Chapter Nine: The Inside Job

The name sat like fire on Isabella’s tongue—Golden.
She stared at the blurry surveillance image Sir Mark had sent. Golden, once a close companion of Cisco. A woman who’d shared meals with their family. Slept in their guestroom. Laughed over childhood memories.
Now, she was possibly the very leak who had helped Pikolo vanish.
The betrayal felt personal.Because it was.
Quiet Investigations
Isabella didn’t react impulsively. She’d learned by now that revenge was best served cold—and with proof.
The next morning, she reached out to Agather, her oldest and most loyal friend.
“I need a favor,” she said quietly over a steaming cup of coffee in her office.
“Anything,” Agather replied.
“I need you to follow Golden. Discreetly. I want to know who she meets, what she says, where she goes. Especially at night.”
Agather blinked. “You think she’s involved?”
“I don’t think anymore. I’m certain.”
Unmasking the Traitor
Within 48 hours, Agather delivered.
Photos. Time-stamped logs. Audio clips.
Golden had been meeting with a man in a black SUV—every Wednesday and Saturday—behind an abandoned warehouse in East Ridge. One of the audio clips was crystal clear:
“The Peters girl is getting too close. We need to move the files.”
Isabella froze when she heard it.She played it again.
The Peters girl. That was her.
She handed everything over to Sir Mark Luck, the Police Commissioner, who swiftly launched a quiet sting operation.
Golden’s apartment was raided by early dawn.
Inside, they found burner phones, a large sum of cash, and—most damning of all—a secured envelope containing Isabella’s stolen photos, university documents, and intercepted email transcripts.
The Confrontation

Later that day, in an interrogation room beneath the Hano Chi Police HQ, Isabella stood behind the two-way mirror.
Golden sat alone in the cold chair, arms folded, face unreadable.
Sir Mark turned to Isabella. “Do you want to speak to her?”
She didn’t hesitate.
When the door opened, Golden didn’t look surprised. In fact, she smiled bitterly.
“I figured it would be you.”
Isabella stepped into the room, arms crossed. “Why, Golden? You were like family.”
Golden shrugged. “Family never noticed me. Your father wouldn’t even remember my birthday. Cisco made me feel like I was living in your shadow. Everyone talked about Isabella the smart one, Isabella the strong one, Isabella the future of the company...”
Isabella narrowed her eyes. “So, you sold us out? For money?”
Golden scoffed. “Pikolo gave me attention. Power. He said he’d help me build something of my own—if I helped him disappear.”
“And Esther?”
Golden’s face twitched. “She followed him willingly… at first. But she started asking questions. I think she regretted it.”
That hit Isabella like a blade.
So Esther might have wanted out.But she was trapped.And now Pikolo had taken her somewhere no one could find.
A Bigger Enemy
As Isabella left the room, her phone buzzed.
Sir Mark was already a step ahead.
“Golden gave us a name. Someone even higher in the chain. Said he funded Pikolo’s last international trip. A man named... Victor Sylas.”
Isabella frowned. “Never heard of him.”
“He’s not in the country now—but he’s known for identity trafficking and corporate blackmail. And apparently… he’s connected to someone in your university.”
Isabella’s heart dropped.
Bright Mind University.Sir Fred.Tosky.The circle was tighter than she thought.
Resolution and Fire
That night, Isabella sat on her balcony again, the wind cutting through her thoughts.
Golden was in custody. One leak sealed.
But Pikolo was still out there. And now, so was Victor Sylas—a ghost pulling strings from afar.
It wasn’t just about family anymore.It was about a network.A deeper conspiracy.
And Isabella had just begun to scratch the surface.