Chapter 244: Betrayal

Chapter 244: Betrayal
Jasmine's POV

The medical facility where Eva was being treated turned out to be only two floors below Louis's room—a fact that made me deeply uncomfortable. She was heavily guarded, Marcus assured us, with no possible way to communicate with the outside world. Still, knowing she was so close sent a chill down my spine.

Louis had recovered enough to move short distances with assistance, though the doctors protested even this limited activity. But my husband was nothing if not stubborn. Once he decided to speak with Eva, nothing would dissuade him.

"Are you sure about this?" I asked as a nurse helped Louis into a wheelchair. Despite his insistence that he could walk, he was still dangerously weak.

"We need to know," he said simply. "If there's a traitor, if someone inside our organization helped Alan try to kill me..."

He didn't need to finish the thought. The implications were clear and terrifying.

Marcus met us in the hallway, his face grim. "She's been briefed that you're coming. No physical contact, no exchange of items, two guards in the room at all times. The conversation will be recorded."

Louis nodded, accepting these conditions without argument. I positioned myself behind his wheelchair, a symbolic gesture that we faced this together, though Marcus had already arranged for an orderly to push Louis.

The elevator ride down was silent, tense.

Eva's room was at the end of a secured corridor. Armed guards stood at attention as we approached, checking our IDs despite clearly recognizing us. Inside, the room was sparse but comfortable—a hospital bed, monitoring equipment, a small seating area. And in the bed, propped up against pillows, Eva.

She looked smaller than I remembered, paler. A bandage covered one side of her chest where she'd been shot. Her eyes were fixed on Louis, a complex mix of emotions crossing her face—relief, guilt, something like longing.

"Louis," she said softly, then her gaze shifted to me. "Jasmine. Thank you for coming."

Louis's posture stiffened, his only visible reaction to seeing the woman who had kept him from us for four years. "We're here to listen to what you have to say," he said.

The orderly positioned Louis's wheelchair near the bed, then stepped back to join the guards by the door. I remained standing behind Louis, one hand resting lightly on his uninjured shoulder.

Eva's eyes flicked to my hand, then back to Louis's face. "You're looking better," she observed. "When they brought you in, I thought..."

"What do you know about a traitor?" Louis interrupted, cutting straight to the point.

Eva nodded. "My father kept extensive files on all his... competitors. The Mitchells included. Four years ago, he was in regular contact with someone inside your organization, someone with access to your family's movements and business operations."

"Who?" I demanded, unable to contain myself.

Eva shook her head slightly. "I don't know a name. My father was extremely careful. But I know this person passed information to my father about your trip to Switzerland, Louis. About the remote location, the limited security presence."

"And your father shared this information with Alan," Louis concluded.

"Yes. They had a mutual interest at the time—weakening the Mitchell family. Alan wanted revenge for perceived slights, my father wanted leverage for his European operations."

"So they worked together to stage an attempt on my life," Louis said, his voice tight with anger.

Eva met his gaze steadily. "Not exactly. My father didn't know Alan actually intended to kill you. He thought it was just going to be a warning, a show of force..." She trailed off, lost in the memory.

"They took me instead of helping me," Louis finished for her. "Used me as a pawn in your father's games."

A flash of shame crossed Eva's face. "Yes. It was wrong. All of it. I didn't know at first—about how they found you, about the arrangement with Alan. By the time I did..."

"You were too involved," I supplied. "Too committed to your own lies."

Eva didn't deny it. "I told myself I was protecting Louis. That if Alan knew he was alive, he would try again. That if the Mitchells took him back, they wouldn't be able to keep him safe from my father's business rivals." Her eyes dropped to her hands. "But the truth is, I was selfish. I wanted him for myself."

"This alleged traitor," Louis said, bringing the conversation back to the primary concern. "Why would they help Alan and your father? Money?"

"Partly," Eva confirmed. "But also resentment. This person felt... overlooked, undervalued by the Mitchell family. Passed over for advancement."

"That could be dozens of people," I pointed out. "The Mitchells employ hundreds across their various enterprises."

"No," Louis said thoughtfully. "If they had access to my travel plans, to security details... that narrows it down considerably. Someone senior. Someone trusted."

A chill ran down my spine at the implications. Someone close to the family. Someone who might still have access to our movements, our security protocols, our safe houses.

"Why is your father telling us this now?" Louis asked Eva. "Why, after four years, would he suddenly want to expose this person?"

Eva shifted uncomfortably. "Self-preservation. After what happened at the warehouse, with Alan's death and the exposure of his involvement in your kidnapping, my father knows the Mitchells won't stop hunting him. He's offering this information as... a peace offering, of sorts."

"He wants immunity," I realized. "Information in exchange for being left alone."

"Yes," Eva confirmed. "He claims to have proof—correspondence, financial records showing payments to this person within your organization. Enough to identify them conclusively."

Louis and I exchanged glances, a silent communication passing between us. This could be genuine—or it could be an elaborate trap, designed to draw Louis out, to finish what Alan had started four years ago.

"And what do you want, Eva?" Louis asked, his voice softer now. "Why agree to deliver this message? You betrayed your father by trying to warn me. He must know that by now."

A sad smile touched Eva's lips. "I betrayed everyone, didn't I? My father, you, myself." She looked directly at me. "I've lost everything that mattered. The only thing left is to try to do one right thing before..." She trailed off, but the implication was clear. Before her father's retribution found her.

Despite everything, I felt a flicker of sympathy for this woman. She had made terrible choices, caused immeasurable pain, but in the end, she had tried to save Louis, had taken a bullet meant for him.

"How does your father propose to deliver this proof?" Louis asked.

"A neutral location. Limited personnel on both sides. An exchange—the evidence for a guarantee that the Mitchells will cease pursuing him."

"No direct contact with Louis," I said immediately. "That's non-negotiable."

Eva nodded. "He anticipated that condition. He's willing to make the exchange through intermediaries."

Louis leaned forward slightly, his gaze intense. "And you, Eva? What happens to you after this exchange?"