~012
Bella's Counterattack
---
Bella stared at her laptop screen long after the audio clip ended.
Camille's voice still echoed in her mind—sharp, venomous.
> "We leak just enough to bury her... Not him... She's the weakness."
They thought she was the crack in Xavier's armor.
But they were wrong.
She wasn't the crack.
She was the blade.
---
By morning, Bella had a plan.
She wasn't going to confront DuPont. Not yet. She wasn't going to leak the files, either.
Not until they revealed something bigger.
She needed to trap them in a way they couldn't explain away, couldn't twist or wriggle out of.
She needed them to choose destruction for themselves.
---
First, she visited Clara.
"You told me there's someone on the inside helping Camille," Bella said, calm but focused. "I think I know who."
Clara's eyebrows rose. "You have proof?"
"I will," Bella replied. "But I need your help."
---
With Clara's quiet approval, Bella requested a temporary shift back to Camille's team—under the guise of "mending professional tensions" and "promoting team unity."
Camille was suspicious, but she didn't say no.
Because Camille always liked having her prey close.
---
For the next few days, Bella played the part.
Polite. Apologetic. Seemingly defeated.
She offered to share notes, even asked Camille for feedback like an eager little intern trying to earn approval.
And Camille?
She bit.
Hard.
"She's pretending to surrender," Clara warned one night over a secure call.
"She won't see it that way," Bella said. "She thinks she's already won."
Clara sighed. "You're putting yourself at risk."
"I know," Bella replied. "But I'm done being afraid."
---
Step two of the trap involved Xavier.
Which was risky.
Because her heart still flinched every time she saw him.
But she needed him.
She knocked once on his penthouse door.
When he opened it, he didn't ask why she came. He just stepped aside and let her in.
They sat on opposite ends of the couch—like chess opponents.
"I'm going after them," she said.
Xavier didn't blink. "Good."
"I need you to let me use your name."
Now he blinked.
"I'm going to send Camille an email," Bella continued. "Fake. Suggesting that you're about to name me head of the Milan collaboration after all. That you plan to announce it publicly at the board gala next week."
"Even after what HR decided?" he asked.
She smiled coldly. "That's the point. It has to sound just believable enough to make her panic."
Xavier considered her. "And when she does?"
"She'll try to stop it. She'll ask DuPont to escalate. Or sabotage it herself."
"And you'll catch her."
"I'll be watching every move."
He leaned forward, intrigued. "This could blow back on you."
"I'm counting on it," she said. "She thinks I'm fragile. Let her push me over the edge—while the world is watching."
He stared at her like she was someone new.
Someone dangerous.
Someone he could never fully predict.
"I knew you were sharp," he said. "But this…"
"This is personal now," Bella whispered. "And I don't lose personal."
---
The email went out that night.
Bella sent it from a restricted internal line—one she'd seen Camille use before. She made sure Xavier's phrasing sounded confident, even smug. She added enough detail to make it tempting.
Then she waited.
---
By morning, Camille took the bait.
She stormed into DuPont's office, demanding "action" before the board gala.
Bella, with Clara's help, got the whole conversation recorded through a planted listening app hidden in the shared design tablet Camille had "borrowed" the day before.
---
Two days later, Camille walked into the executive boardroom.
Confident. Dressed to kill in crimson silk.
She had no idea she was walking straight into her own unmaking.
The room was already filled with LV's top executives. Clara. Xavier. PR heads. Even a few major investors. The entire board.
And Bella—seated directly across the room, in black, calm as still water.
A projector flickered to life as Clara stood and said:
"Before we begin, there's something urgent we need to share."
Camille's smile faltered slightly.
The recording played.
> Camille: "You said if she got too close, you'd shut it down. She's presenting at the gala. That can't happen."
> DuPont: "I'll handle it. I'll plant something. Make her miss it. Or maybe discredit her with the investors."
> Camille: "Perfect. She'll never see it coming."
Silence.
Then Clara spoke. "We did."
---
Camille leapt to her feet. "This is ridiculous! You can't use illegally recorded conversations—!"
Clara held up a legal document. "This device belongs to LV Groups. You accessed private servers without permission. You cloned employee folders. And you worked with a senior executive to sabotage internal operations."
DuPont tried to speak, but Xavier cut in, his voice deadly calm.
"You're both done."
Camille turned to Xavier, rage boiling in her voice. "This is her! This was all Bella's setup!"
Xavier didn't flinch. "Yes. And it was brilliant."
Camille froze.
The board fell into stunned silence.
Bella stood slowly, eyes locked on Camille.
"Next time you think someone's weak," she said quietly, "maybe ask yourself if they're just giving you enough rope to hang yourself."
---
By the end of the day:
Camille was suspended indefinitely, pending investigation.
DuPont was terminated with immediate effect.
Bella's name was cleared—publicly.
A full internal memo was released. Not only had Bella not broken any policy—she had uncovered a conspiracy.
Overnight, the narrative shifted.
She wasn't the scandal.
She was the storm that ended one.
---
That night, as Paris glowed in the reflection of her apartment window, Bella finally opened the bottle of wine she'd been saving since her first day at LV.
She poured a glass.
Took a deep breath.
And smiled.
Her phone buzzed.
It was Xavier.
> You won.
She stared at the message for a long time.
Then replied:
> Not yet. But I'm getting there.