Chapter 34 The Final Card
Mark’s POV
Bing!!!
Bing! Bing! Bing!
A single notification sound distorted the orderliness of the room .
Then dozens more from each angle of the room, as every journalist's phone and tablet buzzed at once.
The room erupted before I even understood what was happening.
Their faces twisted into disgust, whispers turned into gasps, and suddenly the hall felt like a furnace of flashing lights and rising panic.
“Turn it off!” someone shouted. But it was too late.
The giant screen that moments ago displayed the Simmons Group emblem flickered to life again , and my own face appeared.
Me. Olivia in the hotel room.
The video was projected for everyone to see.
Every muscle in my body froze.
“Davenport,” I cursed
You will pay for this mess
Cameras turned toward me, hungry for information. The same crowd that had just clapped for my speech now looked ready to tear it all apart.
“Move!” Collins hissed. He shoved through the reporters, knocking over tripods and mics. “We have to go, now!”
I heard Olivia’s voice tremble beside me, “Oh my God, they’re showing it,”
“Keep your head down!” Collins barked, gripping her arm and dragging her forward. The noise became a roar , journalists shouting questions, the thud of shoes on marble, tables crashing to the ground.
We barely made it to the exit.
A bottle shattered somewhere behind us. Someone screamed my name.
By the time we got into the car, I couldn’t even feel my hands. My heart hammered so hard it made my throat ache.
Olivia sat in the corner of the backseat, shaking, makeup smeared. Her manager pulled her out at the next stop without a word. She didn’t look back.
The door slammed shut.
I turned to Collins. “What the hell is happening?”
“It’s Davenport,” he said, already working on his tablet.
“They timed the leak to the conference. It’s not just about you anymore, they’ve set up bots to mirror the file on multiple platforms. We can’t take it down without looking like we’re censoring.”
I clenched my fists until my knuckles went white. “So we just let them destroy everything?”
“If we hit it too hard, it would confirm guilt,” Collins said. “The press will turn that narrative in seconds. It’s what they want, to corner you into overreacting.”
The city lights bled across the car windows like streaks of fire.
“Who’s feeding them?” I muttered. “Who the hell is giving Davenport this level of access?”
Collins hesitated. “There’s an internal leak. It’s someone close , I traced the first breach but I'm not yet sure of the person,’’
He nodded slowly. “You were right, sir. It’s an inside job. If we don’t cut that snake out first, Davenport will keep tightening her grip.”
I rubbed a hand down my face. Every nerve in my body buzzed with fury and exhaustion. “Take me to Carmen’s.”
“Sir, that’s not wise…”
“Now, Collins.”
The tires screeched as we turned sharply down an empty street.
Carmen’s penthouse smelled like champagne and perfume when I kicked the door open.
She looked startled, sitting on her couch with a wine glass, her hair pinned high, pretending she wasn’t watching the chaos unfold on her big screen TV.
“Mark?” she whispered, setting the glass down.
I grabbed the remote and slammed it against the wall. “You did this?”
She blinked, half angry, half amused. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Don’t play innocent!” I snapped. “You’ve always hated Becca. You wanted her gone, fine but this? This isn’t just about her. This ruins me!”
Her eyes softened slightly, but her tone stayed sharp. “You think I’d risk everything I built just to hurt you? I might hate that girl, but I’m not stupid.”
I stepped closer, voice low. “Then who, Carmen? Who has enough access to my private calls, my files, my phone?”
She stood, folding her arms. “Maybe you should ask the people inside your little empire, not the ones you already cut off ties will,”
The words hit harder than a slap.
I left before I did something I’d regret. The sound of my car door slamming echoed in the hollow of my chest.
Daniel’s POV
The office was dark except for the blue glow of the monitors. Davenport sat behind a glass desk, her face hidden beneath the brim of a wide hat.
Only her lips were visible, painted the color of dried blood.
I poured myself a drink and smirked as the latest headline flashed on the screen:
“Simmons Group CEO Faces Collapse After Real Tape Surfaces.”
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” I said, raising my glass.
“After all those years of Mark playing the golden boy, now he’s nothing but a scandal headline.”
“You sound almost sentimental,” Davenport said softly.
I chuckled. “Sentimental? No. Just… satisfied.”
She leaned forward slightly. “He still has allies. The PR team. Collins. They’ll try to stop it.”
“I’m already handling that,” l said.
“The leak will keep expanding for the next twenty-four hours. His board will demand his resignation by morning.” She mentioned.
I grinned to myself, yesss this is what I needed.
“He’ll fall quietly. That’s the beauty of it, he won’t even know I was the one who set the camera on his phone. Poor fool thought I came to ‘reconnect’ that day.” I laughed
Davenport crossed her legs, voice low and calm. “And when he’s gone?”
“I take his position,” Daniel said. “The Simmons legacy deserves a leader who isn’t ruled by guilt and women.”
A slow, dangerous smile curved her lips. “Ambition looks good on you.”
I sipped my drink, eyes gleaming. “And what’s next, Davenport? You said you’ve already played the final card.”
For a moment, she was silent. Then she turned her monitor toward me.
The screen showed Becca’s apartment, her face pale, unaware of the tiny blinking light in her lamp.
“This,” Davenport said. “The one piece he can’t fight back from.”
My smile faded. “You bugged her too?”