Chapter 120. The truth
"Jackson Johnson."
"Erick Paige."
I stopped touching her hands, stood up quickly, and turned to her.
"Paige?" I asked. She nodded.
"He worked for the Crawford's cosmetology company, was part of the administrative team, but then left under suspicious circumstances. My mother found out that he had embezzled money, which he returned on the condition that he wouldn't be jailed. The Crawfords wanted to avoid a scandal, so they agreed."
"Alright, thanks for the information. You should have warned me..." I ran a hand over my face, pretending to be anxious. She stepped closer to me.
"I know, but you had already drawn a line for me not to come near you. I tried several times and..." My phone rang. "Answer it..." she said. I nodded, then searched for my phone inside my jacket. It was Richard.
"Yes?" Richard informed me that the guest was ready to come up. "Alright, send him up." I hung up, and Georgina looked at me, intrigued.
"Who's coming up?" I noticed she had tensed up.
"Richard found the second accomplice in the embezzlement." Her eyes widened in surprise.
"How? When?"
"We had Paige under surveillance, and I just got confirmation of what you told me a moment ago."
"Who's coming up? Paige?" I nodded, and her eyes widened even more. "Why don't you handle this directly with the police?" She went to the couch where she had left her bag. "I'll leave; I don't want him to see me here and..."
"I want you to stay," I said in a sweet tone. She quickly shook her head.
"I want to leave, I..." The elevator arrival bell rang. "Do you have another exit?"
"Why are you acting like this?" I asked, pretending to be puzzled.
"Good evening, Mr. Johnson." It was Paige, escorted by two of my security men, and Richard beside him. "Miss Vans." Georgina turned pale.
"I don't know him," Georgina replied immediately, looking at me. "I have to go."
"Why are you leaving? You are also part of this meeting," Paige said with a tone full of hatred, then looked at me. "Am I wrong, Mr. Johnson?" Georgina looked at me.
"What? What is he talking about?" she asked. I put my hands in the pockets of my dress pants and walked to the center of the room.
"Mr. Paige has heard everything you've said." Georgina turned even paler.
"And I was surprised to hear the part where you are handing me over to Mr. Johnson." Paige looked at Georgina with disdain, and she looked at me again.
"I don't know what he's talking about; everything he says is a lie."
"Nothing is a lie, Georgina," Paige said immediately. "Did you think I would trust you?" She looked at him in confusion. "All our meetings are recorded: the hacker you hired, the bank person who helped us open Miss Bradley's account, the cameras that were perfectly placed to point out that she was the one who embezzled, the person you hired to forge Mr. Johnson's signature, and the five people you trusted to use as names for buying the apartments. I have... EVERYTHING."
"I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT! I DON'T KNOW YOU!"
"Keep telling yourself that. I told you if you betrayed me, I wouldn't go down alone."
"I'm leaving." Georgina walked towards the exit, but Paige let go of one of my shoulders and lunged at her, his hands going to her neck before they could be pulled off.
"STOP!" I yelled at Paige, who was agitated. Richard was helping Georgina sit down on the couch. "I will keep my word, Paige. The money has been recovered, as have the apartments, but Lilly Bradley's reputation hasn't yet. The media is waiting for the whole truth to come out, NOW." I paused. "You can come in," I said in a loud, clear tone. Angela and my lawyer walked in. "Angela, do you have everything ready?"
"Yes, the press is in the meeting room of the building."
"Good, let's go." I approached Georgina, who still didn't fully grasp what was happening. She looked at me when I took her by the arm and tried to pull away, but I prevented it.
"Let go of me!" she exclaimed furiously.
"You are going to fix what you've done, or I'll make sure all the videos and audios are distributed!"
"You can't do that, I'll say it was staged, and I want my lawyer! You can't hold me by force or make me do this!"
"You'd better apologize, since you orchestrated this damn plan to discredit Lilly, MY LILLY!" I exclaimed furiously. "So, one way or another, you'll do it. 'Be grateful for my good heart that I won't send you where you deserve to be,'" I repeated the words I had indirectly said to Lilly earlier. Moments later, we all went down to the meeting room in my building. The press was waiting, and the room filled with reporters' flashes. Then they started asking questions, and it began...
Paige had confessed every detail of the plan against Lilly Bradley and that Vans had paid him large sums of money to help. Georgina refused to speak, but when one of the audios was about to be played, she sang like a canary, crying in front of the cameras. The flashes went off repeatedly, capturing the moment. Then one of the reporters asked me what I thought about what had happened.
"What do I think? I just want Miss Lilly Bradley's name cleared, the former Johnson Enterprises administrator, so everyone knows she was just a victim of these people's ambition and malice." I signaled to Angela.
"That's all, gentlemen." Paige and Georgina were escorted to a room leading to another exit of the building. Georgina cried inconsolably, saying she had tarnished her image before the world and would pay dearly for it. Paige was escorted out in a vehicle with a restraining order. Georgina got into her car and left, not before hurling a few curses about how I had taken advantage of her and who knows what else.
"I want them watched for a few days to prevent them from doing something stupid," I told Richard. He nodded. "Did you do what I asked?"
"Yes, sir. They must have seen it by now. Miss Bradley's name has been cleared..." I sighed in exhaustion. "What do you want to do now, sir?" Richard looked at me. "Shall I prepare the car?" He knew what I meant.
"Do you think it's appropriate after everything that was said and seen?" He pressed his lips and put a hand on my shoulder.
"If she doesn't find out... she'll never know."