Chapter 69 Chapter 69
Maxwell
“Hello, Dad,” I said, forcing the words out as I exhaled and answered his call. These days, seeing my parents’ names flash on my screen made my chest tighten. I already knew why they were calling—to remind me of the disaster my life had become. Rhea and I still hadn’t find a child to adopt, it’s taking longer than we expected.
“Don’t use that tone with me, son,” my father snapped. “You have been acting awkward ever since I gave you that condition. Even your brother speaks to us better than you do.” I could hear my mother murmuring in the background, quietly agreeing with him.
I clenched my jaw. Of course Declan would anything to look like the perfect son now that he had a child and I didn’t. “Guess he has taken over the position of your golden son,” I muttered.
“Don’t speak to your father that way,” my mother cut in gently. “And I hope you haven’t forgotten your dad’s birthday on Tuesday. We are hosting a dinner at home, and you must attend. Please take a break from work and come home, honey.”
“I’ll try,” I said, already feeling trapped.
“Bring your imaginary wife Declan mentioned,” my father added dryly. My blood ran cold. Declan, I would kill him the next time I saw his face.
“Even though I don’t believe you’d get married without telling us,” my father continued, “bring the woman along.”
“I will be there,” I said, then ended the call immediately. I didn’t want to give them the chance to ask more questions especially about whether it was true that I had gotten married without telling them. That lie was already growing teeth, and I wasn’t ready to deal with it yet.
I leaned back in my chair and rubbed my face, trying to calm the storm inside me. Before I could gather my thoughts, the door to my office opened.
Amelia walked in. The moment I saw her, something in me settled. Her presence always had that effect on me, like water poured over burning fire. She was dressed simply, a purple turtleneck that fit her perfectly and a black skirt that reached just above her knees. She looked calm, confident, and completely unaware of the chaos about to be dropped in her lap.
“You called for me, sir,” she said politely.
I nodded and gestured for her to take a seat. She did, sitting straight and attentive. She had been working here for over two months now, and I couldn’t deny how good she was at her job. Even though this wasn’t what she had been trained for, she adapted quickly. I also knew she was counting down the days until she could return to her company as CEO.
Unfortunately, letting her go now would be far too dangerous.
“I want to talk to you about your company,” I said.
She immediately sat up straighter, her attention fully on me.
“I have decided to step down as acting CEO,” I continued, “and appoint Mr. Harrington as the new CEO.”
She froze. “What the hell, Maxwell?” she burst out, rising slightly from her seat. “I have worked for you for two months, two whole months believing that I would soon take over my company again. And now you are handing it over to my number one enemy?” Her voice shook with anger.
“That’s exactly why I’m handing it over to him,” I replied calmly.
She stared at me, completely confused. “Do you know that Mr. Harrington has been siphoning funds from the company to finance a smaller company?” I asked. “And do you also know that your father is aware of it?”
Her face darkened instantly. “That’s impossible,” she snapped. “My father would never do that.” She glared at me, clearly offended. “He hates Harrington. He can’t stand him. The only reason we tolerate him is because we need him on the board. Why would my father help siphon money from the company he built to support another company?” she asked, her voice filled with disbelief.
That was exactly what I had thought too when I first saw the name attached to the account the money had passed through. Since then, I had been digging quietly, trying to find any direct connection between her father and Harrington, but so far, nothing obvious had shown up.
“We’re still investigating,” I said carefully, “but for now, we need to bait Harrington into becoming the CEO.”
She frowned, listening closely. “He’s desperate for that position, and there’s a reason for it,” I continued. “I didn’t even have to convince him when I approached him about betraying you, the moment I told him I needed him to resign as a board member, he jumped at the chance. He was the one who convinced the rest of the board on my behalf back then. He wants your downfall so bad.”
I leaned forward slightly. “What I need from you is simple. Act like you have no idea that I’m handing the company over to him. Be present at the meeting and behave as though he has finally won. To him, this will look like victory, but in reality, it’s a trap. We need to watch his next moves and find out if your father is truly involved or not.”
She stared at me, her eyes filled with conflict and confusion. I could see how difficult this was for her.
“It won’t be easy,” she said slowly. “Letting Harrington take over is risky. It could put the company in danger. But I will try to follow your plan.” She sighed, then looked at me firmly.
“However, take that thought about my father out of your head. He wouldn’t do this.”
I nodded. “Not a word about this to him or to your mother until the investigation is complete,” I said. “Everything we’re doing now is to make sure that when you finally return as CEO, your board is clean. If we don’t deal with this properly, your company could be completely destroyed.”
She nodded in agreement.
We went through the work I had asked her to handle earlier. Once she was done, she gathered her things and stood up to return to her office.
Without thinking too much about it, I reached out and gently held her hand.
“Can I take you out to dinner this weekend?” I asked.
She looked down at where my hand held hers, and for a moment, I knew she felt the pull between us too.
“I’ll think about it,” she said quietly, then turned and walked out of my office.
Some hours later, the door to my office opened, and Rhea walked in.
I guessed she must have given Alvin a hard time, because he lingered by the door for a moment, shook his head at me, then turned and walked away without a word.
Rhea didn’t hesitate. She crossed the room and sat down in the chair across from my desk, her posture calm. “I wasn’t expecting you,” I said. “What are you doing here?”
She didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she reached into her bag and pulled out a brown envelope. Slowly, deliberately, she slid it across the desk toward me.
“When I told you that you wouldn’t need to adopt a child for this,” she said evenly, “you thought I was bluffing.”
My eyes dropped to the envelope, but I didn’t touch it.
“There’s a strand of hair inside,” she continued. “I want you to run a DNA test.”
“I could run it myself,” she replied. “But I want you to do it. I want you to see the results with your own eyes. Once you’ve confirmed it, then we can sit down and have a meaningful conversation.”
Slowly, I stared at the envelope lying on my desk, my thoughts racing, my chest tightening with a feeling I couldn’t name.
Did Rhea have a child?
And worse, had she been hiding that child from me all this time?