Cameron had been texting Jennica throughout his Monday morning lunch break and was in an excellent mood, despite Aiden's teasing. Even being called into Aaron's office and encountering his icy demeanor couldn't dampen his spirits.

"What are you so happy about?" Aaron asked, his tone sharp.

"Absolutely nothing," Cameron replied, trying to hide his smile.

Aaron's eyes narrowed, but he then gestured for Cameron to sit. He shuffled a stack of papers before handing them to Cameron.

Cameron scanned the first few pages. They were stock market trend reports; seemingly normal.

"I don't see the problem."

"The problem is that my father personally handed these to me. Why would something from your department reach him first?"

Cameron's blood ran cold. Aaron hadn't been this angry in a while, but Cameron couldn't blame him. Part of his job as manager of the analyst department was to ensure all reports went to Aaron first, so he remained informed and could stay ahead of Alistair.

This, coupled with Aaron's apparent loathing of his father, explained his bad mood perfectly.

"I'm not sure how this happened. My subordinates know to place reports on my desk, and I give them to you immediately."

Aaron steepled his fingers under his chin, exuding a chilling aura.

"It happened because the CEO has a plant in the analyst department. There's no other explanation. I don't know what he knows, but he's clearly connected the two of us."

"What am I supposed to do? I can't monitor the entire department every second!"

A sinister smile touched Aaron's lips. "You can't, but we both know someone who can."

Aiden. He looked like a regular IT employee in a tiny corner cubicle, his monitors shielded from security cameras, but that was far from the truth. His job wasn't in IT; he internally examined the company for Aaron daily. His supervisor was none the wiser because Aiden manipulated his call logs and workflow to appear as if he were performing standard IT tasks.

Cameron had always been impressed by Aiden's computer skills.

"What are you going to have him do?"

"The next time a stock trend report is due, I'll have him monitor every camera in the analyst department for a few days. Whoever removes the file from your desk is the mole," Aaron stated coldly.

Cameron suddenly felt nervous for whoever had sided with Alistair. "Um…what are you planning to do to them?"

"Ensure they never work in the financial sector again."

It was a good thing Cameron wasn't on Aaron's bad side. The man was terrifying and held grudges indefinitely.

"Good plan!" Cameron encouraged. "Anything else, or should I head back?"

"Wait," Aaron commanded, rummaging through his desk. He produced a plane ticket. "We're going to Monaco this weekend. There's a tournament at the Monte Carlo Casino, and I expect you to win a prize."

Cameron groaned internally. He'd planned to ask Jennica out this weekend. She'd mentioned being out of work…she might be free sooner.

"In all my time working for you, I've only been beaten twice. Don't worry. But why are you coming this time?"

"The banking industry there is growing, and I plan to be a part of it. My father is unconvinced, but I know Hale Investments will benefit from contacts and a branch office there. I'm on a scouting mission and will report to the board at the next meeting."

This sounded like one of Aaron's uncanny predictions. Cameron knew better than to question it; his boss had never been wrong.

He bid Aaron farewell and returned to his office. Looking around at his diligently working colleagues, he wondered which one had made the biggest mistake of their lives.

Aaron Hale was the last person anyone in the financial sector should want to cross, but Alistair still held considerable clout, though his influence was waning.

Cameron believed in his friend. Why else would he have followed him all these years? Aaron was going to take over the company and lead it to new heights. He was brilliant and ruthless—the perfect businessman.

His only weakness was Keeley, but nobody outside of Cameron and Aiden knew about her, so he didn't foresee it becoming a problem in this family power struggle.

He was glad his parents were normal. His mother was a third-grade teacher, and his father worked in health insurance; he wouldn't have to worry about family intrigue.

He'd had his share of sibling arguments growing up, but normal squabbling, not corporate espionage.

Poor Aaron. Neither of his parents cared about him; the entire Hale family was cold. Cameron and Aiden were his friends, but he doubted anyone truly cared for him. Keeley certainly didn't.

He couldn't understand why Keeley had caught Aaron's eye. Aaron was unique; how had he become captivated by someone so ordinary? People usually needed common ground to build a relationship. Keeley and Aaron were like oil and water. Cameron and Jennica, on the other hand…he'd never connected with anyone so quickly. Three days of texting, and he was already craving his phone, even while at work.

He had a lot to do. Managing a department was exhausting, but this was what he'd wanted. His Harvard classmates would kill for this job.

Cameron appreciated what he had, even if his boss gave him short notice about leaving the country when he wanted to pursue a girlfriend. The final paragraph about the website was removed as it was irrelevant to the story itself.