HIS COSTLY MISTAKE

Chapter three

The glowing blue name on the monitor seemed to steal the air from the room.

MATEO MENDOZA.

Izzy stood frozen, her back pressed against the cold glass wall. The blue glow from the monitor lit up the room, revealing the terrible truth. This wasn’t just a corporate data breach or another PR job to save her struggling firm. It was a trap. And the man standing only inches away from her was at the center of it.

“Alexander,” Izzy whispered, her voice shaking with fear and betrayal. She used his first name on purpose, dropping the formal distance between them as she stared into his eyes. “What did you do to my brother? Why do you have a secret file on Mateo?”

She didn’t wait for an answer. The pain of the past year came rushing back, the false accusations, the loss of her reputation, and the endless struggle to pay for Mateo’s physical therapy. She remembered her brother fighting to speak after his injury and depending on her for everything. Anger and fear washed over her. She pulled her wrist free from Alexander’s grip and stepped back into the shadows, breathing hard as every instinct told her to run.

“Isabella,” Alexander said softly. “Breathe. Look at me.”

For the first time since she arrived at RavenTech, the cold, untouchable man was gone. Alexander’s voice was no longer calm or controlled. Panic slipped through it for the first time. He didn’t move toward her, sensing she was ready to run. Instead, he slowly raised both hands, his palms open in a clear sign that he meant no harm.

“I didn’t create that file to hurt him or you,” Alexander said, his grey eyes fixed on hers. “I swear, Isabella, I had no idea your agency would be brought in for this crisis. I didn’t know you were coming until this morning.”

“Then explain why his name is on your private drive!” Izzy shouted, her voice shaking with anger. Tears burned in her eyes, but she blinked them away. She refused to cry in front of him. “Those are my brother’s private medical records, Alexander. His diagnosis, his therapy schedule, his treatment funds… How do you have all of that? Who gave you the right to investigate my family?”

“Because the man who ruined your career a year ago is the same man I’ve been trying to bring down for the last five years!” Alexander shouted. His voice echoed through the dark boardroom.

The room was silent once more, except for the fast tapping of Marcus’s fingers on his tablet in the background.

Izzy stood frozen, struggling to process what she had just heard. “What did you just say?”

Alexander dropped his hands and sighed. He ran his fingers through his hair and leaned against the desk. The blue glow from the monitor deepened the shadows on his face.

“A year ago, your PR firm was blacklisted because a wealthy political donor used it as a scapegoat for a corrupt campaign,” Alexander said quietly. “But he wasn’t acting alone. He was backed by Victor Vance, my former business partner. He’s the same man who betrayed me with my ex-fiancée and destroyed my life five years ago.”

Alexander looked up, and for the first time, Izzy saw the pain in his grey eyes. It was as deep as her own.

“Victor runs a network of fake companies and corrupt political groups,” Alexander said quietly. “For the past five years, I’ve been secretly building a case against him using that private drive. I tracked every victim he targeted to gather enough evidence to bring him down. Your firm was one of those victims, Isabella. When Victor’s hackers attacked your business accounts, your brother’s treatment payments were caught up in the stolen records I recovered. I kept those files to protect them from being erased. I was trying to preserve the evidence so you could finally get justice.”

Izzy stared at him, her heart pounding. The anger inside her didn’t disappear, but it slowly gave way to shock. Alexander wasn’t the man who had destroyed her family. He had been chasing the same person who had ruined her life. They had both been hurt by the same enemy.

“Alexander…” Marcus interrupted, his voice shaking as he pointed at the glowing monitor. “The files have finished uploading to the local server. The media hasn’t picked them up yet because the building lockdown bought us a little time. But we have less than ten minutes before automated systems copy the data across the internet. If that happens, Victor wins. Your past will be exposed, and Ms. Mendoza’s brother’s private information will become public.”

Everything had just become much more serious. It wasn’t only Alexander’s company at risk anymore. Mateo’s privacy, his safety, and her family’s future were now in danger too. If those medical records became public, the media would uncover the old political scandal and tear her life apart all over again.

Izzy didn’t hesitate. She pushed a loose curl behind her ear and turned to Alexander. The fear had disappeared. Now there was only determination—the same determination that had made her one of the most respected PR strategists in New York.

“Marcus, give me the master encryption override keys. Right now,” Izzy ordered, leaving no room for argument.

She walked back to the table, pulled out a chair, and opened her laptop. The screen lit up, casting a soft glow across her face. Alexander didn’t argue or try to take control. He sat beside her, their shoulders almost touching. The scent of his cedarwood cologne lingered between them as the tension in the room grew.

“What’s the plan, Izzy?” Alexander asked quietly, trusting her to take the lead.

“We can’t delete the file from here,” Izzy said, her fingers moving quickly across the keyboard. “But we can control the story. I’m contacting three major tech news outlets I know. We’re going to say the leaked files are fake, AI-generated documents created to manipulate RavenTech’s stock price. If we create enough doubt and threaten legal action, most major news organizations won’t publish the files until they can verify them. That should buy your tech team enough time to find the server and shut it down.”

Alexander watched her, admiration showing in his grey eyes. She was smart, fearless, and quick under pressure. In that moment, she was doing everything she could to save his company.

“Do it,” Alexander said softly. His hand rested only inches from hers. “Whatever you need, it’s yours. Just say the word.”

For the next five minutes, the boardroom became a hive of activity. Keyboards clicked, screens flashed, and quiet phone calls filled the room. Izzy worked quickly, using every skill she had to protect Alexander’s secrets and her brother’s privacy. Without saying it, they had become a team, fighting the same unseen enemy together.

Suddenly, a loud electronic chime echoed through the room, making Marcus flinch.

His tablet lit up with a flashing red warning. An encrypted audio call was forcing its way through the company’s secure network, bypassing every security system. The caller ID was hidden. The screen showed nothing but a row of red zeros.

“Alexander, it’s getting past our security,” Marcus whispered, his face pale as he held out the tablet. “The call is coming from outside the network.”

“Put it on speaker,” Alexander said firmly, his expression turning cold as he leaned forward.

Marcus tapped the screen. A burst of static filled the boardroom. Then a calm, familiar female voice echoed through the room.

It was Victoria Vance Alexander’s ex-fiancée and Victor Vance’s daughter.

“Hello, Alexander,” the voice said smoothly, with a cruel sweetness that made Izzy’s skin crawl. “Did you enjoy my little anniversary gift? I see you’ve brought a friend to help clean up your mess.”

Alexander’s jaw tightened. A muscle twitched in his cheek. “Victoria,” he said coldly. “End this attack. Now.”

A cold laugh came through the speaker. “It’s too late for that, darling. Things are already in motion. But I’m willing to make a deal. Tell your PR consultant, Ms. Mendoza, she has five minutes to stop blocking us and let my father’s files reach the press. If she doesn’t… the next thing we leak won’t be data. It’ll be your little brother Mateo’s exact location, sent straight to the people looking for him.”

The call ended. The room fell into a heavy silence.

Izzy’s fingers stopped moving over the keyboard. The words caught in her throat as the color drained from her face. The light from her laptop reflected the fear in her eyes. They knew where Mateo was.

Slowly, Izzy turned toward Alexander. Her wide, frightened eyes met his pale face in the blue light of the monitor. The entire situation had changed. The rules were different now, and time was running out.