The Comments Told Me to Fight the Fake Heiress but I Chose Her as My Sister Chapter 09

The Comments Told Me to Fight the Fake Heiress but I Chose Her as My Sister Chapter 09

Vice President of Projects. Hiram Boone.

One of August’s oldest, most trusted men.

The person assigned to walk me through company processes after I came home.

He’d been gentle with me.

Patiently walked me through the equity structure. Reminded me how to speak in meetings. Sighed like an

elder.

“Lila, you’ve been through so much. If you ever don’t understand something, just come ask old Hiram.”

In my past life, I’d leaned on him hard.

And because I’d leaned on him, a lot of information had “accidentally” slipped out through my hands.

In the end, I was the one who took the fall.

When Caspian set the evidence on the table, his face was grim.

“Hiram took three payments from the Hale family. The accounts looped through two layers, but we traced

them.”

Elowen asked, “Does he know we’re on to him?”

Caspian said, “He probably suspects, but he doesn’t know how deep we’ve gotten.”

The words barely landed when my phone rang.

Caller ID: Hiram.

I answered.

His voice was still warm and kind.

“Lila, are you free tomorrow? Before the project meeting, I’d like to give you a little extra tutoring.”

I looked at Caspian.

He shook his head, telling me not to go.

But I held the phone and smiled.

“Sure, Hiram.”

When I hung up, Elowen frowned. “That’s too risky.”

“He came to me first. That means Silas can’t wait any longer.” I said, “They want the real keys.”

Caspian said low, “I’ll have people tail you.”

Elowen looked at me. “Are you sure?”

I nodded.

“In my past life, they treated me like an idiot.”

“This time, I want to see it with my own eyes. How far they’ll actually go.”

The next day, I went to the office.

Hiram led me into a small conference room.

Printed materials on the table. A cup of hot tea.

“You’ve improved a lot lately, Lila.” He smiled warmly.

“But the energy-storage project is tangled up in competing interests. Reading the prospectus isn’t enough.

What really matters is the system access keys and the supply chain master list.”

I looked blank.

“Caspian won’t let me touch those.”

Hiram sighed.

“Caspian’s looking out for you. But if you want to prove yourself, you have to take a step.”

Familiar words.

Silas had said them.

The crimson lines had said them.

They all knew exactly what I was afraid of.

Afraid of being looked down on.

Afraid of always being the girl from an impoverished rural community.

Afraid the Voss family would hand me a check and lock me out of the core.

In my past life, that fear had led me by the nose.

I lowered my voice. “But I don’t know the password.”

Hiram pulled a USB drive from his desk drawer.

“I can export a practice version for you. You just log in with the temporary credentials Caspian gave you.”

Outside the door, Caspian’s people should be securing evidence right now.

I reached for the drive.

My fingertips were almost on it when the conference room door swung open.

Silas walked in.

He’d actually come himself.