CHAPTER FORTY THREE - A TEST OF LOYALTIES

Ava tensed, but Leo only pulled out a USB drive. "Everything you need to know is on here. Financial records, emails, even security footage. It'll show you I'm innocent." Ava eyed the drive suspiciously. "Why come to me? Why not go to Max?" Leo's expression darkened. "Max wouldn't listen. He's too caught up in his own world, too quick to believe the worst of me. But you, Ava... you're different. You see things others don't." Reluctantly, Ava took the drive. "I'll look at it. But I'm not promising anything." Leo nodded. "That's all I ask. Just... be careful, Ava. Whoever's behind this, they're dangerous. And they're closer than you think." With that cryptic warning, Leo melted back into the shadows, leaving Ava alone with her thoughts and a USB drive that could change everything. Inside her apartment, Ava spent hours poring over the contents of the drive. To her shock, the evidence seemed to support Leo's claims of innocence. Financial records showed he had been essentially powerle