The TechWave headquarters looked the same as it always had.
Glass walls. Open workspaces. Engineers typing behind glowing screens. The quiet hum of servers filling the background.
But to Daevyd, everything felt different now.
He stepped out of the elevator slowly.
Every face looked normal.
Too normal.
Someone here had accessed Shemmy's studio security system.
Someone inside his company had helped steal her designs.
And that meant one thing.
The enemy was already inside.
His assistant, Kemi, hurried toward him.
"Sir… I thought the board suspended you."
"They did."
"Then how are you here?"
Daevyd gave a faint smile.
"I built this company. I don't need permission to walk through the door."
Kemi lowered her voice.
"The board isn't going to like this."
"I didn't come to see the board."
He glanced around the office.
"I came to find a thief."
Back at the Lekki apartment, Shemmy stood in front of the large window overlooking the lagoon.
Her mind refused to rest.
Ruth sat on the couch watching her.
"You're thinking too much."
Shemmy sighed.
"Someone betrayed us."
"Yes."
"But we don't know who."
Ruth leaned forward.
"We do know one thing."
"What?"
"The bracelet."
Shemmy nodded slowly.
"If someone took it from the studio… it means they were there."
"And they wanted us to suspect me."
Shemmy turned around.
"You still have access to the studio cameras, right?"
"Yes."
"Then check something."
"What?"
"Check who entered the studio the night before the designs were leaked."
Shemmy grabbed her laptop quickly.
Her fingers moved across the keyboard.
The security footage loaded.
Date.
Time.
Camera angle.
She fast-forwarded.
Nothing.
Just the empty studio.
Then suddenly
Movement.
The studio door opened slowly.
Someone stepped inside.
A hood covered their face.
Shemmy leaned closer.
"Who is that?"
Ruth whispered.
"Pause it."
Shemmy froze the frame.
The person walked directly toward the laptop.
Calm.
Confident.
Like they knew exactly where everything was.
Then the hood slipped slightly.
Just for a second.
Ruth's eyes widened.
"Shemmy…"
"What?"
"I think I know who that is."
Across Lagos, Daevyd stood inside the TechWave server room.
Cold air blasted from the cooling system.
Rows of blinking machines stretched across the room.
A security technician stood nervously beside him.
"Sir… accessing these logs without board approval could get me fired."
Daevyd looked at him calmly.
"Then let's make this quick."
The technician typed nervously.
Access logs appeared on the screen.
System login records.
IP addresses.
User IDs.
Daevyd leaned closer.
"Find the login from two weeks ago."
The technician scrolled.
Then stopped.
"Here."
Daevyd's eyes locked on the screen.
The system access was real.
The login came directly from TechWave's internal network.
But what caught his attention wasn't the location.
It was the user account.
The technician frowned.
"That's strange."
"What?"
"That login belongs to someone from your executive team."
Daevyd's chest tightened.
"Which one?"
The technician hesitated.
"Sir… are you sure you want to know?"
Daevyd's voice dropped.
"Yes."
The technician slowly turned the monitor toward him.
The name appeared clearly.
Daevyd felt the blood drain from his face.
Because the account belonged to someone he trusted completely.
Back at the apartment, Shemmy stared at the paused studio footage.
The hooded figure turned slightly.
Enough for the face to appear clearly for a split second.
Ruth whispered.
"That's not one of your assistants."
"No."
"That's someone else."
Shemmy's stomach dropped.
Because she recognized the person instantly.
Not from her fashion world.
From Daevyd's.
At the same moment, Daevyd grabbed his phone and called Shemmy.
She answered immediately.
"Daevyd…"
His voice was tense.
"I found the login."
Shemmy swallowed.
"So did I."
Silence.
Then they spoke at the same time.
"You're not going to believe this."
Another pause.
Then Shemmy whispered the name slowly.
The same name that appeared on Daevyd's screen.
And suddenly everything made sense.
Because the person who betrayed them…
Was standing inside TechWave headquarters.
Only a few floors above Daevyd.
Watching everything unfold.