Chapter 33
Chapter 33
Hope sat motionless behind her desk, the click of her assistant’s heels fading into the heavy silence of the boardroom. The morning’s whirlwind still hummed in her veins—Noah’s confession, their almost-unthinkable embrace, the clash of professionalism and raw desire. She closed her eyes and exhaled, willing her heart to slow, her pulse to steady.
Before she could gather her thoughts, her phone vibrated sharply on the polished oak surface. She picked it up, expecting an email notification or a text from her P.A. Instead, the caller ID read an unfamiliar number. She hesitated, then swiped to answer.
“Ms. Edwards?” A hushed voice—tense, urgent—cracked through the speaker. “This is Mr. David Crawford from Legal Affairs. I… I need to inform you that I’ve just witnessed something very compromising.”
Hope’s chest tightened. “Compromising? What do you mean?”
“There was a man. Somebody named Wyatt, I think. And he saw you… and Noah —kissing. In your office.”
The world tipped beneath her feet. “What? No, that can’t be—”
“I’m sure of what I saw,” Crawford pressed. “I thought you should know immediately. This could have serious repercussions with stakeholders. I’m going to call Ms. Collette; you might want to be prepared.”
Before Hope could respond, the line went dead. She stared at her phone in disbelief, her heart pounding a frantic rhythm. Her breath caught in her throat. Collette, the mother of her stepbrother, her own boss, needed to hear this news directly from someone who had witnessed the scandal. And that would mean—
The boardroom door swung open and her P.A. hurried in. “I just got a call from Legal Affairs. Mr. Crawford said he phoned Collette already.”
Hope’s jaw clenched. “Set up a meeting with Ms. Collette for immediately. Tell her I’ll be in her office in five minutes.”
She nodded and slipped out. Hope sat back, her mind racing. Five minutes to compose herself, five minutes to fashion an explanation, five minutes before her world shattered.
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Collette stormed down the marble hallway, her stilettos striking the floor in rapid-fire staccato. She hardly noticed the security cameras or the hushed murmur of assistants peeking from their cubicles—her entire focus was on one thing: Georgian. By the time Collette reached the heavy bronze door to the matriarch’s private suite, her chest heaved and her cheeks burned with anger.
She rapped sharply on the doorframe. “Mother!” she snapped, stepping inside before an answer could come.
Georgiana looked up from a ledger, her silver hair perfectly coiled, her posture regal. For a moment she merely regarded Collette over the rim of her glasses, as though observing a particularly troublesome piece on a chessboard.
“What is it, Collette?” Georgiana’s voice was cool as porcelain.
Collette closed the door behind her and leaned forward, voice trembling with fury. “Noah… he kissed Hope. I just heard—Legal Affairs confirmed it. He’s fallen for her, Mother.” She paced the room in tight circles. “Hope Alejandra !That conniving step‑sister of his. She doesn’t even belong by blood, yet she’s wormed her way into his head. I can’t let this happen.”
Georgiana set her pen aside and gestured for Collette to sit. “Take a breath.” Her tone was imperious but not unkind—she saw every display of passion as an opportunity to shape the board. “Tell me exactly what you learned.”
Collette sank down on the leather settee, gripping the armrests as though she might rip them out. “Mr. Crawford from Legal Affairs walked in just as they were—embraced, kissing. In her office. It spread like wildfire. If Noah’s heart shifts to that… to her… this entire company will fracture. I won’t stand by while my partner’s sister dismantles everything we’ve built—and my Noah falls for her.”
Georgiana closed her eyes briefly, steepling her fingers. “Hope Edwards has always been… slippery. Polished enough to charm the board, but utterly ruthless. I never trusted her.” She opened her eyes, glinting. “And neither should you.”
Collette’s eyes filled with tears and she refused to shed. “What do we do? She’s untouchable by law—she’s a celebrated CEO in her own right. But she’s corrupted my fiancé.”
Georgiana rose, gliding around her desk with the authority of a queen. “When someone crosses a line like this, the rules as we know them no longer apply.” She perched on the edge of her desk, looking down at Collette. “Hope has defiled the Rawlins name—and by extension, you and me. If we allow this scandal to stand, it emboldens her. It tells every predator in the boardroom that they can upend our family with a kiss.”
Collette swallowed, voice tight. “So… what? We fire her? Sue her?”
Georgiana shook her head. “That won’t be enough. Lawsuits drag on. Public scandals breed sympathy. We need a solution swift enough to silence her permanently—and quietly enough that no one suspects us.”
Collette’s breath caught. “You mean… eliminate her?”
“Precisely.” Georgiana’s gaze hardened. “Make it look like an accident. A robbery gone wrong—she won’t see it coming. The moment she crossed that line with Noah, she gave us this permission. We restore order by removing the threat.”
Collette closed her eyes, steeling herself against her own trembling. “I’ll arrange it.”
Georgiana nodded, satisfied. “I’ll handle the cover story. Medical emergency—security lapse. Keep it tight. No digital footprints, no loose ends.”
Collette exhaled, the tension still wound tight in her shoulders. “And Noah?”
“He’ll be told that Hope betrayed him, that she used him to advance her own agenda.” Georgiana’s voice carried both ruthlessness and motherly confidence. “He’ll blame her heartbreak on ambition, not on us.”
Collette stood, reels settling into her bones. “I won’t fail you, Mother.”
Georgiana offered a small, approving smile. “Good. Now go—before Noah returns with more foolishness in his head.” She waved a hand dismissively, already turning back to her ledger as though the plan were already in motion.
Collette slipped out into the hallway, each step measured, her mind racing through contingencies. By nightfall, Hope Alejandra would have no one left to turn to. And Collette would finally feel safe reclaiming Noah’s heart unburdened by the threat of that calculating step‑sister.