The clock on Clara's desk ticked like a silent reminder of how little time she had before Damien made his next move. Every moment he was free to act meant another scheme, another betrayal, another attempt to corner her into a position she couldn't escape.
She'd been careful these past weeks — each step calculated, each conversation measured. But no matter how cautious she was, there was a glaring gap in her strategy: she couldn't predict his next strike.
Damien had always thrived in the shadows of secrecy. His company was a fortress — not only in security but in the way he ran his inner circle. People were loyal to him out of fear, not affection. Which meant prying any information from his base of operations was nearly impossible.
Unless… she had someone on the inside.
Clara stared out her penthouse window, the city lights shimmering like a sea of diamonds. Below, life went on as usual — oblivious to the quiet war being waged in boardrooms and behind closed doors. She sipped her wine, her mind already spinning the dangerous plan she was about to set into motion.
A Dangerous Suggestion
"Let me get this straight," Alexander said from the sofa, his tie loosened, his sharp eyes locked on her. "You want to plant a spy in Damien's company."
"Not want, Alexander," Clara replied coolly. "Need."
He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "Do you have any idea how risky that is? Damien has a vetting process so strict that even breathing wrong in an interview could get you blacklisted. And if he finds out you're behind it—"
"He won't," Clara interrupted, swirling the wine in her glass. "This has to be someone who can blend in effortlessly. Someone smart, ambitious, and untraceably connected to me."
Alexander's gaze darkened. "That's a very specific profile. Do you have someone in mind?"
"I know someone who knows someone," she said slowly. "But it's a gamble."
Alexander chuckled bitterly. "With Damien, everything is a gamble."
Enter Ethan Cole
The man who walked into the private lounge later that night carried an air that instantly drew attention. Ethan Cole — tall, broad-shouldered, with a face carved in angles and a smile that could be either disarming or dangerous, depending on his mood.
He had the kind of presence that suggested he could talk his way into a locked vault and leave without anyone noticing until it was too late.
"Clara," Ethan greeted with a slight bow of his head, his voice deep, smooth, with just enough roughness to hint at trouble. "It's been a while."
"Three years," she corrected. "And you owe me."
Ethan's grin widened. "Straight to business. I like that." He slid into the seat opposite her, glancing at Alexander briefly before focusing entirely on her. "So… what's the job?"
Clara leaned forward, her voice barely above a whisper. "I need you inside Damien's company. Close to him. Close enough to hear his plans before he executes them."
Ethan's brow arched. "You're asking me to waltz into enemy territory. For what? Just for old times' sake?"
"You owe me," she repeated, her tone sharp. "And you're one of the only people I trust to pull this off."
Alexander watched the exchange silently, assessing Ethan like a predator sizing up another predator.
"And my cover story?" Ethan asked after a pause.
"You're an independent corporate strategist looking for long-term work. I'll make sure a few key connections 'recommend' you to Damien. You'll be indispensable to him before he even realizes you're there."
Ethan smirked. "Sounds fun."
The First Step
Within a week, Ethan had been invited to a private networking dinner where Damien was the guest of honor. Clara didn't attend — her presence would raise suspicion — but she made sure the right people whispered Ethan's name in the right ears.
By the end of the night, Ethan had Damien laughing over a glass of aged scotch, discussing market strategies like old colleagues.
Two days later, Damien's assistant sent Ethan a formal invitation to interview for a Senior Strategy Consultant position.
The bait was taken.
First Day on the Inside
From her penthouse, Clara watched the city skyline while her phone sat face up on the table, silent but ready.
Ethan's first day at Damien's company was a test — not just for him, but for her. If he slipped up now, the plan would crumble before it began.
At precisely 4 p.m., her phone buzzed with a secure message:
Ethan: "I'm in. Office is two doors from Damien's. You wouldn't believe who else works here."
Clara's pulse quickened. She typed back quickly:
Clara: "Who?"
Ethan: "Rhea. And she's smiling like a cat who's caught a canary."
Her grip on the phone tightened. So Rhea was part of Damien's inner office circle already — sooner than Clara remembered from her previous timeline. That meant Damien was accelerating his alliances.
Close Calls
Three days into the infiltration, Ethan sent another encrypted message:
Ethan: "He's working on something big. Won't talk about it in the open. I'll try to listen in when he meets the board tomorrow."
That same night, Clara met Ethan in a dimly lit parking garage — a location chosen precisely because it was the last place anyone would expect to see her.
"You're playing with fire," she warned as he handed her a small flash drive.
Ethan smirked. "You're the one holding the match."
The drive contained preliminary reports Damien had been working on — mergers, acquisitions, and one particularly suspicious contract with a company Clara knew was tied to offshore money laundering.
If Damien went through with it, he'd not only secure enough illegal funds to power his empire but also have the leverage to crush her public image if she tried to expose him.
The First Big Intel
A week later, Clara got the breakthrough she needed.
Ethan had managed to record part of a conversation between Damien and Rhea. It was about an upcoming charity auction — the same one Clara had been invited to — and Damien's plan to use it to secure a multi-million-dollar backdoor deal.
But there was something else.
In the recording, Damien mentioned her.
"Clara thinks she's clever," Damien's voice said, dripping with disdain. "Let her play her little games. By the time she realizes what's happening, she'll be the one begging for my help."
Clara felt her stomach tighten, but her resolve only hardened.
The Suspicion
The danger came sooner than expected.
At Damien's company headquarters, Ethan noticed something off. Damien's assistant, a hawk-eyed woman named Marissa, had been watching him more closely than usual. Papers that used to be left casually on Damien's desk were now locked away. Conversations stopped when he walked by.
That night, Ethan messaged Clara:
Ethan: "He's getting suspicious. Might not know it's me, but he knows someone's leaking."
Clara: "Then we make him think it's someone else."
Shifting the Blame
Clara staged a subtle misdirection. Using one of her own contacts in the media, she leaked a harmless piece of information about Damien's company — something trivial but slightly embarrassing — and made sure it looked like it came from a disgruntled former employee.
The next week, Damien's fury was directed entirely at the scapegoat. Ethan's cover was safe… for now.
The Cliffhanger
Late one evening, Ethan called Clara instead of texting — something he only did in emergencies.
"Clara," he said, his voice low but urgent, "you're not going to like this."
"What happened?" she asked, her fingers gripping the edge of her desk.
"Damien's changing his plan for the charity auction. He's not just using it for the deal. He's using it to trap you."
Her heart skipped. "Trap me how?"
Ethan hesitated. "He's got a file. With your name on it. And whatever's in it… it's enough to ruin you."
The line went silent except for the hum of the city in the background.
And for the first time in weeks, Clara felt the icy edge of fear slice through her.