Chapter Thirteen: Hidden Agendas
1081 Words
The conference room remained silent.
Everyone stared at the digital map projected onto the screen.
The red dots formed an unmistakable pattern.
Every trail.
Every sighting.
Every photograph.
They all circled back to one place.
Hart Entertainment Headquarters.
Nathan broke the silence.
“So this was never just about me.”
Oliver nodded grimly.
“I don’t think so.”
He tapped another button on the remote.
The map disappeared, replaced by a timeline.
“Look at the dates.”
Amelia leaned closer.
The first suspicious sighting had happened nearly a month before the charity gala.
The second…
A week before Nathan met her.
The third…
The day she accidentally spilled champagne on his tuxedo.
Her stomach dropped.
“I wasn’t the target.”
Oliver looked at her.
“No.”
“You became part of someone else’s plan.”
Nathan ran a hand through his hair.
“If they wanted information about Hart Entertainment…”
“Why involve Amelia?”
Oliver sighed.
“Because she became your weakness.”
The words landed heavily.
Nathan looked instinctively toward Amelia.
Weakness?
No.
She wasn’t his weakness.
She was quickly becoming the reason he wanted to keep fighting.
“There’s something else.”
Oliver reached into a folder.
He removed several financial reports.
Nathan frowned.
“I asked for security reports.”
“You got both.”
He slid one document across the table.
“Someone has been trying to buy shares in Hart Entertainment.”
Nathan skimmed the figures.
“They’re using shell companies.”
Oliver nodded.
“They’re hiding their identity.”
“But whoever they are…”
“They’re trying to gain influence over the company.”
Amelia looked between them.
“So…”
“The stalking…”
“The fake videos…”
“The threats…”
“They’re connected?”
Oliver answered quietly.
“I think they are.”
Nathan stood.
“I’m done waiting.”
“I’m meeting the board.”
Half an hour later…
Nathan walked into the executive boardroom.
The atmosphere immediately shifted.
Seven directors sat around the polished oak table.
Victor Lang looked up from his laptop.
“I wasn’t expecting you.”
Nathan closed the door behind him.
“I’ve stopped caring about expectations.”
He placed the anonymous letter on the table.
Then the security photographs.
Then the financial reports.
“I want answers.”
Victor barely glanced at the papers.
“I’m not sure what you expect us to do.”
Nathan leaned forward.
“I expect honesty.”
Another board member, Helen Morris, spoke calmly.
“Nathan…”
“We’ve all received strange emails recently.”
His head snapped toward her.
“What?”
She nodded.
“I assumed they were spam.”
Victor shot her a warning look.
She ignored it.
“The emails claimed someone inside the company was leaking confidential information.”
Nathan slowly looked around the room.
“You never told me.”
Helen sighed.
“Because there was no proof.”
Victor finally spoke.
“Enough.”
“This meeting is over.”
Nathan looked directly at him.
“No.”
“I think it’s just beginning.”
Across town…
Amelia finished grading the last set of spelling tests.
She smiled as she wrote Excellent Work! across one student’s paper.
Teaching had always been her safe place.
The classroom made sense.
There were problems.
There were solutions.
Hollywood…
Not so much.
She packed her bag and switched off the lights.
As she stepped into the empty hallway…
She heard footsteps behind her.
Slow.
Measured.
She turned.
Nobody.
“Hello?”
Silence.
She shook her head.
“You’re imagining things.”
She continued walking.
The footsteps returned.
This time…
Closer.
Her heartbeat quickened.
She spun around again.
Still no one.
Outside the school…
The security guard assigned to her noticed her expression immediately.
“Miss Brooks?”
“Are you alright?”
She forced a smile.
“I think so.”
“Someone was inside.”
The guard frowned.
“I’ll check.”
He disappeared back into the building.
Five minutes later, he returned.
“No one’s there.”
Amelia nodded.
“Maybe I was just tired.”
But deep inside…
She knew what she’d heard.
That evening, Nathan arrived at the penthouse carrying takeout from Amelia’s favorite Italian restaurant.
“I come bearing peace offerings.”
She laughed.
“For what?”
“I’ve been in meetings all day.”
“So?”
“So I missed dinner.”
She smiled.
“I suppose I can forgive you.”
As they ate, the conversation drifted away from contracts, stalkers, and headlines.
Instead…
Nathan asked about her students.
She told him about Noah, who insisted dinosaurs still existed.
About Lily, who wanted to become an astronaut.
About Emma, who wrote stories during math lessons.
Nathan listened with genuine interest.
“You remember every one of their names.”
“Of course.”
“They matter.”
He smiled softly.
“I like that.”
“And your coworkers?”
She asked.
“Can you name everyone on your film crew?”
Nathan looked embarrassed.
“…Probably not.”
She laughed.
“Homework.”
He groaned dramatically.
“You sound exactly like a teacher.”
“I am a teacher.”
“Unfortunately for you.”
Later that night…
Nathan couldn’t sleep.
He walked into the living room for water.
The television was still on.
Amelia had fallen asleep on the couch.
A book rested open on her chest.
Her reading glasses had slipped slightly down her nose.
She looked…
Peaceful.
Nathan quietly picked up the book and placed it on the coffee table.
Carefully, he draped a blanket over her.
As he tucked it around her shoulders…
She stirred.
Half-asleep, she reached out and caught his hand.
“Don’t go…”
she whispered.
Nathan froze.
She wasn’t fully awake.
She didn’t even open her eyes.
Yet she held onto his hand as though it was the safest place in the world.
He gently squeezed her fingers.
“I’m right here.”
Within seconds, her breathing steadied again.
She had fallen back asleep.
Nathan remained there for several minutes.
Unable…
Or perhaps unwilling…
To let go.
From the hallway outside the penthouse…
A tiny hidden camera, concealed inside a decorative smoke detector, captured the entire moment.
Somewhere else in the city…
A phone buzzed.
The anonymous watcher smiled as the new footage appeared on the screen.
“So…”
the distorted voice murmured.
“Exactly as planned.”
- Writer
