Chapter 7 A Tightening Noose

The He came close to her, and she realized that he was nervous too when she entered his office, still with noises of what Ethan mailed to her. The elements of the game were now clear to her, but what the picture held was something she did not want to confront. She could not let this thought go away: their efforts were about to turn naughty, and the person behind it all was an ally.

Alex glanced up from his desk as she came in, and his face betrayed nothing. He tried to go through the motions as if the previous day's awful experience had not happened, but he could barely keep it up. He had expected to get an answer, an indication that would help him navigate the situation, but instead he only got more queries.

"Olivia," he smiled at her, his lovely eyes meeting her lovely eyes, but he was worried. "What's the latest?"

She shut the door and went to him, placing her tablet containing the encrypted email sent by Ethan on his table. Those were the words that silence can never buy. "We have to talk, and it seems I have discovered something, something earthshaking."

Alex took the tablet, glanced at the email, and then changed his expression when he read the specifics. The name of the diner was Sovereign Enterprises, and seeing it, an electric shock went right through his body. He had heard it on the business front, where it was mostly linked with unfriendly corporate strategies and deception.

"This... this can't be right," Alex mumbled under his breath, obviously more to Liv than to her. "Do you really want to do this?"

Olivia only managed a nod, her face pale. "So, Sovereign Enterprises bought shares of our company through proxy buyers, and one of our directors has links with them."

Alex realized a film of perspiration was beginning to form on his brow. "Who?"

"Jameson Reed," Olivia said in a low tone. "I never thought he could be involved in something like that. He is a board member and has been with the company for years-so much so that I thought he had passed many years ago. He was patiently waiting for the right moment to go for the kill.".

This feeling overwhelmed Alex, and he grounded himself on the chair he was sitting on. Jameson Reed had been well-known among the other businesspeople due to his strategic brains as well as his good intuition. If he was involved in this, it meant that the threat was far more serious than they had initially thought.

"You are right," Alex said. Finally, I believe, "We have to face him." "If Jameson is involved, we can't allow the man to function within the capacity that he is damaging the firm gravely from inside. But we want to tread carefully so as not to give the man an opportunity to delete certain documents or take matters to the human resources department.

Olivia looked into his eyes, and she knew that they understood each other at that moment. It is a high-stakes affair now that a single mistake could lead to serious, probably devastating ramifications.

"I agree," Olivia said, saying it decisively. "But we need to get more evidence before we stage it. But if we go to the police with nothing to back us up, Jameson will turn this around on us, and we will never be able to stop him."

Alex nodded in agreement, content that she had every reason to be right. It is similar to what Jameson did; they had to be strategic. But massive time was not on their side. Any delay afforded Jameson more time to perfect his alibi.

"Begin to excavate," Alex commanded, and even though he didn't have a clear strategy in mind yet, he knew that he had to come up with something. Engle utters, "Take special interest in his calls, any monetary transactions he has been engaged in, and meetings that he has held recently; there must be something that can directly incriminate him with Sovereign Enterprises."

Olivia looked at him for a moment before responding and then leaving the room. Alex called her name, and she paused.

"Olivia," he said gently yet firmly. "Some caution is required now; if Jameson rumbles that we are on to him, he will not think twice about safeguarding himself.

This assertion was met with a steely glare from the girl, who turned to him and nodded her head. "I will. But, Alex, you should watch your back too. If he's as dangerous as we think, he might have already anticipated this."

That made Alex watch her go with this feeling that he wouldn't be seeing her again any time soon. The expression is referring to a betrayal that he feels is insurmountable and strongly conveys the idea that playing the game has a much different and more dangerous tone than they originally thought. The more emissions gathered, the more obvious it was that they were dealing with a pro who would not mind shooting the pandemic bullet just to protect himself.

Some hours later, Olivia was in her office at her computer, going through piles of information on her screen. She had summoned all the help she could possibly get from other departments of the company and ensured she got every detail about Jameson. The deeper she begged often, the more she discovered just how far-penetrated he was. There were things he was able to get done that she couldn't even dream of, and he had influence far beyond their company.

However, as the hours went on, there began to reveal itself some order in all these transactions, a sequence of meetings that could not be absolutely accidental. Jameson had been very considerate and almost rigorous in his plan, but there were voids in it. Small things that he had not forseen, trifles with which, when viewed together, told a very deplorable story.

It was already evening when Olivia sourced for the communication log she was specifically searching for, which would directly implicate Jameson with a known member of Sovereign Enterprises. It was the kind of proof that they required-having the smoking gun-that would trigger the complete collapse of their enemy.

The information that Olivia gathered was sent to Alex right away-a brief of the discoveries made by Olivia. When she clicked on send, this created the notion that the walls in the room were gradually moving in between the two of them. They were holding the proof in front of their eyes, but now it was time to move, and best of all, they needed to do so swiftly.

In less than a minute, her mobile rang. It was Alex.

"Come to my office," he said, as if the words pained him to say them. By doing so, he realized that it was time to strategize the next step to take.

Olivia took her notes and left for Alex's office, with a lot of thoughts going through her head. The screws were being turned on Jameson, albeit slowly; the noose was also gradually being drawn around them. The coming few hours were sensitive; any bad decision could lead to a disastrous collapse.

This is because while moving through the gloomy corridors of the building, Olivia's feeling as if someone's eyes are following her increases. The battle was more critical than ever, and the cold warrior was within the reach of its foe as it had never been before. It was a very sensitive area, and it was very risky since the result was not guaranteed at all.