Hashimoto smiled and nodded with deep approval. When they parted, Yukimura leaned toward her. “You just earned us a ten-million-dollar assurance. And possibly an ally for life.”
Later, as dinner was served, Yukimura excused himself to take a private call. Anna remained near the main table, until she felt a sudden presence beside her. Caldwell.
“I hope you’re enjoying yourself,” he said, his tone coated in civility.
“I am, thank you.”
“You should be careful, Anna. People are talking.”
“Let them,” she replied calmly.
His voice dropped. “You’ve got ambition, I’ll give you that. But this isn’t a fairy tale. The girl doesn’t always get to climb the tower. Sometimes she falls.”
Anna met his gaze with quiet defiance. “Then I hope you’re not standing too close when she does.”
Before he could reply, Yukimura returned, his expression unreadable. “There’s been a breach,” he told Anna under his breath. “One of the investor’s files was accessed remotely from an internal device. We have fifteen minutes before someone else finds out.”
Together, they left the ballroom through a discreet side exit. Yukimura’s assistant handed Anna a tablet with the flagged activity log.
“There’s a login from a shared employee account,” Anna said, scanning the entries. “Someone used the access point near the event kitchen, right before dinner was served.”
Marcia’s crew. Anna’s stomach dropped. She raced down the back corridor to the kitchen area. She found Marcia near the back.
“Did anyone borrow your badge or use the computer near the service fridge?” Anna asked urgently.
Marcia shook her head. “Not that I know of.”
Anna turned. “Wait—the utility closet. Does it still connect to the security console?”
Marcia blinked. “It shouldn’t. They disconnected that port months ago.”
Anna was already moving. She reached the utility room in seconds and opened the door. Inside, a man knelt in front of a small access panel, typing rapidly on a laptop. It was one of Caldwell’s assistants.
“What are you doing here?” she demanded.
The man jumped to his feet. “Nothing. I… I was just checking the temperature controls.”
“Put it down.” Her voice was sharp.
Behind her, Yukimura appeared with two hotel security officers. “You’ve just made a very expensive mistake,” Yukimura said.
The man’s face collapsed. “It wasn’t me! Caldwell told me to!”
Later that night, after the man had been escorted out and Yukimura’s internal review team sealed the breach, Anna sat alone in the quiet corridor just outside the ballroom. Her heart was still racing. Yukimura approached slowly and handed her a glass of water.
“You saved our reputation tonight.”
“I almost didn’t,” she whispered.
“But you did. And you didn’t flinch.”
Rain swept across the windows of the hotel as Anna sat in the temporary operations room, reviewing the final security footage. She wasn’t just protecting Yukimura anymore. She was protecting the truth.
A quiet knock broke her focus. Yukimura stepped in. “We have a leak in Legal. I just got word this morning—someone’s pushing to revoke one of our overseas licenses. It’s moving faster than it should.”
Anna’s jaw tightened. “Do you think it’s Caldwell?”
“I think Caldwell is the front,” he replied. “But someone above him is feeding him information.”
That afternoon, the executive debriefing was held in one of the smaller conference suites on the top floor. The senior board members were already seated when Anna entered. Caldwell was there too, silent, watching.
Yukimura opened the meeting. “We’ve contained the breach, but our internal vulnerabilities are far from resolved. I’ve brought in someone who sees things differently—Miss Anna.”
One of the board members, Mr. Whitley, scoffed. “What makes you qualified to diagnose betrayal, Miss Anna?”
She met his eyes. “Because I used to work in every room you people never see. I heard your junior staff whisper things they’d never dare say in front of you. I cleaned up after your messes. And I watched you all underestimate the people who know this company better than your quarterly reports ever will.”
The room fell into silence.
Mr. Keene, the oldest board member, finally spoke. “If we are being betrayed, then the question becomes: who gains the most from our collapse?”
Anna didn’t flinch. “Follow the ones who resisted the alliance with Japan. Follow the ones who called me ‘the maid’.”
That evening, Anna returned home and found an envelope slid under her door. Inside, a single photograph: a blurry shot of her standing next to Yukimura. On the back, a message: You’re in too deep. Walk away before you drown.
Instead of fear, she felt resolve. The next morning, she arrived at Yukimura’s office before dawn. She placed the photograph on his desk…
