Chapter 2 - THE VIDEO
Elena turned away so quickly Adrian almost thought he had imagined her reaction.
“Elena.”
She kept walking.
Grant stepped into Adrian’s path.
“Careful.”
Adrian looked at him.
“Move.”
Grant smiled.
“You’ve been standing for thirty seconds and already think you own the floor again.”
“I do own forty-one percent of the company paying for this ballroom tonight.”
“Used to.”
That stopped Adrian.
Grant lifted his champagne.
“Check your email.”
Claire laughed softly.
Adrian reached inside his jacket and pulled out his phone.
There were nineteen missed calls.
Six from his attorney.
Four from his sister.
Three from the chairman of Cole Meridian Group.
And one subject line repeated across several messages.
EMERGENCY BOARD SESSION.
Adrian opened the first email.
His jaw tightened.
During the months following his car accident, Adrian had signed a temporary voting proxy allowing Claire to act on certain company matters while he recovered.
A limited proxy.
Or so he had believed.
Grant leaned closer.
“You should really read what you sign when you’re on pain medication.”
Adrian looked up.
Claire’s smile vanished for half a second.
That was enough.
“You changed it.”
Claire scoffed.
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“You changed the proxy.”
“You signed it.”
“Did I?”
Grant’s eyes hardened.
Phones were recording openly now.
Claire noticed.
She instantly changed her expression.
Her voice softened.
“Adrian, please. You’re getting upset.”
It was beautifully performed.
A concerned former fiancée speaking gently to an unstable injured man.
Adrian understood the trap immediately.
Then Claire delivered the next blow.
“You told everyone you couldn’t walk.”
“No.”
“You let everyone believe you couldn’t.”
“My medical records say exactly what my condition is.”
Claire turned toward the nearest cameras.
“He just admitted he manipulated everyone.”
Grant added, “Including investors.”
Within thirty minutes, the video was online.
But not the whole video.
The clip began with Adrian standing.
It cut out Claire spinning his wheelchair.
It removed her insult.
It removed Elena defending him.
All that remained was Adrian saying:
“I stayed because I needed to know who’d be kind when I looked powerless.”
Then:
“Always could.”
By the time Adrian reached his penthouse, the headline had spread everywhere.
BILLIONAIRE FAKES DISABILITY TO TEST GUESTS.
He threw his phone onto the couch.
His attorney, Marcus Reed, stood near the windows.
“This is bad.”
“I know.”
“No, Adrian. It’s worse than bad.”
Marcus handed him a folder.
“The board has frozen your voting authority until tomorrow’s emergency review.”
“They can’t.”
“With the proxy Claire filed, they can.”
Adrian flipped through the pages.
Then stopped.
His signature was there.
The page above it was not the page he remembered signing.
Marcus watched him.
“You sure?”
“Yes.”
“Then we need proof.”
Adrian thought of Elena.
Her face when she looked at Grant.
“You need to find the banquet attendant.”
Marcus sighed.
“She’s probably already surrounded by reporters.”
“No.”
Adrian grabbed his jacket.
“She knows something.”
His hip buckled.
He caught the edge of the desk.
Marcus moved toward him.
Adrian raised one hand.
“I’m fine.”
“You’re not.”
“I said I’m fine.”
Marcus stared at him.
Then at the wheelchair near the elevator.
“Maybe stop proving things to people who aren’t asking.”
Adrian went still.
Elena had said almost the same thing.
Twenty minutes later, Marcus’s phone rang.
He answered.
Listened.
Then slowly looked at Adrian.
“What?”
Marcus lowered the phone.
“The hotel just fired Elena Marquez.”
Adrian’s expression changed.
“Why?”
Marcus swallowed.
“They say she stole a diamond bracelet from a donor.”
Adrian grabbed the wheelchair handles.
“Who reported it?”
May you like
Marcus already knew the answer.
“Claire Beaumont.”
