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For a brief moment, I wondered if Marcello was behind all of this or working with whoever was behind the email that had almost sunk me.

“It would help if we could find the culprit,” he said.

I was already on it.

An IT specialist was able to tell me that the email had been sent from my home laptop the night before, at exactly the time that I was at Kaya’s house, googling romantic getaway destinations while she slept for a few hours.

I interrogated our security team and Simon was at the castle at that time. I asked for a full list of everyone at the houseat that time. By the time I was ready to leave for the flight to the board meeting, I knew who it was.

As the car stopped outside the private jet, I turned to Natania.

“Didn’t take a lot for you to betray me?” I said coldly.

She didn’t try to deny it, tears spilled down her cheeks.

“I had no choice! They kidnapped my parents and threatened to kill them unless I did as they say!”

“Who did?”

Natania shook her head. “It was a woman, that’s all I know. She said she would give me half a million dollars if I forwarded the mail.”

“Even though you knew it would ruin me?”

She was crying uncontrollably now. “I didn’t know what else to do! They sent me pictures of my father, all beaten up. They’d cut off one of his fingers!”

She grabbed my arm, “I knew you would be all right, you always are!”

I shook off her hold on my arm.

“You’re fired,” I said, looking away. “Get out.”

Zoran looked in the rearview mirror.

“You want me to take care of her?”

I shook my head. I had known Natania for too long. She had been blackmailed into her actions and as much as it pained me to say it, she was right. I would be all right. But I needed to know who was pulling the strings.

“Trace that money,” I told Zoran.

“By the time I walk into the board meeting, I want to know exactly who is behind all of this.”

“One more thing,” Zoran said and told me about Simon dropping by Kaya’s workplace that morning.

I had organized a work crisis to get him out of town temporarily. But the fact that he stopped by the workshop wasworrying. He must have known that I would find out about the visit.

I got onto the plane with a heavy heart.

I called Kaya’s phone and was relieved when she picked up.

“I heard Simon came to the workshop today?” I said.

“Yeah.”

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“Yes, but… how did you know he was here?”

I had to come clean. “I had someone watching the shop, just to make sure you’re safe. I didn’t want to tell you but I was worried.”