Chapter 831: You Must Do This Yourself
Chapter 831: You Must Do This Yourself
The words settled into her slowly, each one placing a colder weight in her chest.Sheila looked down for a moment, then back up. "Do you know who is helping him?"
"No."
The answer came too quickly to be satisfying.
Liam noticed the flicker in her eyes and added, "He is getting help from someone close enough to you to know useful details. I do not have enough proof to give you a name. Guessing wrong would only make things worse."
Sheila’s fingers tightened slightly against the edge of the bed.
Someone close enough to her.
That was worse than Chris acting alone. Chris’s pride, resentment, and desire to reclaim influence were problems she could understand. They were frustrating, but visible. Someone close enough to her to feed him information was different. It turned every familiar face into a possible question. Every conversation, every moment she had lowered her guard, every piece of guidance she had accepted or shared with someone around her became something that could have moved toward Chris without her knowing.
A quiet frustration rose beneath the fear.
And disappointment.
She did not want to feel it, but it came anyway. Part of her had expected Liam to say he had already taken care of it. That the problem was gone, or at least contained. Not because she thought he owed her that, but because Liam had a way of making dangers seem smaller once he started moving. He found routes other people missed. He cut through nonsense. He acted before most had finished naming the issue.
But he was sitting there telling her the problem remained.
Liam watched her for a few seconds.
Then he said, "I have not removed the problem for you."
Sheila’s eyes lifted to his.
"And I am not going to," he added.
The hurt that crossed her face was faint, but real.
"You are not?" she asked.
"No."
Sheila drew in a slow breath, trying to keep her voice steady. "You told me you would help."
"I am helping."
"It does not sound like it."
"It is not the kind of help you wanted."
That landed more sharply than he probably intended, or perhaps exactly as sharply as he intended. Sheila looked away, her jaw tightening just enough to show the pressure she was holding back.
"Are you abandoning me to deal with it alone?" she asked quietly.
"No."
"Then what are you doing?"
Liam leaned back slightly in the chair, his red eyes steady on her. "Not becoming the hidden solution to every leadership problem you face."
Sheila did not answer.
"If I secretly remove every obstacle before it reaches you," Liam said, "your leadership will look strong only because I kept clearing the path around you."