THE DEVIL'S HEIRESS

Chapter 11 - Cracks Beneath The Surface

The following week...

De Luca Holdings was busier than ever.

Every department involved in the France Expansion Project was working overtime.

The competition between Sienna and Adrian had become the company's favorite topic.

Employees whispered whenever either of them walked past.

"I heard Mr. Adrian hired consultants from London."

"Miss Sienna hasn't even presented anything yet."

"That's what worries me."

"She never shows her hand."

...

Inside Sienna's office...

Kai stood before the whiteboard covered with notes.

"Logistics are done."

"Projected revenue is done."

"Market risks are done."

He sighed dramatically.

"I officially hate France."

Zara laughed from the sofa.

"I never thought I'd hear you say that."

Kai tossed a marker onto the table.

"I've read eighty-three pages about French distribution laws."

"I deserve compensation."

"You get a salary."

"I deserve emotional compensation."

Even Sienna smiled faintly.

"I'll buy you lunch."

Kai gasped dramatically.

"Did everyone hear that?"

"The Devil's Heiress just offered to buy me lunch."

Zara pretended to wipe away a tear.

"This is a historic moment."

Sienna shook her head.

"You two are impossible."

Before anyone could continue—

A knock came from the door.

"Come in."

Her assistant entered carrying a tablet.

"Miss De Luca."

"The Chairman wants all executive directors in Conference Room A."

"What happened?"

"I'm not sure."

"But he sounded... upset."

...

Conference Room A

Every executive was already seated when Sienna entered.

Lorenzo stood at the head of the table.

His expression was colder than usual.

Adrian sat quietly, flipping through a file.

The moment everyone settled down...

Lorenzo spoke.

"Yesterday evening..."

"Our confidential proposal draft was accessed."

The room fell silent.

Several executives exchanged confused looks.

"What?"

"Accessed?"

"By who?"

Lorenzo looked around the room.

"We don't know."

"But someone entered the company's secure database after working hours."

Sienna immediately frowned.

"Our cybersecurity system?"

"It detected the intrusion."

"But whoever it was..."

"They left before downloading anything."

Kai leaned toward Sienna.

"That's strange."

She nodded.

"Too strange."

Adrian spoke for the first time.

"Perhaps someone was simply curious."

Lorenzo's eyes hardened.

"Curiosity doesn't bypass executive security clearance."

Silence returned.

"I've already instructed IT to investigate."

"Until then..."

"No proposal leaves this building."

"No executive shares documents."

"And no department works without encrypted backups."

Everyone nodded.

The meeting ended shortly afterward.

...

Outside the conference room...

Kai caught up with Sienna.

"You don't think..."

She finished his sentence.

"...that someone is trying to sabotage the competition?"

"It crossed my mind."

"So did mine."

Behind them...

Adrian watched quietly.

His secretary approached.

"Sir."

"The first phase went exactly as planned."

He smiled almost imperceptibly.

"Good."

"No one suspects anything."

"Excellent."

...

That evening...

Sienna remained in her office long after everyone else had gone home.

The building had become almost silent.

Only the occasional sound of elevators echoed through the executive floor.

She removed her glasses and rubbed her eyes.

A soft knock interrupted her thoughts.

"Come in."

Kai stepped inside carrying two takeaway cups.

"I knew you'd still be here."

"You went home."

"I did."

"Then I felt guilty."

"You shouldn't."

"I know."

He placed one cup in front of her.

"This isn't coffee."

She looked inside.

Hot chocolate.

She blinked.

"I remembered you only pretend to like coffee."

A small smile appeared.

"Thank you."

Kai leaned against her desk.

"Sienna..."

"Hm?"

"You've seemed distracted since Milan."

She looked down at the cup.

"I'm fine."

"I know that's your favorite lie."

Silence lingered.

Finally...

She spoke.

"Have you ever met someone..."

"...who keeps appearing where you least expect them?"

Kai smiled knowingly.

"I've met you."

She looked at him.

"I'm serious."

"So am I."

He folded his arms.

"You've always appeared exactly when I least expected you."

She laughed softly.

"I walked into that one."

"You did."

For a moment...

Neither of them spoke.

Then Kai asked quietly,

"Is it him?"

Sienna didn't answer.

She didn't need to.

Kai understood.

His smile remained.

But it didn't quite reach his eyes.

"I see."

He looked toward the city lights outside the window.

"I just hope..."

"...he knows how lucky he is."

Sienna frowned.

"What do you mean?"

Kai smiled again.

"This office would be a very lonely place without you."

Before she could respond...

His phone rang.

He looked at the screen.

"It's Zara."

He answered.

"What happened?"

The color immediately drained from his face.

"What?"

Sienna stood.

"Kai?"

He slowly lowered the phone.

"There was..."

His voice caught.

"...a fire."

"What?"

"In the storage archive."

"The room where all the hard-copy project documents are kept."

Sienna's eyes widened.

"Our France proposal..."

Kai looked at her.

"...was inside."

_______

The words hung heavily in the air.

"There was a fire."

Sienna stared at Kai.

"Our proposal..."

Kai tightened his grip on his phone.

"It was stored in the archive."

Without another word, both of them rushed out of the office.

...

By the time they reached the archive floor, security officers had already sealed the area.

The smell of smoke lingered in the corridor.

Employees gathered outside, whispering anxiously.

Zara spotted them first.

"There you are!"

She hurried over.

"Are you two alright?"

"What happened?" Sienna asked.

"The fire started about fifteen minutes ago."

"The sprinklers activated almost immediately."

"The fire department confirmed it was contained before it spread."

Kai looked past the security tape.

"The documents..."

A security officer shook his head.

"Most of the paper files are gone."

Sienna remained silent.

She stared at the blackened doorway.

Something wasn't right.

If the fire had been contained so quickly...

Why was the damage concentrated almost entirely inside the archive?

...

An hour later...

The executive board gathered once again.

Lorenzo stood before everyone with a grim expression.

"The preliminary report has arrived."

Everyone waited.

"The fire..."

He paused.

"...was not an accident."

A wave of murmurs swept through the room.

"What?"

"Someone started it?"

Lorenzo nodded.

"The investigation found traces of an accelerant."

"Someone entered the archive after working hours."

"They intended to destroy company records."

Silence.

Heavy silence.

Adrian slowly leaned back in his chair.

"This is becoming serious."

Lorenzo's voice hardened.

"Until the investigation is complete..."

"No executive is permitted to remove company documents."

"Every department will undergo an internal audit."

Sienna quietly listened.

Then she asked,

"What exactly was destroyed?"

The IT director stood.

"Mostly archived contracts."

"The France project file was among them."

Kai clenched his jaw.

Weeks of preparation...

Gone.

Or so everyone thought.

Lorenzo turned toward Sienna.

"I'm sorry."

To everyone's surprise...

She smiled.

Very slightly.

"You don't need to apologize."

Several heads turned.

Kai blinked.

"...Sienna?"

She calmly folded her hands.

"The archive copies were backups."

"I finished digitizing everything before Milan."

The room fell silent.

"I also stored encrypted copies on the company's secured cloud server."

Another pause.

"The originals were never our only copies."

Complete silence.

Then...

One of the directors laughed in relief.

"Brilliant."

Another smiled.

"I knew she'd think ahead."

Lorenzo slowly nodded.

"Excellent work."

Even he looked impressed.

Across the table...

Adrian's smile vanished.

Only for a second.

But Sienna noticed.

...

Later that afternoon...

Adrian stormed into his office.

He slammed the door behind him.

His secretary hesitated before entering.

"Sir..."

He turned sharply.

"What happened?"

"I... I don't understand."

"The documents were supposed to—"

He stopped himself.

The secretary looked confused.

"Sir?"

Adrian took a deep breath.

"...Nothing."

He straightened his tie.

"Leave."

Once the door closed...

His calm facade disappeared.

"Damn it."

He struck his desk with his fist.

"I underestimated her."

For the first time...

Sienna had ruined one of his plans.

And Adrian hated losing.

...

Meanwhile...

Kai followed Sienna back to her office.

"You knew."

"I had a feeling."

"A feeling?"

She sat down.

"After what happened in Milan..."

"I stopped trusting paper."

Kai laughed in disbelief.

"So while everyone else was printing files..."

"You secretly backed up everything?"

"I prefer sleeping peacefully."

Kai shook his head.

"You really are something else."

Before Sienna could reply...

Her assistant knocked.

"Miss De Luca."

"Yes?"

"There's a delivery."

Kai immediately groaned.

"...Again?"

The assistant smiled awkwardly.

"This time..."

"It's just a small package."

She placed a neatly wrapped box on the desk.

There was no expensive ribbon.

No company logo.

Only a small note.

Sienna opened it.

Inside...

Was a USB flash drive.

Attached to it was a handwritten message.

**I thought someone might eventually try something.**

**Always keep another copy.**

— A Stranger

Kai frowned.

"What's that?"

Sienna looked at the flash drive.

"It's empty."

She plugged it into her laptop.

A security program immediately launched.

Encrypted cloud backup software.

Professional-grade.

Kai stared.

"...Where did he even get this?"

Sienna quietly removed the flash drive.

"...He's paranoid."

Kai smiled.

"No."

"I think..."

"...he's looking out for you."

Sienna didn't answer.

She carefully placed the flash drive inside her desk drawer.

Not because she needed it.

But because...

For some reason...

She couldn't bring herself to throw it away.

...

Across the city...

Alex stood in his office overlooking Milan.

One of his security directors entered.

"Sir."

"The incident at De Luca Holdings has been confirmed."

Alex looked up.

"I heard."

"We also discovered something."

"What?"

The director placed a folder on his desk.

"The fire wasn't random."

"It specifically targeted Miss De Luca's department."

Alex's expression darkened.

"...Who?"

"We're still investigating."

Alex slowly closed the folder.

His voice became colder than anyone in the room had ever heard.

"Find them."

The director nodded.

"Yes, sir."

"And if anyone..."

Alex looked out toward the city skyline.

"...believes they can threaten Sienna De Luca..."

His eyes grew dangerously calm.

"...they've just made a very expensive mistake."