Chapter 355: You Orchestrated It
Chapter 355: You Orchestrated It
[Theodore]
The urgent knock on my office door interrupted my review of the quarterly board materials. My assistant's face was pale as she entered without waiting for permission—a breach of protocol that immediately put me on high alert.
"Mr. Pierce, there's been an incident at Le Bernardin. Someone matching Ms. Sullivan's description was attacked."
The blood in my veins turned to ice. My phone was in my hand before she finished speaking, Sarah's number already dialing. The seconds stretched endlessly as it rang once, twice—
"Theodore?" Her voice was clear, unharmed, and I felt my entire body release tension I hadn't realized I was holding.
"Sarah, thank God." I turned away from my assistant, my voice rougher than I intended. "Are you safe? Where are you right now?"
"I'm fine. I'm at a restaurant with Liv. Why? What's wrong?"
I closed my eyes briefly, relief flooding through me. "Someone called saying they saw you at Le Bernardin, that there was an attack. When I heard it wasn't you..." I paused, realizing how much that admission revealed. "Are you certain you're secure? Do you have your security detail with you?"
There was a pause on her end, and when she spoke again, her tone had shifted—more careful, more guarded. "Theodore, I think it might have been Nora who was attacked. She's been... impersonating me."
The implication hit me like a physical blow. Of course. Victoria's cousin, the woman who'd undergone surgery to look like Sarah. My jaw clenched as I processed this information.
"Where are you going after lunch?" I asked, my protective instincts overriding everything else. "I want to know your exact schedule."
"I'm getting my hair done at that salon on Madison Avenue. The one many people recommended." She rattled off the address, and I was already making notes. "Theodore, you don't need to—"
"Send me the exact address. I want my security team to coordinate with yours." My tone brooked no argument. "Sarah, until we know what's happening, I need you to be extra careful."
After hanging up, I immediately called my head of security, then tried to focus on work. But concentration proved impossible. Every few minutes, I found myself checking my phone, fighting the urge to call Sarah again.
---
Twenty minutes later, my phone buzzed with a call from Nathan. His number appearing on my screen filled me with immediate dread—Nathan never called unless there was trouble.
"Uncle Theodore, I'm outside the police station. Victoria is here, and she's... she's furious with me."
I could hear voices in the background, one of them clearly female and rising in pitch. "What happened, Nathan?"
"The acid attack—it was Nora who got hurt, not Sarah. Victoria is accusing me of setting her up, of working with Sarah to lure Nora out instead of Sarah."
My blood chilled. "Explain. Now."
"Victoria says I lied to her about meeting Sarah for dinner. She thinks I deliberately brought Nora instead, knowing something would happen. Uncle Theodore, I swear I didn't know—"
"Nathan." My voice cut through his rambling. "Where is Victoria now?"
"She's right here, screaming at me. The security guards at the police station can't tell if they should intervene or not. She's saying I betrayed her, that I was working with Sarah all along."
I could hear Victoria's voice more clearly now, sharp and accusatory: "You told me you were meeting Sarah! You said you'd help me get close to her! Instead, you brought Nora, and now look what's happened!"
"Victoria!" Nathan's voice came through strained. "I never promised you anything about Sarah. I can't control who gets hurt in your sick games!"
"Put Victoria on the phone," I ordered.
"She won't—she's walking away. Uncle Theodore, she's completely losing it. She keeps saying this is all Sarah's fault, that Sarah orchestrated the whole thing."
---
I was standing outside the high-end salon on Madison Avenue, watching through the windows as Sarah sat in the stylist's chair, when my phone rang again. Victoria's name on the caller ID made my stomach tighten.
"Theodore, my cousin is in the hospital. Her face is destroyed." Victoria's voice was strained, bordering on hysterical. "The doctors say she'll need multiple reconstructive surgeries, and even then..."
I watched Sarah through the window, noting how the stylist was carefully working around her pregnant belly as she leaned back in the chair. Her hair was being trimmed to shoulder length, and even from this distance, I could see how relaxed she looked.
"Victoria, I'm sorry about Nora, but—"
"This was Sarah!" Victoria's voice rose. "She did this! She hired someone to throw acid at my cousin's face. Theodore, you have to do something about her. She's dangerous, she's—"
"Even if that were true," I interrupted, my voice turning ice cold, "what exactly do you expect me to do about it?"
The silence on the other end stretched long enough that I wondered if she'd hung up.
"Theodore?" Her voice was smaller now, uncertain.
"Victoria, let me be very clear about something. If Sarah orchestrated what happened to Nora, if she hired someone to throw acid at your cousin's face..." I paused, watching as Sarah laughed at something her stylist said. "Then I'd say your cousin finally faced the consequences of her actions. And honestly? If I were in Sarah's position, my methods would have been far more brutal."
"You can't mean that."
"I mean every word. Your cousin chose to impersonate the mother of my child, to create fake pornographic videos, to participate in a scheme designed to destroy an innocent woman's reputation. Did you really think there wouldn't be repercussions?"
"But Theodore, you've always—"
"Victoria. If you continue down this path, if I find any evidence that you were involved in the hotel setup or the video scandal, I promise you that what happened to Nora today will seem gentle in comparison."
The sharp intake of breath on her end was audible. "You're threatening me?"
"I'm warning you. There's a difference."
The line went dead, and I slipped my phone back into my pocket, feeling strangely satisfied. Through the salon window, I could see Sarah's hair transformation was nearly complete. The shoulder-length cut suited her, softening her features while maintaining her sophisticated edge.
---
When Sarah emerged from the salon thirty minutes later, her hand instinctively went to her newly shortened hair. The afternoon light caught the subtle highlights the stylist had added, and I found myself momentarily transfixed by how beautiful she looked.
"You didn't have to wait," she said as I opened the car door for her, though there was something in her tone that suggested she wasn't entirely displeased by my presence.
"I wanted to make sure you got home safely." I helped her into the passenger seat, noting how she moved more carefully now, her pregnancy more advanced than it had been just weeks ago.
As I started the engine, she turned to face me. "Theodore, I need to tell you something about what happened to Nora."
I glanced at her briefly before focusing on the traffic ahead. "You orchestrated it."
She didn't seem surprised that I knew. "Yes."
"Good."
Her eyebrows rose. "Good?"
"Sarah, that woman participated in an elaborate scheme to destroy your reputation, to make our child's father doubt the mother's character. She chose to undergo surgery to look like you, to impersonate you in compromising situations." I navigated through the busy Manhattan traffic, my hands gripping the steering wheel tighter than necessary. "Frankly, I'm impressed with your restraint. Acid was almost merciful."
"You're not... angry?"
I pulled up to a red light and turned to look at her fully. "The only thing I'm angry about is that it took me too long to see what was happening. That I allowed doubt to cloud my judgment, even for a moment."
She studied my face for a long moment. "What about Victoria?"
"Victoria made her choice when she decided to come after you. Now she'll live with the consequences."
As the light turned green and we continued toward her apartment, Sarah was quiet. Finally, she spoke: "I'm worried about you getting pulled into this mess. About what it might do to your reputation, your company."
"Sarah." I reached over and took her hand. "You're carrying my child. You are my child's mother. Anyone who comes after you comes after my family. And I protect what's mine."
She squeezed my hand gently. "I think I need to stay home more often. At least until the baby comes."
"I think that's wise. And I'll be staying with you more frequently as well."
"To protect me?"
I pulled into her building's underground garage and parked, turning to face her again. "To be where I belong."