Unexpected Encounter: A Second Chance at Love-Chapter 306: The Traitor
Early in the morning, a phone call woke Andrew up. He glanced at the clock before grabbing the phone. It was six in the morning. He had slept only for a couple of hours.
Initially he wanted to ignore the phone call but when he saw who it was, he immediately answered it.
"Samuel—" he said in a hoarse morning voice.
"I am sorry, did I disturb you?" Samuel said but there was a hint of panic and urgency in his voice which Andrew did not miss.
Andrew quickly sat up straight. "What is it?" he asked, glancing at Rachael who was still fast asleep.
"I heard about Joshua." Pausing for a while, Samuel asked, "Is he okay?" 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶
"He is stable now."
"Good, good—" When silence followed from Samuel’s side, Andrew frowned and got down the bed and made his way towards the balcony.
"Samuel, what is it?" Andrew asked directly. He wasn’t a fan of the silent game Samuel was playing. If something was wrong, he wanted to know fast and clearly.
"I don’t know how to say this but—" Samuel sighed. "I think Igor is playing big time."
"And is Katherine also involved in all this?"
Samuel went quiet for a moment, clearly thrown off by Andrew’s question. "What—how do you know that?" he asked.
"It doesn’t matter how I know," Andrew replied. "Just tell me everything you have got."
Samuel hesitated before letting out a long, tired sigh. "Alright. I was going to call you anyway after I confirmed a few things."
"I am listening."
"About a week ago," Samuel began, "I noticed something odd. One of the secure channels in my apartment showed unusual traffic, it was an encrypted phone line being used during late hours. At first, I thought it was interference or some external tap but when I dug deeper, I realized it was coming from inside."
Andrew’s brows furrowed. "Inside your apartment?"
"Yes and as you already know, the only people staying there are me and Katherine," Samuel said with his tone tightening. "I wanted to believe it wasn’t her, Andrew. I really did but the timing, it all fits too perfectly."
When he started putting all the pieces together, Samuel realised that Katherine’s activities had always been out of the line. It had always been quite subjective.
He paused and the faint sound of him pacing on the other end of the line reached Andrew’s ears.
"I didn’t want to accuse her without proof," Samuel continued. "So I started digging quietly. I even told Joshua about it so he could be a little cautious."
He sighed, "We managed to track a few outgoing calls but the number was masked. My men were keeping an eye on her while others handled some work."
Andrew’s grip on the phone tightened. "That was before Joshua got shot."
"Exactly," Samuel confirmed grimly. "And last night, my men finally managed to isolate the source. The number on that encrypted line had been rerouted several times but we traced it back to one location."
Andrew’s jaw clenched. "Where?"
There was a long pause before Samuel replied. "Russia. Directly to Igor’s private line."
Andrew felt a cold rush of anger surge through him. His fingers curled into a fist as he stepped further out onto the balcony.
"Are you sure?" Andrew asked. What they had suspected had turned out to be true.
"As sure as I can be," Samuel said. "I haven’t confronted her yet but if she has been talking to him then she has been feeding him information all along. That would explain how Igor knew about our routes, our shipments and also how he knew where Joshua was."
Andrew’s silence stretched but heavy and controlled though every muscle in his body was rigid with fury.
"Andrew," Samuel spoke again, his voice quieter now, almost pleading, "If Katherine really did this I will handle it. She is my responsibility."
It was Samuel who had ’RESCUED’ her from Russia and brought her to the city to live with him. He had trusted all her lies and had given her shelter. Her betrayal stung him more than anymore else.
He had always treated him like his own little sister, his own blood but she had stabbed his back.
Andrew’s tone was like steel when he finally replied, "No, Samuel. She is our problem now and I will decide how to handle her."
There was a tense beat of silence between them before Samuel sighed. "What do you want me to do?"
"Nothing," Andrew said coldly. "Not yet. Keep acting normal because if she suspects you know, she will run." He didn’t want to take any chances. "I will send Ben to you within the hour and he will help you secure the place. Don’t let her leave until I say so."
"Understood."
Andrew ended the call without another word. He stood there for a long moment with the phone still in his hand, jaw tight and eyes dark.
He didn’t want to believe it but everything pointed to the same conclusion—Joshua’s warning, the call logs, the timing.
Katherine was the traitor, the mole.
And this time, Andrew wasn’t planning on showing mercy.
....
[Samuel’s Apartment — Early Morning]
The room was dim and was lit only by the soft glow of her phone screen.
Katherine sat cross-legged on the couch with a silk robe loosely draped over her shoulders and her bare legs curled beneath her.
Her fingers trembled slightly as she pressed the phone to her ear and her lips curved into a faint restless smile.
"I told you not to call me this early," she murmured in a low teasing voice. "Samuel is still asleep. If he wakes up and sees me on the phone, he will start asking questions."
Igor’s deep voice crackled through the line, dark and smooth like smoke. "You sound nervous, Malyshka1."
A shiver ran down her spine at the endearment. She closed her eyes, clutching the phone tighter. "I just don’t want him to get suspicious," she whispered.
There was a low chuckle on the other end. "You are lying," Igor said. "You like the risk. It excites you."
Katherine bit her lip as her pulse quickened. "Maybe I do."
"You always did," he said lazily. "You loved sneaking around, lying in my bed, pretending to hate me when all you wanted was more."
Her breath caught. "Stop it," she said softly, though her tone lacked conviction. "You know I can’t think straight when you talk like that."
"Good," Igor murmured, voice low and commanding. "You don’t need to think. Just listen."
The sudden change in his tone snapped her back to reality. Her smile faded. "What happened?"
"You failed me," Igor said flatly. "Joshua is still alive."
.....
To say "baby" in Russian in a romantic way
