<h4>Chapter 39: Chapter 39 The Company Has A Traitor?</h4>
Sebastian’s pov?
Leonard sat back down, his voice strained with defiance. "usations without evidence? If you want to remove me from my position, Alpha Sebastian, just say so directly. No need for these fabricated charges!"?
My patience snapped like a taut string. "I’m asking you about Secretary Cecilia’s whereabouts!"?
The sound of my fist hitting the table echoed through the conference room like a gunshot. ?
My transformation from calcted coldness to raw fury happened in an instant.?
Leonard’s pupils dted in fear, but he quickly regained hisposure, putting on a brave face. "I know nothing about Secretary Cecilia’s location! If you’re suggesting I’m involved, present your evidence, Alpha Sebastian!"?
His words rang out with false confidence, but the slight tremor in his voice betrayed him.?
I reined in my anger, my face bing an arctic wastnd. The coldness settled in my very core as my suspicions deepened.?
My deliberate provocations were meant to trigger an instinctive reaction, and unlike Thomas Dunn’s panic, Leonard’s response showed no genuine surprise—especially when I suggested I might find Cecilia, when he’d briefly shed a look of smug relief.?
[Could it be possible... Cecilia truly couldn’t be found?]?
My hand clenched into a fist, knuckles whitening.?
"I have what some might call an unfortunate habit," I said, my voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. "I protect what’s mine. Anyone who dares touch someone under my protection—evidence or not—I ensure they meet a particrly unpleasant end. Leonard, you seem eager to experience this firsthand."?
Leonard met my gaze and visibly swallowed. "Alpha Sebastian," he said with forced sincerity, "I understand your concern about Secretary Cecilia’s disappearance—we’re all worried. If you need someone to me, targeting Thomas Dunn Dunn and myself... well, we won’tin."?
He gestured around the room. "But please don’t punish the others. They’ve done nothing wrong. Everyone here has devoted themselves to thispany. Treating loyal employees this way over some... pretty face... will only demoralize the staff."?
As he spoke, crocodile tears formed in his eyes.?
The uninformed employees in the room were visibly swayed by his performance, their disapproval of me practically radiating from them in waves.?
This was exactly what Leonard wanted—to manipte everyone’s emotions, particrly Amara’s.
And sure enough, Amara’s expression visibly darkened with jealousy.?
I stood there, deadly calm, surrounded by an aura of lethal cold.?
Just then, Beta Sawyer returned from taking a phone call. He hurried to my side, his face brightening with news, and leaned in to whisper: " Thomas Dunn confessed. Cecilia is being held at his family estate."?
"Alpha Xavier will head there," I instructed quietly. "Take some men and search within a five-mile radius around the house."?
"But the estate is right by the ocean," Beta Sawyer pointed out.?
My heart constricted painfully.?
The cold sensation intensified, seeping into my very marrow. Disposing of a body in the ocean would make it nearly impossible to recover.?
Without time for further questions, Beta Sawyer quickly left the conference room to follow my orders, organizing a search party for the five-mile radius around the estate.?
Everyone in the room watched our hushed exchange and Beta Sawyer’s hasty exit with questioning looks.?
"Has there been news about Secretary Cecilia?"Leonard asked with feigned concern.?
My sharp eyes caught the fleeting mockery at the corner of his mouth before he could hide it. In that moment, I almost envied Alpha Xavier’s straightforward approach—smashing this vermin’s skull first and asking questionster had its appeal.?
"Indeed..." I drawled, watching Leonard’s face tighten before continuing, "Are you afraid, Leonard?"?
He paused momentarily, then burst into forcedughter. "What do I have to fear? If she’s been found, I should be celebrating! Finally, my innocence can be proven. This is wonderful news.?
"Is Secretary Cecilia really that important?!" Amara finally exploded.?
She mmed her purse onto the table with such force that papers scattered. "Since I arrived, I’ve heard and seen enough of you worrying about another woman!"?
Her eyes were wild with jealousy. "You’ve never been this concerned about anyone before."?
I raised my gaze to meet hers. My expression was severe,manding without raising my voice. "Do you even know why she came to the factory, or why she disappeared?"?
"That’s ridiculous," Amara scoffed, her words sharp as a cornered animal’s. "I’m the general manager of this branch. Why should I care about some secretary who’s barely been here three days?" ?
Her pain made her voice brittle. "But you—the CEO of the entirepany—causing all thismotion over a secretary? Anyone would think she was your mate, not just your employee!"
"Amara," I said coldly, "if you devoted even a fraction of the attention you waste on me to your actual responsibilities, perhaps your mind wouldn’t be quite so dull."?
Amara’s eyes reddened with unshed tears.?
"I can’t believe you’d humiliate me like this over Cecilia," she whispered. "Yes, I’m dull-witted. I don’t deserve to be general manager. I’ll resign immediately!"?
She pulled out her phone and called my father, Alpha Yardley—putting the call on speaker for all to hear.?
I watched coldly, making no move to stop her.?
As soon as the call connected, Amara poured out everything that had happened, her voice breaking with emotion. ?
She described how I was tormenting everyone and protecting a newly-arrived secretary, painting me as a tyrant and Cecilia as some destructive seductress who’d bewitched me.?
Leonardforted her loudly enough to be heard over the speaker, ensuring his voice carried to my father.His words dripping with manufactured sorrow.?
"Alpha Yardley," he sighed dramatically, "if General Manager Amara resigns, I’ll resign too. Better to leave voluntarily than be removed from my position. At least I’ll keep some dignity that way."
With both of them threatening resignation, others in the room joined in, iming they would quit as well.?
Amara, seeing how quickly the situation had escted, began to realize she was being manipted. She looked nervously toward me, but I stood with arms crossed,pletelyposed, ignoring her gaze.?
"Sebastian," my father’s voice came through the speaker, "what do you have to say about this?"
I finally spoke, my voice calm as still water but cutting straight to the truth. "Father, haven’t you noticed that this performance you’re witnessing is precisely the real face of what this inspection was meant to uncover?"?
My words stripped away all pretense and revealed the ugly truth.?
Amara’s face cycled through shades of red and purple.?
"You’re the one who’s lost all reason over a woman!" she used. "You’re letting personal feelings cloud your professional judgement! Why are you protecting her? Why do you care about her so much? Have you fallen for her? She has a husband!"?
"AMARA!" I barked.?
My eyes filled with disappointment as I stared her down. "Is there nothing in your head besides romantic entanglements? I just asked if you knew why Secretary Cecilia came to the factory, but you don’t care to know. All you care about is whether I like her or am interested in her."?
I took a deep breath. "Yes, I do care about her right now, because she discovered problems that you failed to notice in two years! She was sent here to investigate the ounts on my behalf!"?
Amara froze, but she still insisted on arguing."Just because she ims there’s a problem means there is one? Just because she found something means she’s right?"?
Leonard quickly backed her up. "I agree with General Manager Amara. Who says there’s actually a problem just because she says so? Even if there were ounting issues, why didn’t she notify thepany first? Why not inform General Manager Amara? She just wanted to impress you, Alpha Sebastian!"?
"Because thepany has a traitor like you!" A weak female voice came from the doorway.?
Everyone in the room was stunned.
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