Enemies to lovers:Rival tech CEOs

The first betrayal

Chapter 5 — The First Betrayal

Ava stared at the blinking cursor on the laptop screen.

The leaked documents were spreading faster than they could contain them.

Every few seconds, another notification appeared.

LunaMatch stock partners demanding answers.

Veyra investors requesting emergency meeting.

HeartBridge temporarily suspending the joint project.

And then the worst one appeared.

Federal regulators announce preliminary investigation into LunaMatch and Veyra data practices.

Ava closed her eyes.

"This is bad."

Alexander stood behind her, reading over her shoulder.

"It's designed to be bad."

She turned.

"What do you mean?"

"Look at the timing."

Ava frowned.

"The leak happened minutes after we discovered the metadata."

"Exactly."

Alexander pointed toward the screen.

"Whoever did this knew we were investigating."

Maya folded her arms.

"So someone is watching us."

"Yes," Alexander said.

Ava's stomach tightened.

"Inside LunaMatch?"

"Possibly."

"Or Veyra."

Alexander nodded.

"Which means we can't trust everyone."

Maya looked offended.

"Are you saying someone on my team could be involved?"

"I'm saying we don't know."

Ava looked at both of them.

"Then we find out."

Alexander's phone rang.

He glanced at the screen.

His expression immediately hardened.

"Board chairman."

"Answer it," Ava said.

Alexander stepped away.

"Yes?"

Ava watched him carefully.

His face remained emotionless as the voice on the other end spoke.

Finally, Alexander said, "I'm not abandoning the project."

A pause.

"No."

Another pause.

"I said no."

His jaw tightened.

"You don't get to decide who I trust."

He ended the call.

Ava raised an eyebrow.

"That sounded pleasant."

"My board wants me to terminate the partnership."

"And?"

"I refused."

Something warm spread through Ava's chest.

"You refused because of HeartBridge?"

Alexander looked directly at her.

"Not only because of HeartBridge."

Her heartbeat quickened.

Maya cleared her throat loudly.

"Okay. Before you two start staring at each other again, we have a crisis."

Ava looked away.

"Right."

Alexander almost smiled.

"Right."

Maya placed her laptop on the table.

"I traced the metadata."

Ava immediately moved closer.

"What did you find?"

"Three servers."

Alexander leaned over the laptop.

"Where?"

Maya pointed at the screen.

"One in Chicago. One in London. And one here in San Francisco."

Ava frowned.

"Here?"

"Yes."

Alexander's expression changed.

"That's our answer."

Maya shook her head.

"Not exactly."

She clicked again.

"The San Francisco server isn't registered to LunaMatch or Veyra."

"Then who owns it?"

Maya hesitated.

"That's the problem."

Ava looked at her.

"Tell me."

"It's registered to a company that doesn't officially exist."

Silence.

Alexander straightened.

"What?"

"I checked the corporate database. The company name exists, but there's no physical office, no employees, no public records."

Ava's voice lowered.

"An invisible company."

"Exactly."

Alexander looked at Maya.

"What's the name?"

Maya turned the screen toward them.

NORTHSTAR SYSTEMS.

Ava's heart stopped.

She knew that name.

"Alexander."

He looked at her.

"You know it?"

Ava nodded slowly.

"Yes."

"How?"

"NorthStar Systems approached LunaMatch two years ago."

Maya's eyes widened.

"You never told me."

"I rejected them."

"Why?"

Ava stared at the name.

"Because they wanted access to LunaMatch's compatibility algorithm."

Alexander's expression darkened.

"How much access?"

"Almost everything."

"Did you give them anything?"

"No."

"Then why would they target you?"

Ava shook her head.

"I don't know."

Alexander stared at the screen.

"I do."

She looked at him.

"How?"

"NorthStar approached Veyra too."

Ava froze.

"When?"

"Two years ago."

The room went silent.

Maya whispered, "Two years ago..."

Ava looked at Alexander.

"That's when everything started."

He nodded.

"The lawsuits. The accusations. The leaked patents."

"All of it."

Alexander looked toward the window.

"Maybe NorthStar wanted us fighting."

"But why?"

Before Alexander could answer, Maya's laptop made a sharp sound.

A new file had appeared.

None of them had opened anything.

Maya frowned.

"I didn't click that."

Ava stepped closer.

The file contained one sentence.

YOU SHOULD HAVE LEFT THE PAST ALONE.

Then another line appeared.

NOW ONE OF YOU WILL PAY.

The screen went black.

Maya jumped back.

"Okay. That's officially creepy."

Alexander immediately pulled Ava behind him.

She stared at his back.

"Alexander."

"Stay behind me."

"You're not a superhero."

"I know."

"Then stop acting like one."

He turned toward her.

"I don't know what this person is capable of."

Ava softened.

Neither did she.

But something about the way he instinctively protected her made her chest ache.

"I can protect myself."

"I know."

He looked into her eyes.

"But you shouldn't have to do it alone."

For one dangerous second, the entire room disappeared.

There was only him.

His eyes.

His hand near hers.

His voice.

Then Maya spoke.

"I hate to interrupt whatever this is..."

They both turned.

"But someone just accessed the private executive elevator."

Ava's blood ran cold.

"Who?"

Maya checked the security feed.

"I don't know."

Alexander grabbed his phone.

"Lock every exit."

Maya nodded.

Ava followed Alexander out of the conference room.

They hurried toward the elevator.

When the doors opened, there was no one inside.

Only a small black envelope lay on the floor.

Ava stopped.

Alexander held out his arm.

"Don't touch it."

"I'm not."

He crouched carefully and examined the envelope.

There was no name.

No logo.

Only one word written across the front.

AVA.

She stared at it.

"How did they know my office?"

Alexander's expression was grim.

"They didn't."

"What?"

"They knew you'd be here."

He opened the envelope carefully.

Inside was a photograph.

Ava's breath caught.

It showed her.

Two years earlier.

Standing outside a technology conference.

Beside her was a man she hadn't seen in years.

Alexander looked at the photograph.

"Who is that?"

Ava couldn't answer.

Her hands had gone cold.

"Alexander..."

He looked at her.

"I know him."

"Who?"

She swallowed.

"His name is Ethan Reed."

Alexander's eyes narrowed.

"Who is Ethan Reed?"

Ava stared at the photograph.

"He was my first investor."

"And?"

"He disappeared."

"When?"

"Two years ago."

Alexander looked at the picture again.

"Right before our war began."

Ava nodded.

"Yes."

For the first time since the nightmare began, Alexander looked genuinely shaken.

"Then we may have been looking in the wrong direction."

Ava stared at him.

"What are you saying?"

Alexander held up the photograph.

"I don't think Ethan disappeared."

Ava's heart pounded.

"Then where is he?"

Alexander turned the photograph over.

There was writing on the back.

A single sentence.

ASK ALEXANDER WHAT HAPPENED TO HIS FATHER.

Ava slowly looked at Alexander.

He had gone completely still.

"Alexander?"

He didn't answer.

His face had lost all color.

"Alexander, what happened to your father?"

His eyes met hers.

And for the first time since she'd known him, Ava saw fear.

Real fear.

"My father didn't die because his company failed."

Ava's breath caught.

"He was murdered."

The hallway seemed to tilt beneath her feet.

Alexander looked down at the photograph.

"And I think whoever killed him..."

He lifted his eyes to hers.

"...is the same person who destroyed us."