again, the door swung open on its own.

Naomi stood on the other side, her eyes widening slightly when she saw me.

"Eva," she said, sounding surprised. "You're here."

I gave her a small smile, but it faded the second I looked past her shoulder and saw who else was inside the room.

Lyra was standing near the window with her arms crossed. Paige sat at the edge of Ethan's desk with a deep frown on her face. And Ethan himself was standing behind his desk, holding a thick folder in his hands, his expression unusually serious.

Something was wrong. I could feel it the moment I stepped inside.

"What's going on?" I asked, looking between all of them.

Nobody answered right away. Naomi glanced at Lyra. Lyra glanced at Paige. And all three of them ended up looking at Ethan, like they were waiting for him to be the one to speak first.

"Somebody talk to me," I said, closing the door behind me. "You're all acting strange, and I've had a long night already. I don't have the patience for this."

Ethan set the folder down on his desk for a second, rubbing his temple like he had a headache coming on.

"Sit down, Eva," he said.

"I don't want to sit down," I said. "I want someone to tell me what's happening. Why does the whole villa feel like a funeral right now?"

Paige finally spoke, her voice quiet. "We found something. Something we weren't expecting."

"Found what?" I asked.

Naomi walked closer and placed a hand gently on my shoulder. "Just look at the folder, Eva. It'll be easier than us trying to explain it."

I glanced at each of their faces one more time, searching for some kind of hint, but none of them gave anything away.

"Ethan," I said, my patience running thin. "What is happening?"

He let out a long breath and walked around his desk, holding the folder out toward me.

"You should see this for yourself," he said quietly.

I looked down at the folder in his hands before taking it. My fingers hesitated for just a second.

"Is it that bad?" I asked.

"Just read it, Eva," Lyra said from the window, her voice calm but firm. "Talking about it first will only make it harder."

That didn't make me feel any better. If anything, it made my hands feel heavier the moment I finally took the folder from him.

I took it from him, frowning slightly at how heavy it felt in my hands. I opened it slowly and began flipping through the pages inside.

The first few pages were filled with names, dates, and details about an organization I had never heard of before.

THE FIRM.

I kept reading. According to the documents, this organization had existed for years, quietly working behind the scenes, controlling things most people never even noticed. Money, politics and silence bought with fear. It was all there, page after page of proof.

There were bank transfers with hidden names attached to them. There were photos of meetings taken from far away, grainy but clear enough to make out faces. There were even copies of messages between people I had never heard of, talking about deals and payments like they were discussing the weather.

I flipped another page and found a list of businesses that had supposedly gone bankrupt over the years, all of them connected somehow to the same hidden hands. Some of the names looked familiar too. Companies my father had mentioned before at dinner, ones he said were run by close friends of his.

My stomach twisted the more I read. Whoever ran this organization wasn't just powerful, they were untouchable. They had been operating in the shadows for so long that nobody even thought to question it.

My hands slowed as I got closer to the end of the folder.

Then I saw the picture that was clipped to the last page, and my whole body went still.

It was Marcus, my father's PA. The same man with the gold rimmed glasses who dragged Gabby across the floor earlier tonight without a single flicker of emotion on his face.

I remembered the strange feeling I got when I first saw him. The way something about him made me want to step back and put distance between us, even before I knew anything was wrong.

Turns out my instincts were right.

I stared at his picture for a long moment, my mind trying to piece together how someone standing that close to my father, someone who worked beside him almost every single day, could be tied to something this dark without anyone noticing.

I looked up from the folder and stared at Ethan.

"I don't understand," I said slowly. "Is Marcus... is he the head of this? Of THE FIRM?"

Ethan sighed again, and this time he looked at me directly, like he was preparing to say something he knew I wouldn't like.

"No," he said. "Marcus isn't the head, he is just a messenger. A small piece in something much bigger."

My frown deepened. "Then who is? Have you found out who's actually running this?"

Ethan didn't answer right away. His jaw tightened, and he looked away from me for a second, like he was trying to figure out how to say it.

"Ethan," I pressed. "You've never hesitated to tell me things before. Why are you hesitating now?"

"Because you're not going to like the answer," he said quietly.

My chest tightened. "I don't care if I like it or not...I need to know."

I turned to Naomi instead. "Naomi?"

She just shook her head slightly and looked down at the floor, avoiding my eyes completely.

I turned to Paige next. She looked conflicted and quickly avoided my gaze, her fingers gripping the edge of the desk like she needed something to hold onto.

"Paige, please," I said, my voice softening slightly. "You've never kept anything from me...Don't start now."

Paige opened her mouth, then closed it again, glancing helplessly at Ethan.

"Someone answer me," I said, my voice growing sharper. "Who is running THE FIRM?"

The room went completely silent. Even the noise from the hallway outside seemed to fade away, like the whole villa was holding its breath along with me. I could hear my own heartbeat pounding in my ears, loud and fast, as I waited for someone, anyone, to just say it.

I looked at Lyra last. Out of everyone in the room, she was always the one who never sugarcoated anything, no matter how bad the news was. She had told me things before that nobody else had the courage to say, and she never once flinched while doing it.

She met my eyes steadily, and for a second, I almost regretted asking. Part of me wanted to take the question back, and pretend I never wanted to know. But it was too late for that now.

"Lyra," I said. "Tell me. Whatever it is, just say it."

She didn't look away, but she sighed before finally opening her mouth to speak.

"The leader is your father."