Staff rushed out to help with bags. Offered drinks. Gave room keys.
Skye took hers but didn’t go inside yet. She walked to the edge of the property. Looked out at the forest.
Somewhere out there, fifteen miles maybe, was the clearing where Lennox left her. Where she almost died. Where everything changed.
Her hands shook. She shoved them in her pockets. “You okay?” She turned.
One of the executives. Mark something. He smiled like he cared but didn’t.
“Just getting some air.” “Beautiful up here, right? Really clears the head.”
He had no idea. “Yeah. Beautiful.”
He walked back inside. Skye stayed. The wind moved through the trees.
That same sound. Branches creaking. Leaves rustling.
Her memory pulled her back fifteen years. Cold ground. Red cardigan.
Fear so big she couldn’t breathe. She closed her eyes. Forced herself to stay present.
She wasn’t that little girl anymore. She was here for a reason. The first day was boring corporate stuff.
Team building exercises. Trust falls. Conversations about synergy and paradigm shifts.
Lennox showed up late afternoon. Helicopter landing on the lodge’s pad. Everyone straightened when he walked in.
Like soldiers when a general enters. He gave a short speech about vision and leadership. His voice was calm.
Controlled. Empty. Skye sat in the back.
Taking notes. Staying invisible. But her heart hammered the whole time.
After the speech, people mingled. Networking. Kissing up to whoever might help their careers.
Skye slipped outside. She’d arranged to meet Elias at a parking area two miles down the road. Too far for anyone from the lodge to see.
She walked fast. The temperature dropped as the sun set. Elias’s truck was already there.
He got out when he saw her. They stood awkwardly for a moment. First time seeing each other in almost a year.
He looked older. More gray hair. Deeper lines.
“You look tired,” he said. “So do you.” He pulled out the envelope.
Still thick. Still full of cash that had never been touched. “Why do you need this?” “Evidence.”
“Proof of what he paid you to do.” Elias handed it over. His hand lingered on it.
“This is dangerous, Skye. He’s powerful. If he figures out who you are—” “He won’t.”
“You don’t know that.” “I’ve been working in his building for months. He’s walked past me a dozen times.”
“He has no idea.” “Because he thinks you’re dead.” “Exactly.”
“And tomorrow I’m going to show him he was wrong.” Elias’s jaw clenched. “How?” “There’s a reflection hike scheduled.”
“Team building thing. I’m leading it.” “Where?” “The clearing.”
“Where you found me.” His face went pale. “Skye, no.”
“I’ve already planned the route. Already got approval. Tomorrow morning I’m taking him back there.”
“And then what? You think he’ll just confess? Apologize?” “I don’t need an apology. I need him to see me. Really see me.”
“To know that I survived. That I know what he did.” “And if he tries to hurt you—” “He won’t.”
“Not with witnesses around.” “You’re betting your life on that.” “I’ve been betting my life since the day you found me.”
Elias looked at her. Really looked at her. Saw the determination.
The anger. The years of pain turned into purpose. “I can’t change your mind, can I?” “No.”
He pulled something else from his truck. Her old red cardigan. Worn.
Faded. Mended in places. “I kept it.”
“In case you ever came back.” Skye took it. Held it against her chest.
“Thank you. For everything. For saving me.”
“For trying.” “I should have told you the truth sooner.” “Probably.”
“But you kept me alive. That’s what matters.” They stood there in the cold.
Two people bound by a lie that became something real. “I’ll be nearby tomorrow,” Elias said, “in case anything goes wrong.” “Okay.”
“Skye?” “Yeah?” “Don’t do anything stupid.” She smiled. Small.
Sad. “Too late for that.” She walked back toward the lodge.
Elias watched until she disappeared into the trees. Then he got in his truck and drove to a spot where he could watch the lodge from a distance. He’d saved her once in these mountains.
He’d do it again if he had to. That night Skye couldn’t sleep. She lay in her expensive lodge bed.
So different from the closet-sized room she’d been living in. Tomorrow, everything would change. One way or another.
She pulled out her phone. Opened the photo of her death certificate. Skye Drayton.
Deceased. She’d been a ghost for fifteen years. Tomorrow she’d come back to life.
And make sure Lennox Drayton never forgot it. Morning came too fast. Skye woke at five.
Couldn’t sleep anyway. Heart pounding. Hands shaking.
She pulled on her hiking clothes. Laced her boots. Slipped the red cardigan into her backpack along with the envelope.
Today was the day. But first, she had a decision to make. The night before, unable to sleep, she’d done something dangerous.
Used her laptop to access Draytech’s internal network from the lodge’s Wi-Fi. Risky but necessary. She’d found what she was looking for.
A vulnerability in the financial reporting system. One sequence of commands. That’s all it would take.
The system would crash. Reports would corrupt. Stock prices would drop.
Investors would panic. Lennox’s empire would bleed millions. Maybe billions.
She’d written the code. Tested it in a sandbox. It worked perfectly.
All she had to do was execute it. One click. That’s all.
Revenge. Simple. Clean.
Final. She’d stared at that execute button for two hours. Her finger hovering over the key.
Now, sitting in her lodge room, she opened her laptop again. The code was still there. Waiting.
Her chest hurt. Not from her heart condition. From something heavier.
She thought about all those years. The poverty. The pain.
Watching Elias destroy himself. Nearly dying alone in city hospitals. All because Lennox decided she wasn’t worth keeping alive.
He deserved this. Deserved worse. But then she thought about the company.
The thousands of people who worked there. People like her. Struggling.
Just trying to survive. People who had nothing to do with what Lennox did 15 years ago. Crashing the system would hurt them too.
Their jobs. Their families. Their lives.
She’d become exactly what he was. Someone who destroyed innocent people for personal gain. Her finger moved away from the key.
She closed the laptop. “No,” she whispered to herself. “Not like this.”
She wasn’t there to destroy blindly. Wasn’t there to hurt people who never hurt her. She was there to expose the truth.
To make Lennox face what he’d done. And there was only one place that would break him. The mountains.
Breakfast was at seven. Everyone gathered in the main hall. Lennox sat at the head table.
Drinking coffee. Reading something on his tablet. Skye stood at the front with a clipboard.
“Morning, everyone. Today’s activity is a reflection hike. Light trail about three miles.”
“We’ll discuss leadership and transparency in a natural setting.” A few groans. Some eye rolls.
“Do we have to?” someone asked. “It’s on the agenda,” Skye said. “Approved by Mr. Drayton himself.”
Lennox looked up. Bored. “Let’s make it quick.”
“I have calls this afternoon.” “Of course, sir.” Her voice stayed steady even though her heart was racing.
They set out at eight. Twelve people following Skye up a narrow trail. She led them deeper into the forest.
Away from the marked paths. Toward something only she and Elias knew about. The executives complained.
About their shoes. About the cold. About missing their phones that didn’t have signal out here.
Skye kept walking. Lennox stayed in the middle of the group. Silent.
Checking his watch every few minutes. The trees got thicker. The path got narrower.
Some people started asking where they were going. “Just a bit further,” Skye said. “There’s a clearing ahead.”..
