For the first time in weeks, Aruna didn't feel powerless.
She felt dangerous.
The realization brought a cold clarity she hadn't tasted since Veloria's early battles.
If they were going to survive, she couldn't just defend anymore.
She had to strike quietly, strategically.
She had to lure the traitor into revealing themselves.
The plan was simple in concept, treacherous in execution.
Aruna would create a series of fake initiatives "internal recovery projects" information so sensitive that only a few hands could possibly leak them.
If any of it surfaced outside, she would know.
And she would know who leaked it.
She called Reza and Naya separately into her office, giving each of them slightly different "exclusive assignments" tied to a fictitious partnership they would pretend to pursue.
Vincent, however, received a different bait.
Late that evening, Aruna sent him a confidential email, detailing a supposed pivot project: a high-stakes acquisition of a small edtech startup.
She described it as their secret comeback strategy a way to rebuild Veloria's market reputation in one dramatic move.
Of course, none of it was real.
It was a phantom operation, designed solely to expose the mole.
If any trace of the acquisition rumor reached the outside world, it would point to Vincent.
And then there would be no more doubts.
Meanwhile, Vincent sat at his desk, reading the email under the dim office lights.
His fingers tapped rhythmically on the wood, a habit he had when deep in thought.
The news should have excited him but something about it didn't sit right.
Why would Aruna plan something this bold without consulting the whole leadership team first?
Why was it communicated through a private channel instead of a meeting?
More importantly, why now, when Veloria was at its most fragile?
He leaned back in his chair, eyes narrowing.
Is she testing me?
The thought pricked at his pride, but he pushed it aside.
If Aruna suspected him, she would need real evidence to act.
And Vincent had no intention of giving her any.
He would play along for now.
But he would also prepare his own moves.
The silent war had officially begun.
Days passed.
Aruna waited with a tension so sharp it made her physically ill.
Every meeting, every casual conversation felt layered with meaning.
She watched her team with heightened senses every glance, every hesitation, every misplaced word.
Meanwhile, Vincent continued to act perfectly normal, executing his tasks, offering advice, supporting initiatives.
If anything, he seemed even more loyal than usual.
But Aruna knew better.
The calm was deceptive.
It was the eye of a storm she had unleashed herself.
Then, three days later, a rumor surfaced.
Whispers began trickling through the industry about Veloria making a desperate move an acquisition to save their falling brand.
It was subtle, casual, dismissed by many as just another startup myth.
But Aruna recognized it immediately.
It was her bait.
And it was out in the wild.
Her heart pounded with a mix of triumph and dread.
The traitor was real.
And unless the impossible had happened, it was Vincent.
But exposing him wasn't simple.
Not yet.
If she confronted him without irrefutable proof, it would fracture Veloria completely.
She needed him to trap himself further.
She needed him to believe he was winning.
Only then could she strike the final blow.
Meanwhile, Vincent received word through his underground channels that the fabricated acquisition rumor had indeed started to spread.
He smiled grimly.
She set a trap.
Aruna was smarter than he had given her credit for.
This changed things.
He couldn't proceed with subtle sabotage anymore the window for patient decay was closing.
It was time to accelerate the endgame.
Vincent started moving files.
He began subtly pulling critical client data into offsite backups he controlled.
He initiated small internal policy changes that looked harmless on the surface but would cause cascading failures once triggered.
And he reached out to Giselle.
Through a burner account, he sent a simple encrypted message:
"Final phase starting. Be ready."
At Veloria, Aruna felt the tightening noose.
Strange glitches appeared in their systems.
Key clients suddenly became unresponsive.
Reza reported oddities in project databases, missing records, inexplicable errors.
Naya reported conflicting figures between finance and operations.
The ship was sinking faster than even Aruna had feared.
And still, she couldn't move yet.
She needed to catch Vincent in a crime too large to deny, too blatant to spin.
Only then could she sever him cleanly from Veloria without tearing the whole company apart.
One night, as Aruna stayed late alone, she stared out over the city skyline, grappling with a chilling thought:
What if it's already too late?
What if exposing the traitor wouldn't save Veloria only slow its inevitable collapse?
The question haunted her.
But the answer didn't change her resolve.
She had fought too long, bled too much, believed too deeply to give up now.
If Veloria was going down, it would not go down with her back turned.
It would go down with her fighting to her last breath.
In the shadows of Veloria's crumbling empire, two masterminds moved quietly against each other.
One seeking truth.
One seeking destruction.
Both knowing the final confrontation was no longer a matter of if.
Only when.
And when it came, it would not be a clean battle.
It would be a war without mercy.