Chapter 191
Andrew's POV
I arrived at the conference room an hour late, my head still pounding from last night's confrontation with Julie. The NaturaLuxe team was there, looking nervous and checking their watches, but Laura was nowhere to be seen.
"Where is she?" I asked, taking my seat at the head of the table.
A woman spoke up. "Ms. Parker left with your assistant. She said she'd be right back, but it's been an hour."
An hour? I checked my phone. No messages from Laura, no missed calls. No messages from my assistant either.
"She didn't have her phone with her," another team member offered, sliding Laura's phone across the table.
Something's wrong. The certainty hit me like a physical blow.
"Which executive?" I asked, my voice carefully controlled.
"A woman. Brunette, very professional."
Julie. It had to be her.
---
The security footage played back in slow motion on my laptop screen. There she was—Julie, leading Laura toward the changing area like a spider guiding prey into her web.
I slammed the laptop shut and gestured to the two security guards flanking me.
As we approached the changing area, muffled banging echoed down the hallway. Then came the voice—desperate, increasingly frantic.
"Let me out! Andrew! Is anyone there?"
I motioned for the guards to hang back and approached the locked door alone. Julie stood there, blocking my path. Laura's voice was getting hoarse from shouting, now tinged with genuine panic. Whatever game Julie was playing, she was fully committed to it.
"Julie," I said, my voice carrying the authority that had crushed boardroom opponents and silenced dissent. "Open this door immediately."
Her expression shifted to practiced innocence, complete with wide eyes and a slight tilt of her head. "What? I don't know where the key is."
Behind the door, Laura's voice rose in desperation.
I stepped closer to Julie, close enough to see the slight tremor in her hands that betrayed her nerves.
"Search her," I ordered the guards.
As the guards moved toward her, Julie's mask slipped for just a moment. "You can't—this is harassment!"
But the search revealed nothing. No keys.
"Get the master key," I told one of the guards, never taking my eyes off Julie.
"Laura isn't who you think she is. I'm doing this for Wilson Holdings—protecting the company from someone who could damage our reputation!"
"That's not for you to remind me. Step aside," I said coldly.
The guard took Julie's arm—not roughly, but firmly enough to make the power dynamic clear. She struggled briefly, then went still as the guard with the master key returned.
The lock clicked open with a soft metallic sound that seemed to echo in the tense silence. Laura stumbled out, her usually perfect appearance disheveled. Her hair had come loose from its careful styling, her makeup was smudged from what looked like tears of frustration, and her expensive blouse was wrinkled from nearly an hour of confinement.
But even in her distressed state, there was something elegant about her—a dignity that the ordeal hadn't quite managed to strip away.
"Ms. Parker," I said, my voice gentle. "Are you hurt?"
She shook her head, smoothing down her skirt with trembling hands. "No, just... it was so dark in there. No matter how hard I pushed, the door wouldn't budge."
I turned to Julie, who was still being held by the security guard. Her face had gone pale, but her chin was raised defiantly.
"Apologize," I commanded. "Now."
Julie's eyes flashed with something between fear and fury. The hallway was starting to fill with curious employees, drawn by the commotion. Their whispered conversations created a buzz of speculation.
Laura was attempting to fix her appearance, running her fingers through her hair and checking her reflection in the glass door of a nearby office. Despite her efforts to regain composure, I could still see the slight tremor in her hands, her breathing still a bit too quick.
That's when I heard the sharp click of heels on marble flooring. We all turned to see Sophia striding down the hallway, her expression thunderous.
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Laura's POV
My carefully applied makeup felt heavy on my face, like a mask that no longer fit properly.
"Release her immediately!" Sophia's voice cut through the tension.
I watched Julie rush toward this Wilson woman seeking protection.
"Since when do you make decisions about company security?" Andrew's voice sounded distant, like it was coming from underwater.
"Since Grace—as the true person in power of this company—gave me explicit authority to handle situations exactly like this one."
Grace.
The name kept repeating in my head like a broken record. This couldn't be true. It couldn't be her.
The Grace I had betrayed in the worst possible way.
"Grace? Is it Grace Wilson?" I heard myself whisper, though I hadn't meant to speak at all.
Sophia's attention snapped to me like a predator scenting blood. "Yes, Grace. Grace Wilson. The rightful heir to Wilson Holdings, a woman you know very well."
My knees nearly buckled. I reached for the wall again, my fingers scraping against the smooth surface as I tried to find something solid to hold onto.
"Grace Wilson?" My voice came out strangled. "Andrew, is what she's saying true?"
"Yes," Andrew raised an eyebrow. "Your husband hasn't told you about Grace's identity yet?"
No. No, no, no.