Chapter 6
Victoria Sterling called me the next day.
I almost didn’t answer.
But curiosity got the better of me.
“Claire. How lovely to hear your voice.”
Her tone was sweet, but I heard the venom underneath.
“Victoria. What do you want?”
“Can’t an old friend call to check in? I heard about the gala. How terrible for you.”
“Cut the act. Did you leak the story to the press?”
She laughed.
“Leak it? Darling, I didn’t have to. The whole city was talking about it. Someone just happened to have a camera handy.”
I gripped the phone tighter.
“Stay away from Daniel. And stay away from me.”
“Or what? You’ll have your daddy buy something else?”
Her voice turned cold.
“You think you won, Claire? You think just because you have money now, you get to keep him? Let me tell you something. Daniel and I have history. Real history. You’re just a temporary distraction. A charity case he felt sorry for.”
“Daniel chose me.”
“For now. But men like Daniel always go back to what’s familiar. What’s safe. What’s equal.”
She paused.
“And when he realizes what a mistake he made… I’ll be waiting.”
She hung up.
I stood there, my hands shaking.
Daniel walked into the room.
“Who was that?”
“Victoria.”
His face fell.
“What did she want?”
“To threaten me. To tell me she’s waiting for you to come to your senses.”
He ran a hand through his hair.
“I haven’t spoken to her in months. Claire, you have to believe me.”
“I do.”
And I did.
But Victoria wasn’t the type to give up easily.
The next week was a blur.
The scandal dominated the news.
My father’s company held a press conference to address the situation.
Daniel worked around the clock on the tech acquisition, trying to prove himself to the board.
Margaret recovered slowly in the hospital.
I visited her every other day.
Our conversations were awkward at first.
Then gradually, they became easier.
She told me stories about Daniel as a child.
I told her about growing up with my father.
We didn’t become friends.
But we reached a kind of truce.
Then came the board meeting.
Daniel’s future at the company was on the line.
The tech acquisition project was make or break.
I sat in the waiting room outside the boardroom while he presented.
My father was inside, watching.
An hour passed.
Then two.
Finally, the doors opened.
The board members filed out.
Some looked impressed.
Some looked skeptical.
Daniel came out last.
His face was unreadable.
“Well?”
“They’re going to deliberate. We’ll know by the end of the day.”
I took his hand.
“You did great in there. I could tell from the way they were looking at you.”
He gave me a weak smile.
“Thanks. I hope you’re right.”
We went to get lunch.
Daniel checked his phone every two minutes.
I tried to keep the conversation light, but I was just as nervous as he was.
At three o’clock, his phone rang.
It was my father.
Daniel answered.
“Hello?”
He listened.
His face went from nervous to confused to angry.
“What do you mean, there’s a problem?”
I leaned forward.
“What’s wrong?”
He held up a finger.
“Who found it?… How long has it been there?… No, I had nothing to do with it. You have to believe me.”
He hung up.
“Daniel, what is it?”
His hands were shaking.
“Someone planted evidence. Emails. Between me and Victoria. Suggesting we’ve been having an affair. And that I was leaking company information to her father’s firm.”
My blood ran cold.
“That’s not true.”
“Of course it’s not true. But the emails look real. The board is furious. They’re putting the acquisition on hold. And they’re launching an investigation.”
He put his head in his hands.
“Someone is setting me up, Claire. And they’re doing a really good job of it.”
I thought about Victoria.
I thought about her phone call.
Her threats.
This had her name written all over it.
But how could she have gotten access to Daniel’s work email?
Unless…
Unless someone was helping her.
Someone on the inside.
Daniel looked up at me.
“Your father thinks I did it. I can see it in his eyes.”
“My father doesn’t think anything yet. He’s just being careful.”
“Is he? Or is he looking for an excuse to get rid of the son-in-law who isn’t good enough for his daughter?”
The words stung.
“Daniel, that’s not fair.”
“Isn’t it?”
He stood up.
“Your father has never liked me. Not really. And now he has a perfect reason to fire me. To ruin me. And to convince you to leave me.”
I stood up too.
“That’s not happening.”
“Isn’t it?”
He looked at me with hurt eyes.
“Because from where I’m standing, everything is falling apart. And I don’t know how to fix it.”
He walked out of the restaurant.
I sat there alone.
The waiter came over to ask if everything was okay.
I nodded, but it wasn’t true.
Nothing was okay.
Someone was playing a dangerous game.
And Daniel and I were just pawns.
May you like
I picked up my phone and called my father.
“Dad. I need to see you. Now.”
