CHAPTER 176: HER BROTHER WAS A LIAR

~LAYLA~

Axel and I were in the study reviewing financial reports when Tye walked in. He looked exhausted; his shoulders were tense, and his jaw was tight.

Without a word, he tossed Downson’s burner phone onto the desk with a heavy thud, then headed straight for the whisky decanter.

He poured himself a generous drink and crashed onto the leather couch, downing half of it in one gulp.

"Well?" Axel asked, watching him carefully. "Did she talk?"

"Oh, she talked." Tye stared into his glass. "You were right, Layla. Erica was Downson’s inside woman. She confirmed everything: the setup, the sabotage, how they planned to escape if things went south. All of it."

Relief flooded through me. Finally, we had what we needed. "So it’s Charles. We finally have him."

"No." Tye’s voice was flat. "We don’t."

I exchanged a confused glance with Axel. "What do you mean? Erica just confirmed..."

"Erica gave up the real mastermind," Tye interrupted, setting his glass down. "The one who’s actually been partners with Charles this whole time. The one helping him pull the strings, making sure every move was perfectly orchestrated. The one who has the ninety million dollars."

My stomach dropped. "What do you mean? There’s someone else other than Charles?"

Axel stood up, his body language shifting to high alert. "Who?"

Tye looked directly at us with a grim expression. "Henry. Henry Porter."

The name hit like a grenade that hadn’t exploded yet.

"What?" The word came out as barely a whisper.

"Henry Porter," Tye repeated. "Your business partner. Helena’s beloved brother. The guy who’s been working side by side with you for months, helping with Eclipse Beauty, advising on strategy, gaining your complete trust."

I felt like the floor had dropped out from under me. My mind raced back through every interaction, every conversation, every moment of supposed friendship and partnership.

"No," I said, shaking my head. "No, that can’t be right. Henry cut ties with Charles years ago. He told me about their falling out, about how he had to build his business from scratch after Charles..."

"It was all a lie," Tye said. "According to Erica, Henry and Charles have been partners all these while. The falling out story, all theatre. They staged the whole thing to position Henry as someone you could trust, someone who understood what it was like to be betrayed by Charles Watson."

Axel’s hands clenched into fists. "Son of a bitch. That’s why he was so eager to partner with us. Why he pushed so hard to get inside our operations."

"He wasn’t just a mole," Tye continued. "He’s the other snake in the pit. And here’s the kicker: according to Erica, Henry and Charles definitely split that ninety million. Henry wanted a bigger cut because he said he was taking more risk by getting close to you."

I sank into my chair, feeling physically sick. "I trusted him. I brought him into Eclipse Beauty. I shared confidential information, strategic plans..."

"He played you perfectly," Tye said, not unkindly. "He played all of us. Even Helena."

My head snapped up. "Helena. Oh God, Helena. Is she involved?"

"Doubtful," Tye said immediately, and I noticed how his expression softened slightly when he said her name. "From what Erica knew, Helena’s in the dark. Henry’s been using her, too. Her job with you, her access to your office, her complete innocence... it made him look even more legitimate."

"That bastard," Axel growled. "He’s been using his own sister as a cover."

I thought about Helena’s kindness, loyalty, her genuine care for me and for Eclipse Beauty. She’d opened her home to us when we were bleeding and desperate. And all along, her brother had been involved in our destruction.

"This changes everything," I said quietly.

Axel stood up, pacing the study. His expression was colder than I’d ever seen it; that meant he was absolutely furious. "He’s smart. Too smart. He’s covered his tracks perfectly. Downson and Erica’s testimony won’t be enough to convict him in court, and it definitely won’t be enough to satisfy the cartel."

"So what do we do?" I asked. "We only have about a week left on Marco’s deadline. If we can’t prove to the Sinaloa that Charles and Henry stole their money..."

"We need hard proof," Axel interrupted. "Testimony isn’t enough. We need access to his personal systems, his offshore accounts, transaction records. We need to find the actual money and trace it back to him."

"That’s impossible," Tye said, finishing his whiskey. "Henry’s security is as tight as yours, Axe. Maybe tighter. He’s been in this game long enough to know how to protect his assets."

"Not impossible," Axel countered. "Just difficult. We need someone who can get close without raising suspicion. Someone he trusts completely."

He looked at me, and I saw where his mind was going. "Helena," I said.

"She’s the only one who could do it," Axel confirmed. "She has access to his apartment, his personal space. He probably doesn’t even secure his systems around her because she’s family. If anyone could find something..."

"No." Tye stood up abruptly. "We’re not involving Helena in this."

Axel turned to face him. "Now is not the time to play protective crushing boyfriend."

"I’m not," Tye shot back, but the defensive tone said otherwise. "I just think dragging her into this is dangerous. Henry’s already using her. If he finds out she’s helping us..."

"Which is exactly why we need to be careful about how we approach this," Axel said. "But Tye, we don’t have more options here. She’s the only one close enough to find something concrete without raising Henry’s suspicions."

"She’s also the one person in this whole mess who’s actually innocent," Tye argued. "Helena doesn’t deserve to be pulled into her brother’s crimes."

"She’s already in it," I said softly. "Whether she knows it or not, Henry has been playing her from the beginning. The question is whether we tell her the truth and give her a chance to help take him down, or whether we let her keep being ignorant."

Tye’s jaw clenched. "You don’t know how she’ll react. Finding out her brother is actually a criminal who’s been manipulating her the whole time? That could destroy her."

"It might," I admitted. "But the alternative is worse. If we don’t stop Henry, if the cartel comes after us because we can’t prove our innocence, Helena loses us. And eventually, she’ll lose her brother too, because men like Henry always get caught eventually. At least this way, she has a choice."

"A choice to betray her own brother."

"A choice to stand up for what’s right," Axel corrected. "Look, I get it. You care about her. But this isn’t about protecting her feelings. This is about survival; ours and ultimately hers too."

Tye ran a hand through his hair, frustration evident in every line of his body. "I don’t like it."

"Neither do I," I said. "But this is her brother we’re talking about. How do you think she would react to this kind of news? That her brother has been lying to her all these years? That everything she believed about him was based on lies?"