Chapter 28: Chapter 28: The Trap Tightens

Ronan’s POV

The cold air hits my face the moment I step out of the boardroom.

It feels like the whole world just stopped spinning. Every employee I pass looks away quickly, pretending to be busy, whispering behind their hands. Traitors.

Suspended.

That word echoes through my skull like a gunshot.

Marcus follows me down the hall, his voice low. “Ronan, wait !”

I don’t. I keep walking until we reach my office, he slams the door shut behind us, and I lean against it, breathing hard. My hands are shaking, my chest tight with rage and disbelief.

“I told you,” Marcus says, pacing the room. “I’m sure Victoria has been planning this for weeks. I tried warning you but you wouldn’t listen!”

I run my hand through my hair, frustrated. “She forged my signature, Marcus! How the hell did she even get access to my biometrics? Those files were locked with my fingerprints!”

Marcus stops pacing and looks at me grimly. “You underestimate and trust your mother too much. She’s been in this company long before your father died. She knows the systems, the people, the weaknesses. I wouldn’t be surprised if she had help from inside.”

My fists clench at my sides. “I swear, I’ll burn everything she’s built, all the power she’s ever wanted I’ll strip from her mercilessly.”

He sighs. “We need to be smart about this. She wants you to be emotional. If you react wrongly, she wins.”

“Marcus, I am emotional!” I snap. “She’s taken my father’s company, destroyed my name and that of Annabelle and humiliated me in front of the board! What do you want me to do, smile?”

Marcus doesn’t answer right away. He moves toward the window, watching the city skyline with a tense expression. “There’s more,” he says quietly.

My stomach drops. “What do you mean, more?”

He turns to face me, hesitation flickering in his eyes. “You know those offshore accounts the board accused you of authorizing?”

“Yes.”

“I looked into them.” He swallows hard. “They’re real, Ronan. The transfers went through. The signatures match your authorization pattern, biometric confirmation and all.”

“What?” I breathe, my knees almost buckling. “That’s impossible. Only my biometrics can allow those transfers. Are you saying someone cloned my—”

“Exactly.”

I press my palms into the edge of the desk, fighting the nausea creeping up my throat.

“It gets worse. The media already has the story. It’s currently circulating as we speak.

My head snaps up. “You’re joking.”

“I wish I was.”

I grab my phone and open the news app, and there it is. Splashed across every headline:

“Ronan Blackthorne Under Investigation for Corporate Fraud, Suspended from Family Company Amid Offshore Scandal.”

My vision goes red. The photo they used is one from a charity event I attended last week. I’m smiling, shaking hands and looking like a damn fool.

I slam the phone on the desk so hard Marcus flinches. “She won’t get away with this. No, I won't let her.”

Marcus studies me silently. “What are you planning?”

“I’m going to prove she set me up. Not only that, I'm going to reveal everything she’s ever done to the world. Every information you gave to me would be out there for the world to see. I’ll drag her to hell myself.”

“Calm down Ronan, you’d need help in doing all of that”

“There’s one person who might help.”

“Who?”

“Annabelle.”

Marcus’s brows shoot up. “Annabelle? Are you serious? She hates you right now.”

“I know,” I say quietly, “but she also hates Victoria more. And she has your sister working with her who is smarter than anyone gives her credit for and with me now in the picture my mother won’t expect what is coming.

Marcus sighs. “You really think she’ll help after everything that’s happened?”

“I don’t have a choice.”

He nods reluctantly. “Then go to her. But be careful, Ronan. If Victoria finds out you’re digging, she’ll come for you harder.”

I grab my keys and head for the door. “Let her try.”

By the time I reach Annabelle’s apartment again, night has fallen. The building looks quiet, the streetlights throwing long shadows across the pavement. I knock once, twice — nothing.

On the third knock, the door opens slightly. Sofia’s face appears, annoyance already written across it.

“Oh great. The corporate fraudster returns,” she says flatly.

I groan. “I don’t have time for your sarcasm, Sofia. I need to speak to Annabelle. It’s urgent.”

“She doesn’t want to see you.”

“Please. Just five minutes. I swear, it’s not about me, it’s about Victoria.”

That gets her attention. She studies me for a moment before sighing and opening the door wider.

Annabelle appears from the hallway, wearing a simple oversized sweater, her hair tied up. She looks tired, wary, but the hostile look she’s always had for me recently is gone and that makes my heart leap a little in my chest.

“Ronan,” she says quietly. “What are you doing here?”

“I need your help,” I say, stepping closer. “I know you have every reason to hate me, but I need you to listen.”

“Why should I?” she says softly, folding her arms.

“Because my mother has just succeeded in taking me out of the way and now she will be coming for you head on.

That makes her freeze. “What?”

I hand her a printed copy of the offshore transaction logs. “She used forged signatures and faked my biometric data to approve payments that shouldn't have been approved. just to have me suspended from work and I know that’s so she can have the full reins to perpetrate every evil she has in mind.

Annabelle scans the papers, frowning. “These are… bad. Whoever did this is good. Really good.”

“Yes I know, that’s why I need us to work together.” She looks up at me, torn. “You’re asking me to go up against Victoria with you, you lied to me first Ronan”

“Yes,” I say simply. “And I’m asking you to trust me this time.”

A long silence stretches between us. Then, finally, she nods slowly. “Alright. But if you’re lying to me again, Ronan… I swear I’ll destroy you myself.”

A small, bitter smile touches my lips. “Fair enough.”

Sofia crosses her arms beside her. “Looks like I’ll be keeping an eye on both of you.”

For the first time in days, something like determination settles in my chest.

Victoria thought she’d buried me. But she just gave me the reason to get closer to Annabelle and fight back, and I’m taking her down, no matter what it costs.