CHAPTER 4 — THE WOMAN WHO REFUSED TO LIE
CHAPTER 4 — THE WOMAN WHO REFUSED TO LIE
The boardroom erupted before I had even taken my seat.
"What is the meaning of this?"
"You have children?"
"Is this why the merger was delayed?"
"Who is that woman?"
Twenty executives spoke at once.
I let them.
Silence has more power when people have exhausted themselves.
Finally I placed the newspaper on the table.
"I'll ask once."
The room became still.
"Who leaked this photograph?"
No one answered.
Victor Hale leaned back calmly.
"This is hardly the issue, Daniel."
I looked at him.
"The issue is perception."
His voice remained smooth.
"Our investors deserve honesty."
"Honesty?"
He nodded.
"If you've been hiding a family—"
"I haven't."
He spread his hands.
"Then explain."
"I will."
I stood.
"The woman in that photograph works for this company."
Several directors exchanged uneasy glances.
"She became homeless yesterday."
Murmurs rippled around the room.
"Her children had nowhere safe to sleep."
Silence.
"So she made a desperate mistake."
I looked at every face around the table.
"The greater question isn't why she hid in one of our rooms."
I paused.
"It's why someone earning a full-time salary at my company couldn't afford a roof over her children's heads."
No one spoke.
Victor smiled politely.
"A touching speech."
His tone made the words sound poisonous.
"But emotional stories don't answer shareholders."
"They will."
I pressed a button.
The screen behind me lit up.
Images of the hidden cameras appeared.
The room went silent.
Then another slide.
Missing security footage.
Deleted access logs.
Another.
A timeline of every security breach in the last twelve hours.
Several directors turned pale.
Victor didn't.
That was the first thing I noticed.
Everyone else looked shocked.
He looked... calculating.
Back upstairs, Anna packed the twins' backpack.
Richard stood beside the door.
"You don't have to leave," he said.
"I do."
"They'll protect you."
She shook her head.
"I've spent my whole life solving my own problems."
Just then, Sophia tugged on her mother's sleeve.
"Mama..."
"What is it?"
"The man with the shiny shoes."
Anna frowned.
"What man?"
"The one who gave me candy yesterday."
Every adult in the room froze.
Richard knelt immediately.
"Sweetheart..."
His voice became incredibly gentle.
"Can you tell me where you saw him?"
Sophia pointed toward the executive elevators.
"He told me we were playing a secret game."
Richard and I exchanged a long look.
Someone had approached the twins before they entered my suite.
This had never been a random act of desperation.
Someone had deliberately targeted two innocent children...
...to get close enough to destroy me.
And for the first time, I realized the attack wasn't aimed at my company.
It was personal.
May you like
Very personal.
Someone from my past had finally come back to collect a debt.
