Chapter 147 Adeline

Chapter 147 Adeline
Adeline's POV

The morning after our secret wedding wasn't filled with the soft glow of a honeymoon, and I never even got the chance to tell anyone what we had done.

Zara was almost inconsolable until we had Alex come take her back to her apartment. There was no physical threat, but something told me Zara would have handled those better than what was currently happening. 

The sweet love my husband was going to make to me was put on hold as he immediately got to investigating what was happening and the impact it could have on the merger.

We both fell asleep tired, and he left me in bed to sleep in. I couldn't, so I got up and prepared for work. As I got down from the car, I slipped my platinum wedding ring into a zipped part of my bag. I usually wore rings, but those were fashionable rings. This ring, however, would never be mistaken for fashion.

Despite having had it for less than 24 hours, my finger still felt empty without it.

When I stepped into the lobby of Royal and Associates, the air changed. My first thought was that paparazzi had somehow found out that I got married yesterday before I remembered that I had bigger fish to fry at the moment. 

The hushed whispers of paralegals were about the flashing red headlines on every news site in the state. I was no longer the senior partner who had made a groundbreaking find in the Vane case; the news and everyone else were calling me a staged pawn. It was very creative. 

I walked straight to the boardroom. I didn't need to be told there was a meeting going on about the situation.

Percy was already there. He was leaning against the mahogany table, looking every bit the boss; his red tie was an aggressive slash of color against his white shirt. 

Except that for the first time since I’d known him, he looked caged, which was not something he relished. 

"Adeline," Richard Sterling said, his voice dripping with false concern as I took my seat. "We were just discussing the... optics. The whole thing we based this rebranding on was that it would reunite two sisters. If the public finds out the firm participated in a syndicate-funded fraud to secure the Whitmore trust, we aren't just looking at a PR disaster. We’re looking at disbarment for every partner in this room."

"It’s a lie, Richard, and it's quite disappointing that you believe it." I said with a straight face despite the tremor in my hands. "Ilya Kozlov is behind this. He’s using a media smear to do what he couldn't do with an injunction."

"It doesn't matter who is behind it," he countered, sliding a leather-bound folder across the table toward Percy. "The bylaws of this firm, specifically the Fiduciary Integrity Clause, allow the Board to override the Managing Partner in cases of extreme reputational risk. We’ve held a vote, Mr. Akilov. It was unanimous."

I looked at Percy. His knuckles were white where he gripped the edge of the table.

"You’re suspending her?" Percy growled. 

"Not exactly. We know how important our work is here at Royal and Associates, so we are placing Miss Volkov on administrative leave and launching an independent audit of her DNA and her involvement in this alleged fraud," Richard said. "And as for your ownership, Mr. Akilov, until this is cleared, your voting rights are frozen by the ethics committee. You might own the building, but you don't own the Bar Association."

The meeting was adjourned before I could even file an objection. The partners scrambled out like rats, leaving only Percy, Alex, and me in the room.

Percy kicked a chair so hard it slammed into the opposite wall. "Alex has the home addresses of every man on that board," he growled, turning to me. His eyes were no longer those of my husband but of the mob boss. " By midnight, Richard Sterling will be begging to sign a retraction. I’ll burn their portfolios until they remember who they work for."

"No," I said, standing up.

Percy stopped, his chest heaving. "Adeline, they are trying to strip you of everything you’ve worked for. They’re calling our family a fraud. I’m not going to sit here and let them use the laws I know about to cage us."

"If you use your men, Percy, you win the battle and lose the war," I said, walking over to him. I put my hands on his chest to calm him down. "If Richard disappears or gets intimidated into changing his vote, it proves the headlines are right. It tells the world that I am exactly what they say I am: a mob-planted pawn who needs a criminal to protect her career."

"I am your husband!" he barked. "My job is to protect you."

"Your job as my husband is to trust me," I countered. "I’m a Senior Partner. I know the bylaws better than he does. I will fight this in plain sight, Percy. If you move behind the scenes, you take away my only weapon, which is the truth."

Percy stared at me, the conflict in his eyes was obvious. He was torn between doing nothing or destroying the board.

"Alex." Percy rasped, not breaking eye contact with me.

"Boss," Alex stepped forward.

"The Catskills estate. I want the sisters there within the hour. If Adeline won't let me handle the board, then I’m damn well going to handle something I can control, her safety."

I wanted to tell him there was no physical threat, but I decided to let him have this. 

We found Zara in my office, staring at a stack of documents. Her usual designer poise was shattered. She looked small and defeated, which was unlike her.

"They canceled the show, Adeline," Zara whispered. "The venue in Soho, they cited unforeseen circumstances, which really means to fuck off. My lead investor also sent an email. They don't want to be associated with the fraud. My autumn line is dead."

I sat beside her, pulling my twin into a hug. We were both losing our worlds at the exact same time. "It’s a distraction, Zara. Ilya wants us focused on the fire so we don't see him coming through the back door."

"I don't care about the door! I care that all my years of work are being called a lie because of a man I haven't seen since I've never even seen before in my life."

"We're going to the Catskills," I said, smoothing her hair. "Percy’s safe house. It’s the only way to get away from the cameras and the process servers."

"I'm not a criminal, Adeline. Why do I have to hide in a safe house?"

"Because," I said, looking at Alex, who was already standing by the door with our bags. "Right now, the world thinks we are. And until I can prove otherwise, the only thing we have is each other."

As we walked out of the firm, paparazzi were already gathered and yelling questions at us. Percy stepped in front of me, his arm a solid barrier against the reporters while Alex did the same for Zara.

When we were safely in the car, I realized that the fight for our reputation was going to be bloodier than any mob war Percy had ever fought.