The Bug Inside His Tie

Chapter 4 - The Conversation They Sold

Victor had never intended to fall in love with Elena.

She worked in his home.

She had a daughter.

Their worlds were too different.

So he kept distance.

Until three months earlier.

One night, Elena found him alone after a brutal board meeting.

They talked until sunrise.

After that, the boundary blurred.

Victor helped Lily with schoolwork.

Elena started leaving coffee outside his office.

Nothing had been officially said.

But something was happening.

And Andrew knew.

The bedroom recordings proved it.

Marcus recovered an encrypted file from Samuel Kent's laptop.

Victor heard his own voice.

If Elena ever wanted to leave this house, I'd make sure she never had to worry about money again.

Then Elena:

I don't want your money.

Victor closed his eyes.

Andrew had sold that recording too.

Not because it contained corporate information.

Because Victor's competitors planned to use it publicly.

They wanted to suggest Victor was financially supporting a secret relationship with an employee.

Create scandal.

Destabilize the board.

Question his judgment.

And force him out before a major merger.

Elena listened in silence.

Then asked:

"How much of our conversations did they hear?"

Marcus hesitated.

"Enough."

She looked humiliated.

Victor turned toward her.

"I'm sorry."

She shook her head.

"You didn't put the devices there."

"No."

"But I should have protected this house better."

Elena's eyes moved toward Lily.

"You protected everything except the places you thought were safe."

That sentence stayed with him.

Andrew had exploited exactly that.

Family.

Home.

Routine.

The belief that betrayal came from outside.

Then security found something worse in Samuel's messages.

The original plan had failed.

The merger was still moving forward.

So Andrew proposed escalation.

An "incident."

Something that would make Victor appear unstable or incapacitated.

Marcus read the message silently.

Victor noticed.

"What?"

Marcus looked at Elena and Lily.

"You may want them out of the room."

Victor shook his head.

"No more hiding."

Marcus read it.

If recordings don't move the board, use the medication route. He already takes something for migraines.

Victor's expression changed.

He did take medication.

Prepared every week by the household medical service.

The same service Andrew had recently recommended.

The pills were tested.

Several had been altered.

Not enough to kill.

Enough to cause confusion, fainting and erratic behavior.

Enough to make Victor look unfit to run Hale Meridian.

Andrew had not only been listening.

He had been preparing to take control.

Police arrived before midnight.

Andrew tried one final argument.

"We're brothers."

Victor looked at him.

"That should have meant something before you poisoned my medicine."

Andrew said nothing.

They took him away.

Samuel Kent was arrested hours later.

But before leaving, Andrew turned toward Lily.

The child immediately hid behind Elena.

Victor stepped between them.

Andrew smiled bitterly.

"All this because of a kid with scissors."

Victor looked down at the ruined tie still inside an evidence bag.

"No."

He looked back at his brother.

"All this because you thought nobody smaller than you mattered."