The morning air inside Reed International was unnaturally still, as if the walls themselves were holding their breath. Tension clung to the corridors, thick with unsaid words and veiled threats. Every glance, every hushed whisper carried a weight. Bella Blake walked through the executive floor with a brittle calm, her fingers tightening around the coffee she barely sipped. Veronica's cryptic words from the night before looped in her head—About Bella. About her past… and certain other secrets. There was no mistaking the threat, no dismissing the gleam in Veronica's eyes.
She knew.
Bella wasn't just worried about herself anymore. She was terrified for Lila.
In his office, Jason was pacing like a man on the edge. His mind wasn't on Veronica. Not entirely. His thoughts kept returning to the files Ryan had brought him the night before. Offshore accounts. Obscure payments. Shell companies. Threads leading somewhere dark and disturbingly close to home.
Ryan stepped in quietly, carrying another printout. "Jason," he said, voice low and grim, "you need to see this."
Jason grabbed the paper, eyes scanning rapidly. His features darkened.
"This is a payment authorization," Ryan explained. "From George Reed's personal account. Dated three weeks before Bella left New York."
Jason's hand froze. "How much?"
"A quarter of a million. Transferred to a shell company tied to discreet 'reputation management' and 'personal service' solutions. You know what that usually means."
Jason stared at the page, unable to speak.
Ryan continued, cautious. "The same firm handled hush money and family clean-ups for a few old clients of ours. And here's the kicker—it's routed through a firm used by George's legal team. He didn't want this tracked. This was personal."
Jason swallowed hard. "You think this was about Bella?"
"I think it's about making someone disappear," Ryan said. "Or silencing them before they could become a liability."
Bella had entered just in time to hear those last words.
"Liability," she repeated softly. Her voice was hollow. "That's what I was to him."
Jason turned. "Bella…"
But she didn't hear him. Her mind was racing, eyes distant. Then, suddenly, a sharp memory surfaced a long-forgotten conversation, a flicker from the past.
"My mother," she whispered, blinking rapidly. "She used to… she used to warn me. About the Reeds. About you." Her voice cracked, disbelief seeping in. "She told me over and over that your family would ruin me."
Jason frowned, confused. "She hated me?"
"No. That's the thing, she didn't even know you that well. But she changed. Something changed just before I left. She became insistent. She told me I had to get away. That you weren't safe. That we weren't."
Jason stepped closer, his tone cautious. "Bella… what are you saying?"
She shook her head slowly, eyes wide. "She started getting money out of nowhere. Rent paid up for months. A new car. And she said it was from a 'friend' helping her get back on her feet."
Jason's jaw clenched. "George."
Bella nodded, her chest rising and falling with shallow breaths. "She told me once that she used to do administrative work for your father's personal office. Years ago. Before I even met you. It was nothing just some file sorting and data entry, she said."
Jason's face turned pale. "And then suddenly she's pressuring you to leave… and she's financially stable?"
They stared at each other, realization dawning like a slow, suffocating horror.
"He didn't just manipulate you," Jason said, his voice tight. "He bought her. He bought your mother. He made her push you away."
Bella's knees nearly gave out. She dropped into the nearest chair, numb.
Everything made sense now the panic, the urgency, the night she walked in on Jason and Veronica. Had that been staged too? Had George orchestrated it all to push her out of Jason's life?
Before either could speak, a loud, unmistakable voice echoed through the building.
"Jason! Bella!" Olivia Carter breezed into the executive wing like a social hurricane, her stilettos clicking against the marble floor. Dressed for the gala already, in a glittering silver gown and a fake air of innocence, she stopped in front of them with a smug smirk.
"I didn't expect to find the two of you together so often," she said with mock surprise. "The whispers are practically writing themselves. About the two of you. And… about a certain child."
Bella stiffened. Jason's shoulders went rigid.
Olivia leaned in slightly, lowering her voice. "You know how people talk, especially with all the little clues Veronica's been leaving around. Pictures. Timelines. Loose lips at charity luncheons. So… who's the girl, Bella?" She gave a theatrical shrug. "Everyone's dying to know."
Jason moved between them like a shield. "Enough, Olivia. Take your games elsewhere."
But Bella's face had gone pale.
It was spreading. The secret was unraveling fast.
When Olivia finally walked away, satisfied with the seeds she'd sown, Jason turned to Bella, his voice tight. "She knows. Veronica's leaking things to the press. This isn't just blackmail anymore. It's exposure. And if she gets the right people talking…"
"Lila," Bella whispered. "She's in danger."
Jason nodded. "We need to stop them. Not just Veronica. My father, too. Whatever he did to you, to your mother, he doesn't get to bury it."
Bella's voice was barely a whisper. "I don't know who to trust anymore."
Jason reached for her hand, more gently this time. "Then trust me. Just this once. Let's finish this."
Bella looked up at him and for the first time in a long time, she let herself believe him.
This war wasn't just about corporate secrets. It was about betrayal, legacy, and the daughter they'd both been forced to keep hidden.
And now, the truth had claws and it was clawing its way to the surface.