Is this destiny?

Chapter 1152 - A Traitor

~ Los Angeles, White Corp. HQ ~

Sarah and Aiden entered Jeff's office.

Jeff, JoAnna, Sophia, Felix, Steve and Bridgette are already there.

Sarah's eyes landed on a lady in her mid-twenties, a new face. She is sitting next to Sophia and she glanced at Sarah and Aiden before lowering her gaze at the laptop in front of her.

Sophia saw Sarah's questioning gaze and she smiled. "This is Pamela, my new assistant. She started on Monday. Pam, this is my sister Sarah and her fiancé Aiden."

Pamela saw that Sophia is introducing her, and she stood up.

"Nice to meet you. You can call me Pam.", she smiled at Sarah and Aiden.

Aiden glanced at the new face and then turned to Sarah. Seeing Sarah's scrutinized gaze, Aiden realized that Sarah will do any checking and interrogation that is needed.

Sarah was still observing Pam cautiously and she was startled when Aiden nudged her, reminding her to respond. He could respond as well, but that might wake up jealous beast inside Sarah, which is recently docile, however Aiden does not want to play with fire. Not with Sarah.

Sarah understood Aiden's intention and her lips curved into a smile before she spoke to Pam: "Nice to meet you too. Sorry that I spaced out, but it's been a while since we had a new face in this setting."

Aiden chuckled at Sarah and nodded to Pam in a greeting before getting his laptop and sitting at a desk next to Jeff.

In truth, Sarah was not just spacing out. She was reading results of the Pam's background check and Eve's scans on her Eve-vision: 'Pamela Wolf, born in Buckley, WA on March 3, 1997 (age 23), Height 5'4", Weight 165lbs, Degree in business administration, GPU 3.8… No criminal record… No known association with any criminal group…'

Well, based on the information Eve has, Pam looks clean.

Sarah knows that Sophia interviewed many-many candidates and was unable to find the one she is comfortable with. Until now. Well, Pam is focused on her work, and not ogling at Aiden. That is good enough for Sarah. Bonus is that Sophia seems to be happy.

Sarah checked on JoAnna who confirmed that she and the twins are doing fine. Next, Sarah invited Sophia and Felix to come for dinner. Tonight. It is overdue for them to find out about the army of Chaos.

When those things were done, Sarah turned to the big screen on the wall which showed incoming and outgoing calls for Marcus White and his associates.

"Did anything unexpected happen yet?", Sarah asked Jeff.

"No.", Jeff responded. "So far, they are coordinating timings. Based on the current information, they will not make any moves until tomorrow."

"Why is this coordination taking so long?", Bridgette asked. "Based on our simulations, it should be done in less than two hours."

Aiden snickered. "Yeah, but now Marcus does not trust Lukas and Jasmine. He hired a hacker to monitor all their online and cell phone activities because he suspects that they are working for us. Besides those two, Marcus does not trust anyone. He is double-checking everything personally."

"Really?", Sophia perked up. "Maybe we can use this and pour some oil on fire."

Aiden thought it's a good idea, but he does not know how they can use it. "I'm placing the files on the share… you can watch them to understand the current situation Marcus is in and see if you can make use of it."

"We are in a good shape, right?", Aiden asked Jeff.

Jeff nodded in confirmation. "We are keeping a close eye on their activity. My people are inside Marcus' circle and they are sending regular updates. Oscar and Elanor are observing, I told them not to do anything unless I ask them to. Jasper, Bradley, Christopher, Russel and Vincent are on a standby. Even Charlie said to give him a call if needed."

"Penny also.", Bridgette added and reminded them that Penny is in Dallas and that she said how they can count on help from her and Ben.

"Yes.", Jeff confirmed. "Penny and Ben also."

Jeff is happy to know that so many people are willing to help him out if necessary. 

"Red number…" Sarah's words made everyone turn toward the large screen which is filled with phone numbers.

The screen is showing numbers involved in ongoing and incoming calls for Marcus and his associates. White numbers are for the ones who are not presenting a risk of a potential mole (aka traitor) from the Jeff's side. Numbers marked in red are the ones which are in the personal contacts of Jeff and his associates (mostly people currently in his office), and yellow ones are numbers of people who are associated with White corp. or the White Foundation.

Aiden typed swiftly on his keyboard and two seconds later everyone could see the information related to the red number: the number was called from Marcus' phone, and the number is a personal cell phone of Bradley Hanks. The call is ongoing. There was a counter showing the duration of the call: 10 seconds… 11 seconds… 12 seconds…

Sarah, Aiden, Sophia and Felix turned to Jeff, waiting to see his reaction. Steve and Bridgette looked at Jeff as well.

The only one not understanding the weight behind Bradley Hanks accepting a call from Marcus White was Pamela (she is the new one).

Bradley Hanks is Jeff's college friend. Jeff's groomsman. Bradley attended Jeff's inauguration at the White Mansion. Bradley was at Jeff's birthday as well. Bradley is in the group of six young men who studied together, they are all friends, six giants… Why would Marcus talk to Bradley?

Jeff's expression was unreadable. He is well aware what this means. Marcus is working with Bradley, but… Why would Bradley accept to work with Marcus? Bradley's family is in the business of precious metals and gems. They are influential across North America and their wealth can last several generations. What can Marcus offer to Bradley that is inviting enough for Bradley to turn his back on Jeff? It does not make sense.

Jeff sighed while thinking that maybe it makes sense. Maybe the truth is right in front of him, but because of his impression of Bradley as one of his people, Jeff is unable to see it.

They spent a lot of time together in college, and after that they collaborated well. Both of them profited from deals they made.

Jeff wondered if he offended Bradley in any way, but even if it did… Bradley is risking his whole family business by going against him. Nothing makes sense…

Jeff was startled out of his thoughts when JoAnna held his hand in hers.

"What do you want to do?", JoAnna asked Jeff.

Jeff pursed his lips and he was… indecisive. If it's anyone else, it would be easy, but this is Bradley. One of few Jeff considered friends. Heck, only few minutes ago he named him as one of the people who are on a standby, ready to help him when needed. So much for friendship… You can't trust anyone…

Jeff looked around the room and reminded himself not to go that route. People in this room ARE his friends and he WILL trust them. He will not allow one traitor to corrupt his faith in others. Because all the people in this room are his family (except for Pam, she is a new face).

Jeff is unable to decide what to do with Bradley, but he knows one thing: he needs to understand why Bradley is working against him.

"We are recording this, right?", Jeff asked.

Aiden and Sarah confirmed.

"Let's put tabs on Bradley's incoming and outgoing communication. If you can pull any history, I want to see it."

"What are we looking for?", Sarah asked Jeff while already typing on her laptop, next to Aiden.

"How long is Bradley colluding with Marcus? What is the nature of their relationship? I want to know what is Bradley's motive to turn into a traitor." Jeff was unable to hide his anger mixed with disappointment.

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