Chapter 6 - THE WOMAN WHO STOOD BESIDE ME
The room remained frozen.
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
Because for three months, everyone had believed I was a broken man.
A man who needed help.
A man who had lost control of his own life.
But now I was standing in front of them.
Not struggling.
Not shaking.
Standing.
Vanessa looked like she had seen a ghost.
"Alexander..."
Her voice was barely a whisper.
I looked at her.
The woman who once promised to love me forever.
The woman who abandoned me the moment she thought I had nothing left.
"Surprised?"
She opened her mouth.
No words came out.
Daniel stepped forward.
"How... how is this possible?"
I smiled.
"Funny."
I looked at him.
"You never asked how I was feeling after the accident."
His face changed.
"You only asked when I would return to work."
Silence.
Because he knew I was right.
I turned toward everyone in the room.
"For months, I watched."
I pointed at the wheelchair beside me.
"I watched who visited me."
"I watched who checked on me."
"I watched who cared about Alexander Carter..."
"And who only cared about what Alexander Carter owned."
My uncle Martin looked uncomfortable.
"Alexander, you don't understand—"
"No."
I interrupted.
"I understand everything now."
The doors opened.
Marcus, my security chief, walked in.
He placed several folders on the table.
"These are copies of every communication we recovered."
Vanessa's expression changed.
Fear.
Real fear.
"What are you doing?"
I looked at her.
"Showing everyone the truth."
The first folder contained messages between Vanessa and Daniel.
The second contained financial transfers.
The third contained documents proving they planned to remove me from my own company.
Nobody spoke.
Then Clara stepped forward.
"Mr. Carter..."
Everyone looked at her.
She held another envelope.
"I found this hidden inside Vanessa's office."
Vanessa immediately turned.
"You went through my things?"
Clara looked nervous.
"No."
Her voice became stronger.
"You asked me to clean your office."
She placed the envelope down.
"I found it behind the cabinet."
I opened it.
Inside was a signed agreement.
A private contract.
If I was declared mentally incapable of running my company...
Vanessa would gain control of my shares.
My hands tightened.
She wasn't waiting for me to recover.
She was waiting for me to disappear.
I looked at Vanessa.
"Was this your plan?"
She stared at me.
Then something changed.
The fear disappeared.
A cold smile appeared.
"You really think you won?"
Everyone looked at her.
Vanessa laughed softly.
"You still don't understand."
She stepped closer.
"You may have exposed me."
She pointed at my wheelchair.
"But nobody knows why you were hiding your recovery."
My expression changed.
Because she was right.
She had found the one weakness in my plan.
She smiled.
"Maybe everyone should know what kind of man pretends to be disabled just to test people."
The room went silent.
And for the first time...
May you like
I realized Vanessa still had a weapon.
TO BE CONTINUED...
