The scandal spread faster than anyone expected.
By noon, every business channel was discussing Anna's name. Reporters crowded outside the company building, cameras flashing whenever anyone entered or left. Social media was worse—opinions, accusations, speculation.
Inside her office, Anna stood by the window, arms crossed tightly.
She had built everything with discipline, intelligence, and relentless effort.
Now strangers were reducing it all to headlines.
Behind her, Oliver ended another phone call.
"The legal team is handling the press," he said. "The board meeting has been delayed."
Anna didn't turn around.
"Good."
Her voice was calm, but distant.
Oliver noticed immediately.
He walked closer. "Anna."
She finally faced him.
"Was it really someone inside my company?"
"Yes."
"How do you know?"
"I traced the access route."
"With your team?"
"Yes."
Anna studied him carefully.
There was something in the way he answered—too smooth, too ready.
A thought she didn't want entered her mind.
"Your network had access too," she said quietly.
Oliver's expression changed only slightly, but she caught it.
"Anna—"
"Answer me."
"Yes," he said. "My systems had access to parts of it."
The room went silent.
Her heartbeat grew louder.
"So the leak could have come through you."
"It didn't."
"But it could have."
Oliver stepped closer. "You think I would do this to you?"
"I don't know what to think right now," she admitted.
Those words hit harder than anger.
For the first time, something sharp flashed in Oliver's eyes.
"After everything… that's where your mind goes?"
Anna hated the hurt in his voice, but confusion was swallowing everything else.
"You keep secrets," she said. "You control information. You decide what I should know. And now my company is under attack."
"I'm trying to protect you."
"You always say that."
"Because it's true."
Anna looked away.
Right now, truth felt impossible to recognize.
That evening, the penthouse felt colder than the weather outside.
They were in the same room, but distance stretched between them.
Anna sat at the dining table pretending to read reports.
Oliver stood near the bar, untouched drink in his hand.
Neither spoke for a long time.
Then Anna's phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
Her chest tightened.
She opened it.
Even now, you still don't know who he really is.
She stared at the words.
Oliver noticed her face immediately. "Another message?"
She silently handed him the phone.
He read it once, then set the phone down slowly.
"This is what they want," he said. "They want you to doubt me."
Anna looked at him.
"It's working."
The honesty in her voice landed like a blade.
Oliver inhaled sharply, then walked toward her.
When he stopped in front of her, his voice was low and controlled.
"Look at me."
She did.
"I have hidden things," he said. "I have made mistakes. I should have told you more."
A pause.
"But I would burn every company in this city before I betrayed you."
The intensity in his eyes shook something inside her.
He meant it.
Every word.
Yet uncertainty still lingered.
Anna whispered, "Then prove it."
Oliver held her gaze for a long moment.
"I will."
He picked up his coat and headed for the door.
"Where are you going?" she asked.
"To find the person doing this."
The door closed behind him.
Anna sat alone in the silence, staring at the skyline.
For the first time since their marriage, trust had cracks in it.
And someone, somewhere—
was trying to break it completely.