Chapter 19 Unmasked
Valenticia POV-
I had been unconscious and woke up in a hospital bed, the sharp smell of antiseptic lingered like a bad dream.
I wiped my throat, which felt dry, from the gas that had flooded the offices. The white ceiling swam before my eyes as I blinked, my head hurting but my mind already racing. Grandmother sat next to me looking composed, her face betraying her. They were red, but her eyes were fierce. “You’re awake,” she said, her voice low. “The gas leak is contained, but we both know it wasn’t an accident.”
I attempted to sit up, grimacing as a dull ache rose from my chest. “Sabotage,” I struggled to say. My mind raced to the anonymous text I’d received before all of this. Stop digging, or you’ll end up like your parents. Someone knew my history, knew of the car crash that had taken Mom and Dad when I was still a child. The threat wasn’t only about Gregor’s plans it was personal. Grandmother nodded, her lips pressed into a thin line. “The authorities are investigating, but we cannot trust them. Whoever did this is near, Valenticia. You need to be careful.”
“I will,” I said. Careful hadn’t been enough. Not when someone tracked my every move, not when they’d gotten close enough to poison the air I breathed. I gripped the hospital sheet, the memory of that text seared in my brain. Whoever they were, they wanted me afraid.
They’d misjudged me.
Though I was released by noon, I still felt wobbly. I had received a text from Elaine to meet at a quiet café downtown, out of Clawford’s eyesight. I settled into a corner booth. Her gray hair was pulled back, and her piercing eyes swept the room before resting on me. “You look terrible,” she said, but there was warmth in her tone.
“Thank you,” I said and almost smiled. “What do you have?”She leaned forward, speaking low. “I was just like you. I discovered irregularities in Clawford’s books years ago, before Gregor’s ascendance. His friends on the board removed me and attacked my name. I’ve been following him ever since.” She slid a burner phone onto the table, its screen locked with a passcode that she murmured: 7-1-9-2. “Transaction logs from Nexus Ventures. Dates, amounts, accounts. It’s good enough to get Gregor if you do it right at the next board meeting.”
I grabbed the phone, my fingers flicking against hers. “Why help me like this?” I asked, searching her face.
Her expression softened. “You’re fighting the fight I lost. You’ve got fire, Valenticia, and you’re not the only one.” I felt her words hit deep, and saw her as not merely an ally, but a mentor. I nodded, gratitude filling my chest.
“Thank you, Elaine.”
Back at the Clawford estate, I found Grandmother in the study, her desk littered with financial reports. She glanced up, “You’re going hard,” she said. “That’s good, but that’s a dangerous thing. We have to lock in your spot.”
I braced because I knew where this was headed. “The contract marriage again?”
She nodded, not moved by my tone. “After the gas leak, Stefan Myles reached out. He was… concerned. He’s proposing a strategic alliance, one that could consolidate our board against Gregor’s influence. A marriage, on strictly business terms, would link New Dream’s resources to Clawford’s legacy.”
I felt my hands ball. “My debt to Stefan doesn’t mean I’m going to sell my heart again. I did it with Dmitri, and it killed me.” The memory of Dmitri’s pleas, and Natasha’s venomous screams, flared in me, bright and bitter.
“It’s not related to your heart,” Grandmother said, her tone authoritative but not unkind. “It’s about power. Stefan’s no saint, but he is okay. You two could outsmart Gregor.” She paused, studying me. “He’s not Dmitri.”
I turned my head away, losing resolve. Stefan’s piercing stare at the gala, how he’d saved me from harm, played on repeat in my head. Could I trust him, even in the context of a deal? “I’ll consider it,” I said, my voice taut.
“Think fast,” she replied. “The board meeting is tomorrow. Your play with the Nexus logs is going to rattle things.”
That night I slept little, the burner phone’s data floating in my dreams. By morning, I wore a sharp blazer and slid into Clawford’s boardroom, my analyst role a disguise. Tension filled the air, minds racing as executives filed into the room and took their seats. Gregor sat at the head, his smile smooth but his eyes went cold when they met mine.
I held the burner phone in my pocket, Elaine’s passcode locked in my memory, the transaction logs prepared to reveal him.
When it came time to discuss the financial oversight, I stood up, not letting the eyes bore into me and make my voice shake. “As an analyst, I’ve discovered evidence of wrongdoing,” I told him, casting the Nexus Ventures logs up on the screen. “Millions funneled through a shell company, Nexus Ventures, sidestepping board approval. These transactions indicate fraudulent intent.”
A murmur went around the room. Gregor’s demeanor broke, his fingers fidgeting on the table. “These are false and unsupported charges,” he said, his voice calm but strained.
“illegitimate?” I retorted, gesturing toward the screen. “Untraceable accounts, offshore transfers—does that sound legitimate? My pulse quickened, but I didn’t break his stare, challenging him to slip.Before he had a chance to reply, a grizzled board member Mr. Vance interrupted. “This is a distraction. Ms. Valenticia’s evidence is out of context. I make a motion to overlook this discussion.” His tone was final, his loyalty to Gregor plain as day.
Vance’s dismissal was shielding Gregor.
The board continued, my accusations ignored. My hands were trembling with suppressed rage as I sat. The low smirk from Gregor across the table was a taunt, and I would not let him win.
Elaine caught me in the corridor after the meeting, looking grim. “Vance is Gregor’s dog,” she said in a whisper. “But I have something larger than that. The silent partner? I pinpointed Nexus to a tycoon in Lovtan, a man tied to Dmitri’s family. Not Dmitri himself, but his circle.”
My breath hitched.
Dmitri’s family?
The idea made me shudder just a little. His parents had hated me, accusing me of his downfall during the marriage. Are they funding Gregor to destroy me? “How sure are you?” I asked.
“Eighty percent,” Elaine told me. “I’m digging for a name. Stay sharp.” She slipped away, and I was left reeling. Dmitri’s arguments, Natasha’s knife were they all parts of something bigger?
Back at my desk, I tried to concentrate, but Elaine’s revelation was eating at me. I had opened my laptop and was cross-referencing the Nexus logs when my phone buzzed. It was a new message, from an unknown number. I opened it, and my blood ran cold. It was a picture of me, asleep in the hospital bed, my face, and IV tubes in my arm.
The caption said You are not hidden.
My heart raced, the room swirling.
Someone had been there, close enough to take this.
Immediately I was called to the board room.
The doors to the boardroom flew open and a woman stepped in.