Chapter 5: The Woman Who Brought the Truth
Declan caught Grace before she reached the floor.
“Call the resort doctor,” he ordered.
“I’m all right,” Grace said, though her voice shook.
“No,” Miriam replied.
“You are sitting down, and that article is coming off every site carrying it.”
Ethan remained near the window.
“If Pierce threatens the publisher, it will look like an admission.”
Grace lifted her head.
“Your wife nearly collapsed, and you are worried about appearances.”
“You wanted a boardroom battle.
This is what one looks like.”
“No,” Harold said.
“This is what cruelty looks like.”
The doctor arrived and checked Grace while everyone waited outside.
Ten minutes later, she opened the door.
“The baby’s heartbeat is steady,” the doctor said.
“But Mrs.
Calloway needs rest and no further distress.”
Ethan stepped forward.
“I’ll take my wife home.”
Grace moved behind Declan.
“You are not taking me anywhere.”
Ethan lowered his voice.
“Sign the refinancing papers, restore my voting authority, and I can make Vanessa withdraw the story.”
“You said she set you up.”
“She still answers when I use the right number.”
“So you can reach her.”
“I can negotiate.”
Grace studied him.
“Was the affair part of the negotiation?”
His mouth tightened.
“Do you want to save the company or punish me?”
“I want to save what you were willing to sell.”
The elevator opened behind him.
A silver-haired woman walked out carrying an old leather handbag.
Ethan went pale.
“Mother?”
Eleanor Calloway ignored him and crossed directly to Grace.
“I came as soon as Miriam called,” she said.
“May I see you?”
Grace hesitated.
Eleanor had barely spoken to her in the last two years.
“You never approved of me.”
“No,” Eleanor said.
“I thought you were too gentle for my son.
I mistook gentleness for weakness.”
She opened her handbag and removed a small digital recorder.
Ethan stepped between them.
“Give me that.”
Eleanor held it behind her.
“You left this in my car last month.”
“It is company property.”
“It contains your voice.”
“Mother, you don’t understand.”
“I understand every word.”
She pressed play.
Vanessa’s voice came first.
“Move the first eleven payments yourself.
Once the board sees the new contracts, they’ll stop asking questions.”
Then Ethan answered, clear and impatient.
“If Grace finds out, I’ll use her proxy before she can stop me.”
Grace closed her eyes.
Eleanor reached for her hand.
“I should have brought this to you that day,” Eleanor said.
“I protected my son when I should have protected the woman carrying my granddaughter.”
Ethan pointed at the recorder.
“That conversation is incomplete.
Vanessa said the payments were legal.”
“You hid them from me,” Grace said.
“I was going to fix it.”
“You keep calling betrayal a temporary arrangement.”
His phone rang.
He checked the number and turned away.
“Vanessa?”
A woman’s voice carried faintly through the speaker.
Ethan walked toward the corridor.
“Where are you?”
Miriam motioned for everyone to remain silent.
“You need to get me the trust agreement,” Vanessa said.
“The original, not a copy.”
“Why?”
“Because Grace’s father added a clause no one showed us.”
Grace opened the black folder and looked at Miriam.
Miriam nodded.
“There is a sealed amendment.”
Vanessa continued, unaware that the room could hear her.
“If Grace takes control before midnight, every account connected to the transfers becomes visible to Pierce Global’s auditors.”
Ethan pressed the phone closer.
“What is in those accounts?”
May you like
Vanessa laughed once.
“Enough to send both of us away for years.”
