"But the statements say the charges were made to a card, and that card is supposedly Grayson's," I continue, watching her squirm. "However, Grayson's card isn't even with that bank."
"Well, um... yeah, I don't... I don't know," she stammers. "I just thought I was doing the right thing."
"The right thing would have been bringing that information to me, or to Luther, or to HR," I say, my tone growing sharper as I fist my hands in my lap. Addie didn’t just ruin part of my business. She did something that hurt one of my mates and I want her to hurt for it. "Not to an investor who doesn't work for our company. We could have lost a lot of money because they now know internal details about our finances." I lean forward, studying her face carefully. "I want to know what's really going on and why you were actually looking in those accounts."
"There's no reason," Addie says quickly. "There's no reason at all. It was just an accident. I'll let finance know to revoke my access. It's fine."
Luther huffs out a laugh, his Alpha presence filling the room as he shifts backward and unbuttons his suit jacket. "Addie, I need you to be really honest with me. Because there are several moving parts going on right now, and every little piece could cause everything to crash and burn. It could pull down the company, it could pull down my family, it could destroy everything Blake has worked for up to this point." He pauses, letting the weight of his words sink in. "I'm not sure if someone paid you. I'm not sure if someone has something against you. Whatever it is, I need you to be honest with me about why you're doing this. Because at this point, what you've done is fraud, which is illegal. A misdemeanor, a felony, I'm not even sure atthis point." Luther's voice drops to something dangerously quiet. "Talk to me and you walk out of here, or we bring in the police."
Addie goes white as a sheet, her hands shaking as she stares at Luther. Finally, she breaks. "I was promised another position if we pushed Grayson out," she says in a rush. "I've been doing a lot of creative work at this job, and I've never gotten a raise. I don't get more money. I'm just the sidekick. I'm just one of Blake's friends. That's all I am, and I need to be doing more." My heart sinks as she continues. "So I was told that if I could get Grayson pushed out, because he got an honorary position anyway, then I could have his job."
Luther folds his hands over his stomach as he runs his tongue along his top teeth. His eyes flash with venom, Addie’s talk of just pushing our mate to the side pissing him off just as much as it does me. "But his job wasn't up for grabs. It was a position I created specifically for him. It's not like if it went vacant, I would automatically fill it with someone else. And besides that,Blakeis your boss, not anyone else."
"That's not what I heard," Addie fights back.
"What are you talking about?" I cut in, genuine confusion in my voice.
"I heard that the board is looking to sell," she says, avoiding my eyes.
"This is not a public company. They can't just sell it." A sense of dread swirls in my chest at the thought that whoever is fucking with us is doing it on a level we’re not ready for.
"They invested money, but they're going to put it to a vote," Addie explains. "So it doesn't even matter what you think or what you want. After the Starfalls expansion launch, everything's going up for a vote." Her voice becomes more heated, taking on a more accusatory tone as it grows louder. "You haven't been running this company the way it's supposed to be run. For months, we've been doing all the hard workwhile you're off playing house with another Omega, with another man's Omega at that. And now that Alpha is in jail, people are dead, people are hurt, and the Omega house is closing down."
Luther stops her immediately. "Hold on. How do you know that?"
"What?" Addie looks confused.
"How do you know that Hearthstone is closing?" Luther growls, sitting forward. The sudden shift in movement as Addie flattening back against her chair. "Nobody knows that except some of the donors and the police."
Addie's face goes even paler. "Well, there's an internal article coming down from supposedly one of the people looking to buy the company. It's on one of our internal channels. I didn't know this was illegal, okay? I just wanted more."
She pulls out her phone with shaking hands and shows it to me. I flip through the messages, seeing a few other employees in the chat as well, but I'm only interested in the article she's referring to.
"Who is this user?" I ask, pointing to the username that posted the information.
Addie shrugs. "No idea. They just showed up in the last week or so and started sharing information."
I sigh heavily and hand the phone back, my whole demeanor defeated. The scope of what's happening is becoming clearer, and it's so much worse than I thought. "I didn't want to have to do this. I thought I would come in here and find out that it was just a mistake, that you were doing things out of the goodness of your heart but I'm going to have to let you go."
Addie's expression turns defiant. "This is going to look really bad for you. They're going to sell your company anyway."
"Yes, but it's a matter of principle," I say firmly. "You've ruined everything I've worked for."
"No, you've done that," she shoots back.
"No, Addie, this is allyou," I reply, my voice growing stronger. "You've taken what I've built, and your greed has pushed it into something else. Now, I might lose everything, including the man I love, because you can't see that he came from an abusive situation. You can't see that Hearthstone is not an Omega sanctuary. You can't see past your own greed and ambition." I stand up and move toward my desk. "I thought we were friends, Addie. A friend would have come to me and asked me for a raise or made her case for a higher position or a new title. A friend wouldn’t stab me in the back and spread rumors about my mate by going to an investor she really shouldn’t even know exists."
I pick up the phone and call security. Within minutes, they arrive to escort Addie out. She doesn't fight it, but the look she gives me as she leaves is full of resentment and anger. When the door closes behind them, I turn to Luther, my mind racing with the implications of everything we just learned.
"I don't know what's going on, but someone's after more than just our pack," I tell him. "I think they're trying to isolate Luca. If they take everything away from us, we have nothing to protect him with." I pause, feeling the weight of responsibility settling on my shoulders. Luther said that the board was wary of my attendance but none of that matters when my Omega is at home and I’m here. "I want to go home."
"Sounds like a good plan to me," Luther agrees immediately.
"However, there's one more thing I want to do," I add, moving toward my computer.
"What's that?" Luther asks.
"I think it's time I stop hiding behind my condition and face what's going on with me," I say, powering on my computer. "I think that not telling everyone about the challenges I'm facing is making them doubt the products I'm building and my leadership."
