Taming My Sugar Mommy
Chapter 67: unnoticed spy

Chapter 67: unnoticed spy

"Neither will my tolerance for corporate espionage." She moved toward the door, then paused. "I’ll have my legal team draft a revised agreement—one that reflects an actual partnership rather than a thinly veiled acquisition. If you’re interested in that kind of relationship, we can talk."

"I look forward to seeing it," Davies called after her. "Though you might want to consult with your board first. I hear several members are increasingly concerned about your... leadership decisions."

Isabella kept walking, maintaining her composure until the elevator doors closed behind her. Only then did she allow herself a moment of genuine alarm. Davies knew too much—about her company, about internal discussions, about matters that were closely guarded.

Back at Ashworth headquarters, Isabella bypassed her office and headed straight for the security center in the basement. The small, climate-controlled room hummed with equipment—monitors displaying feeds from throughout the building, servers storing weeks of footage.

"Ms. Ashworth," the security technician looked up in surprise. "We weren’t expecting you."

"I need to review some footage," Isabella said, her tone making it clear this wasn’t a request. "The past two weeks, specifically any after-hours activity on the executive floor."

The technician hesitated only briefly before nodding. "Of course. Which areas specifically?"

"Start with the hallway outside my office and the conference rooms. I’m looking for any unusual patterns or meetings."

For the next hour, Isabella watched as the technician scrubbed through days of footage. Most of it was mundane—cleaning crews, security patrols, the occasional late-working executive. Then, three nights ago, she saw it—Marcus entering the building at 11:47 PM, long after his shift had ended.

The footage followed him to the executive floor, where he met a woman in the hallway outside Conference Room C. Isabella leaned closer, recognizing Patricia Winters, Davies’ Chief Strategy Officer.

"Can you get audio?" she asked.

The technician shook his head. "The system only records audio when specifically activated for meetings."

Isabella watched as Marcus handed Winters what appeared to be a flash drive. Their conversation lasted less than five minutes before they parted ways. Marcus exited through the service entrance; Winters left through the main lobby.

"Show me the logs for Conference Room C for the past month," Isabella instructed.

The technician pulled up the records. "Nothing unusual. Standard meetings, board presentations—"

"Wait." Isabella pointed to an entry from three weeks ago. "That meeting doesn’t match my calendar."

The log showed a four-hour block reserved for "Strategic Planning Review," supposedly with Isabella and the executive team. She had no recollection of such a meeting.

"I need copies of all this," she said quietly. "And I need your discretion."

The technician nodded, his expression serious. "Of course, Ms. Ashworth."

As the files downloaded to her secure drive, Isabella’s phone vibrated with a text from Victoria: *Davies’ office called. He wants to continue the discussion tomorrow.*

She ignored it, focusing instead on the revelation unfolding before her. Marcus—her head of security, someone she’d trusted for years—was feeding information to Davies. But why? What did Davies have on him? Or was it simply money?

Isabella thanked the technician and headed back upstairs, her mind racing. She needed to be careful. If Marcus was compromised, she couldn’t risk alerting him to her suspicions. She needed more information before making her move.

---

Across town, Christina sat in her car, surveillance equipment trained on the upscale restaurant where Seraphina had arranged to meet Liam for lunch. Through her directional microphone, she could hear their conversation with surprising clarity.

"She’s going to keep you in the shadows forever, Liam," Seraphina was saying, her voice silky smooth. "That’s how Isabella operates. She finds talented people, uses them, and never gives them the recognition they deserve."

Liam took a sip of his water, his expression thoughtful. "I’m not looking for recognition. I’m exactly where I want to be."

"Are you?" Seraphina leaned forward. "A man with your skills and background could be running his own division, not fetching coffee and scheduling appointments."

Christina’s eyebrows rose. What exactly did Seraphina know about Liam’s background?

"I appreciate your concern," Liam replied, his tone carefully neutral. "But my arrangement with Isabella works for both of us."

"For now," Seraphina conceded. "But when this Davies situation resolves—one way or another—where does that leave you?"

Christina watched as Liam didn’t immediately pull away when Seraphina reached across the table to touch his hand. Interesting. She snapped several photos, then packed up her equipment. She’d heard enough.

Later that afternoon, she found Liam alone in his office, reviewing schedules for Isabella’s upcoming trip to Singapore.

"Productive lunch?" she asked casually, leaning against the doorframe.

Liam glanced up. "Standard fare. The salmon was overcooked."

"Didn’t know you and Seraphina were close," Christina said, watching his reaction carefully.

Liam shrugged, his attention returning to his computer. "We’re not."

Christina allowed herself a knowing smirk. "Could’ve fooled me."

That got his attention. His eyes met hers, sharp and assessing. "Something on your mind, Christina?"

"Just looking out for Isabella," she replied easily. "Lots of people getting awfully friendly with the competition these days."

"Seraphina isn’t competition."

"No?" Christina raised an eyebrow. "Then why is she meeting with Davies this evening? Right after spending an hour trying to convince you that Isabella doesn’t appreciate you enough?"

A flicker of surprise crossed Liam’s face before he controlled it. "And how would you know about any of that?"

"It’s my job to know things," Christina replied. "Just like it’s yours to keep Isabella’s calendar and mine to keep her safe. Question is, are we all doing our jobs properly?"

She pushed off from the doorframe and turned to leave, then paused. "By the way, you might want to check the security logs for the executive floor. Someone’s been deleting footage—specifically, the cameras outside Isabella’s office. Thought you should know."

Liam’s expression hardened. "Marcus?"

"Can’t say for sure," Christina replied. "But whoever it is has high-level access. And they’re getting sloppy."

After she left, Liam sat motionless, processing this new information. ’Did she actually see me meeting with Seraphina? How much does she know?’ Things were escalating faster than anticipated. He opened his secure messaging app and typed a brief update: *Multiple breaches confirmed. M likely compromised. S playing both sides. Accelerating timeline.*

The reply came almost instantly: *Proceed with caution. Primary objective remains protection of subject.*

Liam deleted the conversation and returned to Isabella’s schedule, his expression betraying nothing of the complex calculations happening behind his calm exterior.