The days that followed were fast. Too fast.
Alex barely had time to catch his breath.
From the moment Rebecca Stallion said yes, everything shifted. Doors that once seemed locked tight were suddenly swinging wide open. Emails were answered. Meetings scheduled. Resources flowed in like water.
And Alex?
He was inside. He now had a small office space at POWER's headquarters. A modest corner with glass walls, a desk, and his name printed on the frosted door.
It wasn't much, but it felt like everything.
He came in early and left late. Sat through board updates, brainstormed with tech teams, and even joined two high-profile investor calls. NEOSPACE was gaining traction. There was movement. There was energy. For the first time in a long time, Alex felt like he belonged.
Then came the day it all... Changed.
"..."
It was a Thursday, very early in the morning. It's the kind of calm, breezy day where everything seems normal until it's not.
Alex was sipping coffee, finalizing updates on a design blueprint, when his office phone rang.
"Mrs Stallion wants to see you in her office," her assistant said.
"Alright," Alex replied. "I'll be there in a minute."
He grabbed his notepad, straightened his shirt, and headed to the top floor.
Rebecca's office was grand, yet minimal, like a quiet command center. All clean lines, glass panels, and a digital interface stretched across her desk.
She looked up as he entered. "Hey, Alex."
"Good morning, ma'am."
"Sit," she said while motioning to the seat beside her. "We're doing something new. From now on, every Thursday, we'll do a full review of the progress of your project, document analysis, improvement plans, and all of that. Keeps things clean and efficient."
"Sounds good," Alex said, settling in beside her.
They began. Rebecca pulled up the shared drive on her screen. The files were neatly arranged: weekly reports, financial statements, charts, and design feedback. She clicked through them one by one, explaining what they did well and where they needed tweaks.
Alex stood beside her now, leaning slightly forward with his eyes moving with the cursor as it danced across the screen.
Then, something flashed.
Just for a second.
A file appeared in the corner of the window.
"ADIG: Strategic Divestment (Confidential)"
Alex's eyes froze.
Rebecca's hand quickly moved. She scrolled past the screen like nothing happened.
But Alex had already seen it.
He didn't say a word. His heart skipped.
That document…
He'd seen that exact file once before. Not just anywhere, on Raymond's private server, buried deep inside a secured folder only a handful of board members could access.
It wasn't a public file. Not even internal staff had access to it. It was a high-level classified memo, a discussion draft around the idea of selling off ADIG Construction.
Alex blinked, then straightened his face.
Rebecca kept speaking, guiding him through the next file. She didn't mention what just passed. Her tone didn't change.
But inside Alex's head? The alarms were already blaring.
How did Rebecca get that file?
Why was it in her system?
A lot of thoughts were on his head but his face remained calm.
He nodded politely, asked smart questions, responded to her feedback, and even cracked a small joke. But in his mind, that one file kept flashing like a warning light.
When the review finally ended, Rebecca leaned back. "Alright, that's it for this week. You're doing great, Alex. Just keep pushing the progress. I like your pace."
Alex smiled faintly. "Thank you, ma."
He stood up, thanked her again, and walked out of her office with steady steps.
But inside?
His chest felt tight.
"..."
As soon as he returned to his small office, he shut the door, sat down, and stared blankly at the wall.
Something is wrong.
He replayed the file name again and again in his head.
ADIG: Strategic Divestment.
He remembered reading it in Raymond's safe room, back when Raymond briefly showed him a glimpse of the company's most protected files.
Only board members had access to that. Not Rebecca. Not even Philip.
So how did it end up in POWER's internal drive?
Was it intentional? An accident? Or a silent message?
And if that file had leaked… what else had?
Alex leaned forward with his mind racing.
If this file got out… if Rebecca had access to this kind of data… then someone, somewhere in Raymond's circle, was leaking.
And this time, it wasn't a coincidence.
***
Later that evening, after everyone had left the office, Alex sat alone in his small workspace. The blue glow of his screen lit up his face, but his mind wasn't on his work.
How did it get to Rebecca?
The question kept gnawing at him like a splinter under the skin. It itched and refused to go away.
He knew investors had access to some information. Of course. That's standard. But this? This was beyond standard. This was boardroom-level intelligence. Quiet strategy talks. Nothing public. Nothing shareable.
And certainly not something a partner should casually keep on their computer. Something didn't add up.
And then, like a light flicking on in a dark room, he remembered.
Rebecca's password.
She had typed it once in front of him, casually, quickly, thinking he wasn't paying attention. But Alex was always observant. Always watching. And that moment stuck.
Now, as he sat there alone, his hands shaking slightly, a war began inside him.
Should he do it?
Should he go into her office and check?
He knew the risks.
If he got caught, everything would crumble. The partnership would die. His project could collapse. He could be arrested or sued. His career, maybe even his life, would take a devastating turn.
But what if he was right?
What if someone was really leaking sensitive files from Raymond's circle? What if Rebecca wasn't just a partner… but wanted something else?
The danger of doing nothing was starting to look worse than the risk of acting.
Alex stood up.
His decision was made.
"..."
The hallway leading to Rebecca's office was quiet. It was late, past 7 PM. Most employees had left. The lights were dim, motion-activated. His footsteps echoed softly against the tiled floor.
He knew the security cameras in that section had been acting up for weeks. And people were used to seeing him walk in and out of Rebecca's office during work hours.
So nothing would look suspicious if he moved quickly.
He reached her door. It wasn't locked. It rarely was.
He stepped inside.
The air in her office smelled faintly of lavender and leather. Her computer was in its usual place on the desk, sleeping. He walked over calmly with steady hands. No more hesitation.
He tapped the keyboard. The screen lit up.
Password required.
He typed it in.
V!sionP0wer
The system unlocked instantly.
He exhaled, barely.
The desktop was clean and neatly arranged. No open programs, no browser tabs. He clicked through the folders, starting with the shared drive. Nothing suspicious.
Then he opened a separate folder labeled "Private".
He searched:
"Raymond", nothing.
He paused, then searched:
"ADIG"
Boom.
A list of files popped up, over a dozen of them. Memos, reports, financial summaries, and...
"ADIG: Strategic Divestment (Confidential)"
There it was.
He opened it, heart pounding.
As he scrolled through the document, line by line, graph by graph, the blood in his veins turned cold.
It was an exact match.
Same title. Same introduction. Same structure. Same confidential projection chart.
Verbatim.
Word. For. Word.
He had seen it with his own eyes in Raymond's safe room. He knew it wasn't public. He knew it wasn't shared. Yet here it was.
On Rebecca Stallion's personal system.
He leaned back slowly, his mind spinning.
That's when it hit him: Someone within Raymond's inner circle was leaking high-level documents.
Just as Raymond had suspected, there was indeed an insider.
A mole.
"..."