Chapter 3 The Thief on the Run and Broken Trust
# Chapter 3: The Thief on the Run and Broken Trust
Jade Annable's hands were still trembling when she closed the door to their Brooklyn brownstone. The children had been uncharacteristically quiet during the ride home, sensing their mother's distress despite her attempts to maintain composure.
"Go to your workroom," she told them, keeping her voice steady. "We'll talk about this later."
The triplets exchanged glances—that silent communication that sometimes made Jade feel like an outsider in their relationship—before heading downstairs to the basement they had converted into a combination laboratory, computer center, and library.
When she was alone, Jade leaned against the door and closed her eyes, allowing the memories she'd kept carefully compartmentalized for five years to surge forward.
Five years ago. The Craig mansion on the Upper East Side. A life that now seemed to belong to someone else entirely.
---
Jade had been twenty-six when she'd answered Eleanor Craig's advertisement for a personal assistant. Fresh out of her master's program in computer science, she had intended the position to be temporary—a way to pay bills while developing her cybersecurity startup ideas. But Eleanor Craig had been impressed with Jade's efficiency and precision, and when the family's nanny suddenly quit, Eleanor had offered Jade the position with a substantial salary increase.
"Just until we find someone permanent," Eleanor had said. "William is away at boarding school most of the year anyway, and Walter hardly notices household staff."
That last part had proven untrue. Walter Craig had noticed Jade immediately.
Their first meeting had been brief—a nod in the hallway as he returned from a business trip. But over the following months, their interactions had increased. Walter would work from home occasionally, and Jade would bring him coffee or documents his mother needed signed. They began to talk—awkwardly at first, then with increasing ease.
Walter had been different then—still driven and intensely focused, but with moments of unexpected warmth. He'd asked about her studies, her ideas for cybersecurity innovations. Once, finding her reading a complex paper on encryption methods in the kitchen late at night, he'd sat with her for hours discussing theoretical applications.
Jade had been careful to maintain professional boundaries. Walter was her employer's son, heir to a tech empire, moving in circles she could barely imagine. Yet there had been moments—a lingering glance, fingers brushing when passing documents, conversations that stretched long past their practical purpose—that suggested something more than professional interest on both sides.
Then came the night that changed everything.
Eleanor had hosted one of her famous charity galas at the mansion. Jade, though technically staff, had been asked to attend as Eleanor's assistant, wearing a borrowed gown that made her feel simultaneously elegant and fraudulent.
Walter had been there with his latest socialite date, a blonde woman who'd spent most of the evening networking rather than staying by his side. Near midnight, Jade had escaped to the mansion's library for a moment of quiet, only to find Walter already there, nursing a scotch alone.
"Not enjoying the party?" he'd asked, his tie loosened, looking more relaxed than she'd ever seen him.
"Just needed a moment away from the noise," she'd admitted.
They'd talked for hours, the gala forgotten. About books, technology, dreams—the conversation flowing with none of the awkwardness of their earlier interactions. When Jade had mentioned her plans to launch a security firm someday, Walter had seemed genuinely impressed.
"You should submit a proposal," he'd said. "Craig Technologies could use someone with your perspective."
Later, Jade would never be certain who moved first. Perhaps they both did. But suddenly they were kissing, his hands tangled in her hair, her fingers gripping his shirt. It had been desperate and tender simultaneously, a release of months of tension and unacknowledged attraction.
When they'd finally broken apart, breathless and stunned, Walter had touched her face with uncharacteristic gentleness.
"Have dinner with me tomorrow," he'd said. "Not here. Somewhere we can talk properly."
Jade had agreed, heart racing with possibilities.
The dinner never happened.
The next morning, Eleanor Craig had summoned Jade to her private sitting room, face rigid with controlled fury.
"My Cartier diamond set is missing," she'd announced without preamble. "The security system shows you entered my suite last night during the gala."
Jade had been confused at first, then horrified as she realized what was being implied. "Mrs. Craig, I was helping your maid locate your evening wrap. You asked me to—"
"Save your explanations," Eleanor had cut her off coldly. "The jewels are worth over two million dollars. I've already contacted security. They'll be here shortly to search your quarters."
Jade's mind had raced. "I didn't take anything. I would never—"
"I trusted you," Eleanor had continued as if Jade hadn't spoken. "Brought you into our home. And this is how you repay that trust? By stealing family heirlooms that have been in the Craig collection for generations?"
"Please, Mrs. Craig, there must be some mistake—"
The sitting room door had opened then, and Walter had entered, his face a mask of professional distance—nothing like the man who had kissed her with such passion the night before.
"Mother, the security team is here," he'd announced, barely glancing at Jade.
Jade had turned to him desperately. "Walter, please, I didn't take anything. You know I wouldn't—"
"Mr. Craig to you," Eleanor had snapped. "And don't try to involve my son in your schemes. Walter, please show the security team to the staff quarters."
Walter had hesitated then, his eyes finally meeting Jade's. For a moment, something flickered there—doubt, perhaps. But then he'd nodded curtly.
"This way, gentlemen," he'd said, leading the private security team toward the staff wing without another word to Jade.
The search had been thorough and humiliating. They'd found nothing, of course, but Eleanor Craig had been unmoved.
"Perhaps you've already passed the jewels to an accomplice," she'd suggested. "Regardless, your employment is terminated, effective immediately. You have one hour to collect your personal belongings. After that, you will be escorted from the premises."
Jade had looked to Walter, standing silently by the door, his face unreadable. "Walter," she'd whispered, one final plea for him to believe her.
He'd looked away.
That was the moment Jade had understood completely: in the world of the Craigs, people like her were disposable. Whatever connection she had imagined between herself and Walter had been meaningless. When forced to choose between her word and his mother's, he hadn't even hesitated.
She'd packed quickly, nausea building as she moved. The pregnancy test she'd taken just two days earlier—still hidden in her bathroom cabinet, its positive result a secret she'd planned to keep to herself until she decided what to do—was tucked deep into her bag.
As security had escorted her to the door, Walter had appeared in the hallway. For one wild moment, Jade had thought he might speak up, might defend her. Instead, he had watched her go with cold detachment, as if she were a corporate liability being efficiently handled.
"I expected better judgment from you," he'd said quietly as she passed. "You could have had a legitimate career."
The words had cut deeper than anything else. Not only did he believe she was a thief, but he thought she'd tried to use him—that everything between them had been calculated manipulation.
Jade had left the Craig mansion with nothing but her personal belongings, a shattered heart, and the knowledge that she carried the heir to the Craig fortune inside her.
---
Now, five years later, standing in her own home with the life she'd painstakingly built threatened by Walter Craig's sudden reappearance, Jade felt that same nausea return.
She moved to her office and unlocked the secure cabinet that contained her most sensitive files. The folder labeled "Craig: Enemy Assets" was thick with documents—financial records, news clippings, corporate structures. Not the vengeful dossier Olivia had inadvertently implied, but a practical collection of information about the man who could, if he chose, use his vast resources to take her children away.
Because that's what Walter Craig did—he acquired assets, eliminated obstacles, and won at all costs. It was what had made him a tech industry titan before the age of forty.
Jade had spent five years preparing for this possibility, building her own resources and safeguards. Annable Security Solutions wasn't just a business; it was protection. Her client list now included judges, law firms, and media executives—people whose goodwill might be crucial if Walter ever discovered the triplets' existence.
She had never intended to keep the children a secret forever. As they grew older and asked about their father, she had told them the truth—a carefully edited version that emphasized Walter's choice to believe his mother over her. She had shown them photographs, articles about his business achievements. She had never demonized him directly, but neither had she softened the reality of his abandonment.
What she hadn't anticipated was that her brilliant, resourceful children would take matters into their own hands.
A soft knock at the door interrupted her thoughts. "Mom?" Alexander's voice called. "May we come in?"
Jade composed herself and opened the door. The triplets stood in a tight cluster, their expressions varying from Alexander's solemn concern to Ethan's nervous fidgeting to Olivia's defiant tilt of the chin.
"We've prepared a presentation," Alexander announced, holding up a tablet. "It explains our rationale and methodology for the Craig Technologies infiltration."
Despite everything, Jade almost smiled. Of course they had prepared a presentation. Her children approached everything—from requesting a pet to explaining broken household rules—with flowcharts and data analysis.
"Let's go to the living room," she said, following them to the comfortable space that contrasted sharply with the sterile elegance of the Craig mansion.
Once they were seated, Alexander began the presentation, complete with professional-looking slides. "Operation Paternal Verification was conceived forty-three days ago when Olivia located an anomalous file in your secure backup drive."
Jade raised an eyebrow at her daughter, who had the grace to look slightly abashed.
"I wasn't snooping," Olivia insisted. "I was implementing additional encryption protocols as a surprise gift for you."
"Continue," Jade said, making a mental note to discuss privacy boundaries yet again.
"The file contained your original termination notice from the Craig household," Alexander explained. "It referenced theft allegations but provided no specific details. Our historical analysis indicated significant logical inconsistencies in the official narrative we had been provided regarding our paternal origins."
"You told us Walter Craig believed his mother instead of you," Ethan jumped in, less formal than his brother. "But you never said what you were accused of stealing or why he would believe you'd do that when he supposedly liked you."
Jade sighed. "It's complicated, Ethan."
"Adults always say that when they don't want to explain things," Olivia noted with a frown.
Alexander cleared his throat and continued the presentation. "We determined that insufficient data was available to form accurate conclusions regarding our genetic contributor's character and motivations. Therefore, we initiated Operation Paternal Verification."
The next slide showed a detailed flowchart of their plan—reconnaissance through digital means, followed by physical observation, culminating in a controlled confrontation.
"We selected Walter Craig's birthday as our access key for both practical and symbolic reasons," Alexander explained. "Statistically, high-level executives often use personal dates as secondary authentication factors, and the symmetry of using his birth date to confirm our own genetic connection seemed appropriate."
"We didn't steal anything," Ethan added quickly. "We just looked around. Like digital window shopping."
"And you left a message and a photograph," Jade said, her voice carefully controlled. "Deliberately drawing his attention to me."
The triplets exchanged guilty glances.
"That was a tactical adjustment," Alexander admitted. "Our original plan was more subtle, but once inside the system, we discovered that Walter Craig's personal files contained no reference to you at all. It was as if you had been completely erased from his records."
"Which was weird," Ethan added, "because he keeps everything. The man has email archives going back to college."
Jade felt a pang at this confirmation of how thoroughly Walter had excised her from his life, even as a potential corporate threat to monitor.
"We determined that a direct prompt was necessary," Alexander continued. "The photograph and message were calculated to trigger recognition and curiosity rather than legal action."
"And it worked perfectly," Olivia said with undisguised pride. "He found us even faster than our most aggressive projection model predicted."
Jade looked at her children—so brilliant, so logical, and yet so innocent about the complexities of adult relationships and the potential consequences of their actions.
"What you did was illegal," she said firmly. "Not to mention dangerous. Walter Craig has resources and power that you can't begin to comprehend. By putting yourselves on his radar, you've created a situation that could threaten everything we've built."
"But he's our father," Ethan said, confusion evident in his voice. "Doesn't he have a right to know about us?"
"And don't we have a right to know about him?" Olivia added. "Beyond just news articles and corporate profiles?"
Jade looked at her daughter—so fierce, so determined, so like Walter in her unwavering focus once she'd set her mind to something.
"I understand why you did this," Jade said more gently. "But there are consequences you didn't consider. Walter Craig isn't just any father who's been absent from his children's lives. He's one of the most powerful men in the country, with virtually unlimited resources and a reputation for never losing."
"You think he'll try to take us away," Alexander stated, always quick to identify the core issue.
Jade nodded slowly. "It's a possibility we have to consider. His family places enormous value on the Craig bloodline and legacy. Three gifted children who carry his DNA? That's not something Eleanor Craig would allow to exist beyond her control."
"But that's not fair!" Ethan protested. "We belong with you!"
"Life isn't fair, sweetheart," Jade said, reaching out to squeeze his hand. "And in the world of the ultra-wealthy, normal rules often don't apply."
"So what do we do now?" Alexander asked, his analytical mind already shifting to problem-solving mode.
Jade straightened her shoulders, determination replacing the momentary vulnerability. "Now, we prepare. Walter knows about you, and there's no changing that. But knowledge is power, and no one understands Walter Craig's digital footprint better than I do."
She hadn't built a cybersecurity company from nothing without developing skills that rivaled or exceeded Walter's best technical experts. For five years, she had maintained a careful distance, focusing on raising her children and growing her business. But if Walter Craig wanted a battle, he would find that the woman he had dismissed as a desperate thief had become a formidable opponent.
"First," she told the children, "no more unauthorized hacking. Not of Craig Technologies or any other system. Is that clear?"
Three reluctant nods answered her.
"Second, we need to understand exactly what Walter knows and what he plans to do. Alexander, I want you to compile everything in our files related to Craig's custody litigation history. Ethan, review our security systems and enhance all home and office protocols. Olivia..."
She paused, looking at her fierce daughter who had so boldly threatened Walter Craig with a fake poison ring.
"Olivia, I need you to help me draft a communication strategy. If Walter attempts to contact us again, we need to be prepared."
The little girl nodded solemnly, clearly pleased to be given such an important task.
"What about school tomorrow?" Alexander asked practically.
"You'll go as usual," Jade decided. "But I'm implementing Protocol Firewall. No one picks you up except me, no exceptions. If anyone approaches you about your father, you say nothing and call me immediately."
As the children dispersed to their assigned tasks, Jade returned to her office and unlocked a different cabinet—this one containing legal documents rather than intelligence files. The triplets' birth certificates listed "father unknown," a decision Jade had made to protect them from the Craig influence until they were old enough to make their own choices about that relationship.
Now that choice had been taken from all of them.
Her phone vibrated with an incoming email. The sender was Stephen Whitmore, Walter's longtime attorney. The subject line read simply: "Regarding the Annable Children."
It had begun.
Jade took a deep breath and opened the email, her mind already formulating counter-strategies. Walter Craig had taught her the hardest lesson of her life five years ago when he stood silently by as she was branded a thief and thrown out of his house: that trust, once broken, could never truly be repaired.
She would not make the mistake of trusting him again.
