Elias scratched his forehead, suddenly looking almost embarrassed. "I haven’t forgotten anything."
"You spent a fortune to buy this for me." She shook her head. "But you kept your identity from me at the time and let me believe Mr. Rowan had gifted it to me for signing the deal with Zenith Core. That was insane."
"That was in the past. Can you forget it?"
Elena looked down at the necklace. "This necklace is too expensive to forget anything. Every time I look at it, I remember everything."
"Then I suppose I made a mistake."
"What mistake?"
"I’ll buy you even more expensive gifts so you’ll forget about it."
"No need." She gave him a stern look. "Don’t waste your money."
"Whatever I have is already yours." He gently cupped her face, his eyes filled with affection. "If I don’t spend it on you, whom am I going to spend it on?"
His thumb brushed gently across her cheek. "You are my life, Elena. Remember that."
Then he leaned closer and kissed her.
Elena closed her eyes, her heart racing altogether.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A month passed peacefully.
Elena’s team was busy preparing to launch the AI-powered smart-city infrastructure platform. The development was nearly complete, and they were waiting for the final round of testing along with a few remaining government formalities.
Everything seemed to be going smoothly until that peace was shattered.
That morning, chaos erupted at the headquarters.
The news came without warning.
Orion Holdings had announced the launch of a new AI-powered smart-city platform—one remarkably similar to the project Elena’s team had been developing.
Victor Kane appeared before the media, confidently presenting Orion’s new platform.
Employees across Novacrest Global were stunned.
The announcement had come completely out of nowhere. Within minutes, the news spread throughout the headquarters and branch offices.
Elena’s team gathered around a large screen, watching the press conference with growing uneasiness.
"What the...?" one of the executives muttered. "This project sounds just like ours. How is that possible?"
"Wait. Don’t panic," another executive said. "AI-powered smart-city technology is a broad field. Different companies can develop similar concepts. We shouldn’t jump to conclusions before we understand exactly what Orion has developed."
Elena said nothing. Her heart was already racing. She was just as confused and shocked as everyone else.
’Please let it be a coincidence.’
She desperately hoped Orion’s platform was merely based on a similar concept.
Then Victor began revealing more details. The screen behind him changed.
A series of diagrams appeared.
Elena froze. Her face slowly paled.
Those structures, those system layouts... They were identical to the ones she had created.
"Look at the diagrams!" someone suddenly exclaimed. "Isn’t that similar to our project?"
Elena stepped closer to the screen. "No."
Her voice came out barely above a whisper.
Everyone turned toward her.
She stared at the presentation, her eyes fixed on every detail. Then she pointed at the screen.
"This isn’t just similar." Her heartbeat pounded violently in her chest. "This is based on our project."
The room fell silent.
Elena’s expression hardened. "They stole it."
Shock swept through the room. The executives exchanged stunned looks, unable to comprehend what they were seeing.
"How did they get our information?"
"This project was confidential. Who could have accessed these details?"
Elena forced herself to remain calm. "Call an emergency meeting. I want everyone involved in this project to be present. Department heads, senior executives, everyone. I want a complete account of who accessed the project files and when."
The executives immediately began filing out of the room.
Elena remained where she was for a moment, staring at the screen.
Someone had leaked their project. And whoever had done it had known enough to give Orion Holdings almost everything they needed.
She immediately pulled out her phone and dialed Elias.
The call connected within a few rings.
"Are you all right?" Elias’s worried voice came from the other end before she could say anything.
Elena let out a deep breath.
He already knew.
"You heard about it."
"Yes."
"Are you coming?"
There was a brief pause. "I have a meeting with the board. I won’t be able to come right now. Deal with the situation there for the moment. If you can’t handle it, I’ll come."
"I will do my best."
The call ended.
Elena lowered her phone. Her expression hardened with determination.
"Someone leaked the project details." Her eyes narrowed. "I’ll find out who did it. I won’t rest until I do."
~~~~~~~~~~~~
At the headquarters, Owen stood before Elias with a grim expression. "Sir, things are getting worse. The board wants an explanation."
Elias said nothing. His face was as rigid as stone.
"The government approval is still pending," Owen continued. "If this situation becomes public, they may refuse to process the remaining files. I’m afraid we may have no choice but to suspend the project."
Elias’s fingers tightened around the pen in his hand.
"We’ve invested so much into this project," Owen went on. "Canceling it would mean a huge financial loss. And if word gets out that our project was leaked to a rival company, our stock price could take a serious hit."
Crack.
The pen snapped in Elias’s hand.
"That won’t happen." His voice was cold. "Victor Kane’s dirty trick will not cause even the slightest flutter in my company’s stock price."
Elias knew Victor Kane well. But he had never imagined that Victor would go this far.
Someone had apparently been planted inside and had managed to obtain their confidential project details without raising suspicion. That thought made Elias furious. But his anger wasn’t directed at anyone else.
It was directed at him.
This was a failure of security. If he couldn’t even protect his company’s confidential information, how could he claim to be capable of running such a vast business empire?
He had trusted his security systems. He had trusted his people. And somehow, someone had slipped through both.
Elias saw it as his failure.
"First, you need to talk to the board," Owen suggested. "The directors are furious."
He hesitated before adding, "Mr. Sterling is also here with his delegates. He is threatening to withdraw his investment from the project."
The moment Elias heard Cedric Sterling’s name, his expression darkened.
"I never asked him to join the project." His voice was icy. "He wanted to be a part of it. If he wants to pull out, he can."
Elias stood. "Even if he wants to cancel the partnership, I’ll gladly accept it. I don’t need him."
With that, he walked out of his office.
When Elias entered the boardroom, the atmosphere was tense.
Every eye turned toward him. The directors sat around the long conference table, their expressions grim and impatient.
Elias walked to the head of the table and stood there.
His gaze moved around the room before briefly settling on Cedric Sterling.
Cedric met his eyes.
Elias looked away almost immediately.
"Gentlemen," he began calmly, "I know you are all concerned. This is indeed a serious matter."
He paused. "I’ll get to the bottom of what happened and give you a proper explanation. Give me some time."
"What is there to think about?" Cedric’s irritated voice cut through the room.
Elias slowly turned toward him.
Cedric leaned back in his chair, his expression stern. "It’s a clear case. The project has only just begun to take shape, yet Orion Holdings already has all the details."
He looked around the table. "Someone leaked the data. And whoever did it must have had complete access to the project files. Otherwise, how could Orion Holdings have obtained information so precise?"
Several directors nodded.
"He is right."
"That makes sense."
"There is no other explanation."
Cedric continued, "There is only one person who has complete access to every aspect of this project."
His eyes shifted toward Elias. "Elena."
The room suddenly became quiet.
"The core idea was hers. She is in charge of the project and oversees the entire development. She has access to the confidential files and controls the flow of information. Without her authorization, how could such detailed information possibly reach Orion Holdings?"
No one immediately challenged him.
Cedric’s voice became firmer. "She is the one who leaked the information."
A murmur spread across the room.
"She cannot continue working on this project."
"Yes, I agree," one of the directors said. "Remove her from the project until the investigation is complete."
"Why remove her only from the project?" Another director slammed his hand against the table. "She should be fired."
His voice was filled with anger. "A mole like her cannot remain inside this company. She is a threat to Novacrest Global."
More voices joined in.
"She should be dismissed immediately. We can’t take the risk."
"Someone who betrays the company cannot be trusted again."
The accusations grew louder.
Elias remained completely still at the head of the table. His face revealed nothing. But inside, a storm was raging.
He refused to believe Elena had betrayed him. Yet the situation was going against her. If she couldn’t prove her innocence, then, as the company’s chairman, he had to remove her.
"Enough." He raised a hand and silenced everyone. "I told you already. I’ll get to the bottom of it. Whoever is responsible will be punished without fail."
He turned his gaze to Cedric. "It doesn’t matter who it is. The meeting is over."