Episode 14 – Secrets in the Shadows
The dim light of Callum's penthouse barely cut through the heavy tension between them.
Jasmine sat stiffly on the edge of the leather couch, her coat still clinging to her shoulders like armor. Callum moved around the room with a controlled energy, grabbing his laptop and securing the curtains shut.
The flash drive sat between them on the coffee table, looking far too small to hold the weight of so many secrets.
"You're sure no one followed us?" Jasmine asked, her voice low.
Callum's gaze flickered to her, sharp and steady. "Positive. But we won't have much time before they realize you're gone."
Jasmine swallowed the knot rising in her throat. Her world was unraveling faster than she could catch up.
"Let's get this over with," she said, her fingers digging into the seams of the couch.
Callum plugged the drive into his laptop. For a long moment, the screen remained blank. Then a folder popped up.
CONFIDENTIAL.
He clicked it open.
Inside were dozens of documents—emails, financial records, legal contracts. Some were stamped with the Phoenix Corp logo. Others carried a different name.
Whitmore Enterprises.
Jasmine leaned in, her heart pounding as Callum opened the first file.
An email chain.
As Callum scrolled, the blood drained from Jasmine's face.
It was all there.
Proof of secret deals, illegal funding, corporate sabotage.
And Callum's name... scrawled across several of the documents.
Jasmine's stomach twisted violently. She turned to him, betrayal flashing in her eyes.
"You were part of this," she whispered.
Callum's jaw clenched. "It's not what it looks like."
"Then explain," she demanded, her voice trembling.
He closed the laptop with a soft, deliberate snap.
"I was working undercover," he said, his voice low. "Trying to bring them down from the inside. I made deals, yes. I signed contracts. But every move I made was to destroy them, not help them."
Jasmine stared at him, struggling to believe.
"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked. "Five years ago—you just disappeared without a word."
Callum ran a hand through his hair, a rare sign of vulnerability.
"I wanted to," he said. "God, Jasmine, I wanted to. But I couldn't risk pulling you into it. They were dangerous then. They're even more dangerous now."
Tears burned at the back of her eyes.
"You broke me," she said softly. "You left me to pick up the pieces."
"I thought I was protecting you," he said, voice cracking. "I thought... if you hated me, you'd stay away."
She turned her head, staring blindly out the window.
Everything hurt.
Her heart, her mind, her memories.
"Why now?" she asked hoarsely. "Why pull me back in?"
Callum came closer, kneeling in front of her.
"Because they know about you," he said. "And they're coming."
---
A heavy silence fell between them.
The kind that carried all the words they couldn't say.
Jasmine hugged herself tighter.
"Then what's the plan?" she asked finally.
Callum's eyes were hard now, cold and calculating—the side of him she had only glimpsed before.
"We expose them," he said. "But carefully. Strategically."
"And if they find out first?" she whispered.
He hesitated, then reached out, gently brushing a strand of hair from her face.
"Then I protect you," he said simply. "With everything I have."
Her heart stuttered painfully at the raw honesty in his voice.
Part of her wanted to trust him.
The other part remembered how trust had almost destroyed her before.
---
That night, Jasmine couldn't sleep.
She lay awake in the guest room, staring at the ceiling, listening to the quiet hum of the city below.
Every time she closed her eyes, she saw those documents, saw Callum's name, heard the sound of his voice breaking as he tried to explain.
Was he telling the truth?
Or was she walking willingly into another heartbreak?
The door creaked slightly.
Jasmine turned her head to see Callum standing there, silhouetted in the faint light.
"I couldn't sleep," he said quietly.
"Me neither."
For a moment, neither of them moved.
Then he crossed the room and sat at the edge of the bed, careful not to touch her.
"I hate what I did to you," he said. "I never stopped."
Jasmine's throat tightened painfully.
"You don't get to say that," she whispered.
He bowed his head.
"I know."
The rawness in his voice tore at her.
For a long, heavy moment, they just sat there, two broken people trying to find a way through the wreckage of the past.
Slowly, Jasmine shifted, sitting up.
Her hand brushed against his.
Callum froze.
Then, hesitantly, he turned his palm up, allowing her fingers to slide against his.
It was a small touch.
But it shattered something between them.
Without thinking, Jasmine leaned forward, resting her forehead against his.
The connection was immediate, electric.
For a moment, they simply breathed together, hearts beating in sync.
"I'm scared," she admitted.
"So am I," Callum whispered.
---
Morning came too quickly.
The weight of reality settled heavily over them as they sat across from each other at the kitchen counter.
"We need to move fast," Callum said, pulling up a map of the city. "I have a contact who can help us leak the documents safely."
Jasmine nodded, feeling a grim sense of determination settle in her chest.
"And after that?"
He met her gaze.
"Then we disappear," he said. "For good."
A shiver ran through her.
She had no home here anymore.
No job. No safety.
Just Callum.
And the faint, dangerous hope that maybe, just maybe, they could still have something real.
---
Jasmine stood and grabbed her coat, her heart pounding.
"Let's do it," she said.
Callum smiled faintly—one of the rare, real smiles she remembered from before everything had gone wrong.
He took her hand, squeezed it once.
Together, they stepped into the unknown.
But as the elevator doors closed behind them, Jasmine couldn't shake the feeling that something—or someone—was waiting for them.
Watching.
Waiting to strike.