Page 83 of Falling for the Grump Billionaire

“No,” I growl, my tone leaving no room for argument. “Now.”

Adrian’s fingers move quickly, his acknowledgment clipped. “Got it.”

I step into the hallway, phone already pressed to my ear as I dial Harper. She answers on the first ring, her voice trembling.

“Dominic,” she stammers. “I—I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

“What happened?” I demand, my pulse spiking.

“It’s Conrad,” she whispers. “He blackmailed me. I thought I could fix it, but someone caught on. They know I’ve been deleting files.”

“Where are you?”

“Security’s holding me in the lobby,” she says, barely audible. “I’m so sorry.”

By the time Eva joins me in the car, my mind is racing with Harper’s confession. The look on Eva’s face tells me she knows something is wrong before I even speak.

“She’s been feeding him information,” Eva says, her voice sharp.

“Worse,” I reply. “She’s been covering his tracks. If Conrad has a mole inside my company, this isn’t just sabotage—it’s war.”

The car pulls up to Kane Enterprises. As we step into the lobby, Harper sits near the reception desk, her face pale and tear-streaked. Two security guards flank her.

She rises to her feet as I approach, wringing her hands. “Mr. Kane, I didn’t have a choice—”

“You always have a choice,” I snap, cutting her off. “And you chose to betray me.”

Her shoulders shake, her voice breaking as she tries to explain. But I raise a hand, silencing her. “Save it. Adrian, what do we know?”

Adrian steps forward, laptop in hand. “The files Harper tried to delete were tied to Conrad’s fake accounts. But they were flagged by Reyes’s network first.”

Eva’s brow furrows. “Reyes has been monitoring Conrad?”

“Or controlling him,” I say grimly.

Harper collapses back into her chair, her sobs quiet but steady. “I didn’t know—I swear I didn’t know.”

“You’re done here,” I say coldly. “Adrian, lock her out of the system. And find me Conrad.”

In the private conference room, Adrian projects the decrypted emails onto the screen. Eva sits beside me, her eyes scanning the messages.

“These emails weren’t just updates,” Adrian says. “They were feeding Reyes intel on the merger, board dynamics, everything.”

Eva leans forward, her voice sharp. “Conrad’s not just sabotaging Kane Enterprises—he’s weaponizing it.”

Adrian scrolls to the latest email. The message is brief but chilling:“Execute the final phase. Discredit Kane entirely.”

The words linger in the air like a threat. Eva glances at me, her gaze steady. “What’s the plan?”

“We turn the tables,” I say, my voice steady despite the storm raging inside me. “Adrian, spoof Harper’s account. We’ll bait Conrad and force his hand.”

Adrian nods, already typing. “Done.”

As we leave the conference room, my phone buzzes with a new message. The words send a chill down my spine:

“You’re playing a dangerous game, Kane. Walk away, or Eva will pay the price.”

I hand Eva the phone, her expression hardening as she reads the message. “They’re trying to scare us,” she says, her voice steady.

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