Chapter Five: Opening Moves
830 Words
Teresa never reacted.
She repositioned.
The morning after Marcus met Luca, Teresa made three phone calls.
Not emotional calls. Not dramatic ones.
Professional.
The first was to her family attorney.
The second to a forensic accountant.
The third to a media consultant who specialized in corporate scandal containment.
She did not mention Marcus’s affair.
She mentioned “asset restructuring.”
She mentioned “risk exposure.”
She mentioned “board vulnerabilities.”
By noon, Teresa had quietly transferred minority holdings in two shared investment accounts into a protected trust under her maiden name legally permitted under clauses Marcus had once dismissed as unnecessary.
She reviewed a confidential file she had kept for years emails, settlements, internal communications Marcus believed erased.
She wasn’t preparing to leave.
She was preparing to corner.
And for the first time in years, Teresa allowed herself a small, controlled smile.
This was her first move.
Not against Liora.
Against Marcus.
Because Teresa understood something the mistress did not:
Liora was a distraction.
Marcus was the disease.
—
Across the city, Liora stood outside a gated property, staring at the house she had grown up visiting.
Her sister Leanne opened the door cautiously.
Leanne Beta soft spoken, careful, perpetually anxious.
“Why are you here?” Leanne asked.
“I wanted to see you,” Liora replied lightly.
Michael stepped into view behind his wife.
His expression hardened instantly.
“You’re not coming inside,” he said.
Leanne glanced at him. “Michael”
“No,” he said firmly. “Not around the kids.”
Liora’s smile faltered slightly. “Excuse me?”
Michael stepped forward. “I know about Marcus.”
The air shifted.
Leanne’s face drained of color. “What?”
Liora laughed softly. “You’re overreacting.”
“I don’t want you near my family,” Michael continued coldly. “You destabilize everything you touch.”
That stung.
“Careful,” Liora said quietly. “You’re speaking to your wife’s sister.”
“I’m speaking to a woman who enjoys breaking homes,” Michael replied. “And I won’t let you test mine.”
Leanne looked between them, trembling. “Is it true?” she whispered to Liora. “Are you… involved with him?”
Liora didn’t answer directly.
She looked at Michael instead.
“You should worry less about me,” she said smoothly, “and more about the board vote next quarter.”
Michael’s expression darkened.
There it was.
Confirmation.
“You think I don’t know what Marcus is doing?” Michael said quietly. “He’s circling my company.”
Liora blinked.
Just slightly.
Michael saw it.
“So you didn’t know,” he said.
Silence.
Leanne’s voice cracked. “Liora… tell me you’re not being used.”
Liora straightened her shoulders.
“I’m not used by anyone.”
Michael stepped closer, lowering his voice.
“Stay away from my children,” he said. “If you want to self-destruct, do it alone.”
The door shut firmly in her face.
For the first time since this began
Liora felt uncertain.
Was Marcus using her?
Or was she already inside something bigger than an affair?
—
That evening, Marcus made his move.
Not romantic.
Strategic.
He sat in a dark office across from a private investigator named Halpern.
Discreet. Expensive. Loyal to money.
“I want everything on Michael Beta’s company,” Marcus said calmly. “Internal weaknesses. Staff dissatisfaction. Regulatory gray areas. Personal vulnerabilities.”
Halpern nodded. “You want corporate or personal leverage?”
Marcus didn’t hesitate.
“Both.”
“Illegal lines?”
Marcus’s expression didn’t change. “We stay just inside the law.”
Halpern understood.
“Timeline?”
“Thirty days.”
The investigator slid a contract across the desk.
Marcus signed without reading twice.
As he stood to leave, Halpern asked, “And the sister?”
Marcus paused.
“She’s irrelevant.”
But the word didn’t feel true anymore.
—
Late that night, Teresa sat alone in her study reviewing preliminary reports from the accountant.
Irregular capital shifts.
Shell consultations.
Unusual transfers routed near Michael Beta’s sector.
Marcus was moving aggressively.
Too aggressively.
She leaned back slowly.
He was escalating faster than expected.
Which meant he was either desperate.
Or afraid.
Teresa opened another encrypted folder.
Inside was something she had never used.
Insurance.
Not against Liora.
Not against Michael.
Against Marcus.
She closed the laptop carefully.
“First move made,” she whispered.
—
Meanwhile, Liora stared at her phone.
She replayed Michael’s words in her head.
You didn’t know.
She opened Marcus’s last message.
Then opened a news article about the upcoming merger vote.
Then another about Michael’s company.
Her breathing slowed.
If Marcus was targeting Michael through her—
Then she wasn’t the hunter.
She was bait.
And Liora Santos did not tolerate being bait.
Her expression hardened.
“Fine,” she murmured.
“If this is a game…”
She reached for her phone.
“…I’ll make my own move.”
- Writer
