Chapter 15: The Final Trap

The warning from Marcus changed everything.

Security around the Foster estate was increased immediately.

Every entrance was monitored.

Every employee was rechecked.

Even the hospital where Avery's father was recovering received additional protection.

Elliot refused to take any chances.

"Someone accessed my medical records," he told Avery.

"That means they know how much I remember and how far the investigation has gone."

Avery nodded.

"Then we have to be careful."

"We will be."

For the next several days, nothing happened.

No suspicious calls.

No strange visitors.

No attacks.

The silence made Elliot more nervous, not less.

Dangerous people usually didn't disappear.

They waited.

One Friday afternoon, Avery received a call from the hospital.

"Mrs. Foster?"

"Yes?"

"Your father's doctor would like you to come in."

"Is something wrong?"

"He wants to discuss a change in your father's treatment."

Avery immediately stood.

"I'll be there shortly."

She told Elliot about the call.

"I'll go with you," he said.

"You don't need to."

"I know."

"I'm coming anyway."

They arrived at the hospital less than thirty minutes later.

Everything appeared normal.

The reception staff greeted them politely.

A nurse led Avery toward her father's room.

Elliot followed close behind.

Halfway down the corridor, the nurse suddenly stopped.

"Mrs. Foster, your husband will need to wait outside."

Elliot immediately frowned.

"Why?"

"Hospital policy."

Avery looked confused.

"I've never been told that before."

"It's only temporary," the nurse replied.

Elliot's instincts immediately warned him.

Something was wrong.

"Avery, wait."

Before he could say more, the corridor lights suddenly went out.

Avery gasped.

"Elliot!"

Emergency lights flickered on.

The nurse was gone.

Two unfamiliar men appeared at the end of the hallway.

"Take Mrs. Foster," one ordered.

Elliot moved instantly.

He grabbed Avery's hand and pulled her behind him.

"Stay close."

The two men rushed forward.

Elliot blocked the first attack.

The second man swung toward Avery.

She stepped aside and struck him with the metal railing she had grabbed from the wall.

He stumbled.

"I'm fine," she said.

"You don't have to keep telling me to stay behind you."

Elliot almost smiled despite the situation.

"We'll argue about that later."

Security alarms suddenly started ringing.

Several Foster security officers entered the corridor.

The attackers immediately tried to escape.

They didn't get far.

Within seconds, both men were restrained.

Elliot looked toward Avery.

"Are you hurt?"

"No."

"Good."

A security officer approached.

"Sir, there is something you need to see."

"What?"

"The hospital's access system was hacked ten minutes before the attack."

"Someone created false authorization for the nurse."

"Who had access?"

"We're tracing it now."

Elliot looked at Avery's father's room.

"Take me there."

They rushed down the corridor.

The door was open.

Avery's father was still in bed.

But an unfamiliar man stood beside the medical equipment.

"Who are you?" Avery demanded.

The man froze.

Then he reached for something inside his coat.

Elliot moved faster.

He grabbed the man's wrist before he could pull anything out.

The object fell to the floor.

A small device.

A recording unit.

The man struggled.

"Who sent you?" Elliot demanded.

"Talk!"

The man remained silent.

Avery stepped closer.

"Were you recording my father's conversations?"

The man looked away.

Elliot understood immediately.

"Someone wanted information from him."

"About the Tate company."

"Or about us."

The security team took the man into custody.

An hour later, Marcus arrived with a report.

"Sir, we traced the hacked hospital account."

"Where did it originate?"

"From inside Foster Holdings."

Elliot's expression hardened.

"Again?"

"Yes."

"But this time we found the administrator."

Marcus handed him a tablet.

A name appeared on the screen.

Avery stared at it.

Her face went pale.

"No..."

"That's impossible."

Elliot looked at her.

"You know him?"

"Yes."

"He's my father's former legal adviser."

"Mr. Bennett."

"He disappeared after the company went bankrupt."

"We thought he had left the city."

Marcus shook his head.

"He didn't."

"He's been working with Richard Hale's network for years."

Elliot looked at Avery.

"Then we finally found the last piece."

"Can you locate him?"

"We've already found his residence."

Elliot stood.

"Let's go."

The police joined them for the operation.

Within an hour, they reached Bennett's apartment.

The place was empty.

But the computer systems were still running.

Marcus searched the files.

"Sir..."

"What?"

"There are payments here from several offshore accounts."

"All leading back to one company."

"Richard Hale's shell company."

Elliot looked at the screen.

The final mystery had finally been solved.

Bennett had helped Richard manipulate Tate Holdings.

He had provided Elliot's private schedule.

He had helped access medical records.

He had even monitored Avery's father's hospital treatment.

Everything connected.

"Find him," Elliot ordered.

Police teams searched the city through the night.

By dawn, Bennett was finally arrested at a private airport.

He had been trying to flee the country.

During questioning, he confessed.

Richard had been the mastermind.

Victor had helped him unknowingly at first.

Cole had known about part of the plan.

Bennett had handled the financial and technical side.

And the attack on Avery's father was the final attempt to destroy the remaining evidence.

When Elliot returned home, exhaustion covered his face.

Avery was waiting in the living room.

"Is it really over?" she asked.

He sat beside her.

"Yes."

"This time, it's over."

Avery let out a long breath.

"I never imagined my marriage would come with this much trouble."

Elliot smiled.

"Neither did I."

"Would you do it differently?"

He looked at her.

"Marry you?"

"Yes."

"Never."

"Not even if you knew everything that would happen?"

"Especially then."

Avery smiled.

"Good answer."

Elliot reached for her hand.

"Avery, there's something else."

"What?"

"I don't want our marriage to remain only a marriage on paper."

"Neither do I."

"Then we should stop pretending it is."

She looked at him with warm eyes.

"I agree."

For the first time since the wedding, their future no longer felt uncertain.

They had survived betrayal.

Manipulation.

Danger.

And a conspiracy that nearly destroyed both their families.

Now only one thing remained.

Choosing what came next.