Chapter 8
The press conference was held at my father’s company headquarters.
The room was packed with reporters.
Cameras flashed.
Microphones were thrust forward.
My father stood at the podium.
Daniel stood to his right.
I stood to his left.
Margaret and Richard sat in the front row.
My father began.
“Good morning. I’m sure you’re all aware of the rumors circulating about Daniel Carter and the alleged email scandal.”
He paused.
“Today, we’re here to set the record straight.”
He presented the evidence.
The IP trace.
The security camera footage.
The testimony from William Sterling’s former employee.
The room erupted in questions.
My father held up a hand.
“We believe these emails were fabricated as part of a deliberate attempt to sabotage our company’s acquisition of Veridian Tech. And to destroy the reputation of an innocent man.”
He gestured to Daniel.
“Mr. Carter will now make a brief statement.”
Daniel stepped forward.
He looked nervous, but determined.
“For the past two weeks, my integrity has been questioned. My marriage has been tested. And my career has hung in the balance.”
He looked at me.
“But through it all, I’ve had one thing no one could take away. The love and support of my wife. And the knowledge that I did nothing wrong.”
He turned back to the reporters.
“The attempt to sabotage this acquisition won’t work. Tomorrow, we will close the deal with Veridian Tech. And we will move forward, stronger than ever.”
The questions started again.
“Mr. Carter, are you planning to press charges against the Sterlings?”
“Mr. Harrison, will this affect your company’s relationship with Sterling Enterprises?”
“Claire, how has this affected your marriage?”
I answered that last one.
“Daniel and I are stronger than ever. We’ve faced challenges before, and we’ll face them again. But we face them together.”
Margaret leaned forward in the front row.
She caught my eye and gave me a small nod.
Approval.
Something I never thought I’d get from her.
The press conference ended.
We were escorted out through a side door.
The car ride back to the penthouse was quiet.
Daniel held my hand.
“You were amazing in there.”
“So were you.”
My father smiled from the front seat.
“Good work. Both of you. Now let’s close this deal tomorrow and put this whole mess behind us.”
But the Sterlings weren’t done yet.
That night, at nine o’clock, I got a text from an unknown number.
It was a picture.
Daniel and Victoria.
Together.
Kissing.
The photo was recent.
I could tell by the clothes Daniel was wearing.
The same shirt he’d worn to the press conference that morning.
My hands started shaking.
I showed the picture to Daniel.
His face went white.
“Claire, that’s not what it looks like. She ambushed me. Outside the building after the press conference. She ran up and kissed me. I pushed her away immediately.”
I stared at the picture.
It looked real.
It looked passionate.
“I don’t know what to believe, Daniel.”
“Claire, please. You have to trust me.”
“Trust you? After everything that’s happened? After the fake emails, the sabotage, the threats… how am I supposed to trust anything?”
Tears stung my eyes.
“Maybe Victoria was right. Maybe you do have history you’re not telling me about.”
“That’s not fair.”
“Fair? Nothing about this is fair!”
I stood up.
“I need some air.”
“Claire, wait.”
I walked out of the penthouse.
I didn’t know where I was going.
I just needed to get away.
To think.
To breathe.
I walked the streets of Manhattan for hours.
The city was alive around me, but I felt numb.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw that picture.
Daniel and Victoria.
Kissing.
Was it real?
Or was it another manipulation?
I wanted to believe Daniel.
God, I wanted to believe him.
But doubt was a powerful thing.
And Victoria was very good at planting it.
At midnight, I found myself outside our old apartment building.
The one Daniel and I had shared.
I didn’t know why I was there.
Maybe I was looking for something.
Some reminder of the love we’d had before everything got complicated.
I was about to leave when I saw them.
Victoria and a man I didn’t recognize.
They were standing by a black SUV, talking quietly.
The man handed her an envelope.
She smiled and kissed him on the cheek.
Then she got in the SUV and drove away.
I pulled out my phone and took a picture.
The man turned around.
I recognized him.
He was one of the executives from my father’s company.
Robert Vance.
He’d been at the gala.
He’d been in the board meetings.
He’d been in the room when we discussed the acquisition strategy.
Everything clicked into place.
Victoria wasn’t working alone.
She wasn’t just working with her father.
She had someone on the inside.
Someone who had access to everything.
Robert Vance.
I didn’t go back to the penthouse that night.
I went to a hotel.
I turned off my phone.
And I thought about everything.
The gala.
The water in my face.
My father’s appearance.
Margaret’s heart attack.
The fake emails.
The sabotage.
The press conference.
And now this.
Robert Vance.
The mole.
The next morning, I turned my phone back on.
Forty-seven missed calls from Daniel.
Twenty-two from my father.
I called my father first.
“Claire, where are you? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Dad, I need you to listen to me. I know who the mole is.”
“Who?”
“Robert Vance.”
There was a long silence.
“Are you sure?”
“I saw him last night. With Victoria. He gave her an envelope. Dad, he’s been working with the Sterlings this whole time.”
My father’s voice turned cold.
“I’ll handle it. Where are you? I’ll send a car.”
“I’m at the Grand Hyatt. But Dad… don’t tell Daniel I called. Not yet.”
“Claire—”
“Please. I need to talk to him myself. In person.”
“Alright. But be careful. We don’t know what Vance is capable of.”
“I will.”
I hung up.
I took a deep breath.
Today was the day the acquisition was supposed to close.
May you like
And today, everything was going to change.
Again.
