Chapter 6: The Night He Almost Surrendered
Cameras crowded the pavement outside Parallel headquarters.
Adrian left through the underground garage, but reporters were already waiting at his home.
Naomi shut the curtains.
“Do not answer the door.”
Adrian placed a resignation letter on the dining table.
“If I leave, the board can protect the company.”
Marcus picked it up and tore it in half.
“What are you doing?” Adrian demanded.
“Stopping you from giving Vanessa exactly what she wants.”
“You gave her access.”
“I did.” Marcus dropped the torn pieces.
“So blame me, remove me, or sue me.
But don’t pretend surrender is leadership.”
Adrian turned away.
“She was right about one thing.
Daniel chose me, and his children paid for it.”
Celeste struck her cane against the floor.
“My husband did not ruin his children by believing in you,” she said.
“They ruined themselves by believing love should arrive as a blank check.”
Adrian’s shoulders dropped.
“He should have spent those years repairing his family.”
“He tried.” Celeste took both his hands.
“Vanessa refused every conversation that did not end with money.”
Tears slipped down Adrian’s face.
Celeste pulled him toward her, and he rested his forehead against her shoulder.
“I miss him,” Adrian whispered.
“So do I,” she said.
“That is why we cannot let them turn his kindness into something shameful.”
The doorbell rang.
Samuel, the waiter from the gala, stood outside holding a flash drive.
“I saw the news,” he said.
“The hotel asked staff to delete recordings from private areas, but I copied the corridor footage first.”
Naomi let him inside.
“Why would you risk your job?”
Samuel looked at Celeste.
“My grandmother walks with a cane.
People rush past her too.”
He inserted the drive into Naomi’s laptop.
The footage showed Vanessa entering the conference room three hours before the gala, carrying Marcus’s laptop bag.
“That proves access,” Marcus said.
“It does not prove what she copied,” Naomi replied.
Samuel clicked another file.
“The service microphone was active during a sound check.”
Julian’s voice came through the speakers.
“Once Marcus’s credentials approve the contract, we file the complaint.
Adrian is suspended, shares fall, and our investor buys enough to force a sale.”
Vanessa answered, “And if Marcus talks?”
“He won’t.
He thinks you’re going to marry him.”
Marcus closed his eyes.
Vanessa’s voice continued.
“After Adrian is gone, Marcus signs the voting proxy.
Then we won’t need him either.”
Marcus opened his eyes again.
“Play that at the board meeting.”
Naomi reached for her phone.
“I’ll send an encrypted copy.”
The laptop screen suddenly went black.
“What happened?” Celeste asked.
A warning appeared: REMOTE ACCESS—FILES DELETED.
Naomi grabbed the flash drive, but its folder was empty.
“Someone accessed my system,” she said.
“They wiped the local copy and the drive.”
Samuel went pale.
“That was the only copy.”
Adrian’s phone rang.
Vanessa’s name appeared.
He put the call on speaker.
“You should have accepted being poor,” she said.
“You were kinder then.”
“You destroyed evidence.”
“Prove there was evidence.”
Marcus leaned toward the phone.
“I heard the recording, Vanessa.”
“And who will believe you?
You admitted breaking company rules.”
Adrian gripped the back of a chair.
“What do you want?”
“Your resignation and your voting shares placed in temporary trust.
Sign tonight, and I withdraw the complaint.”
“And if I refuse?”
“Tomorrow, Celeste loses her home.
The loan is already in default.”
Celeste’s hand flew to her mouth.
Vanessa’s voice softened.
“By noon, Adrian.
Save my mother—or save yourself.”
The call ended.
May you like
Samuel stared at the blank screen, then slowly reached inside his jacket.
“I didn’t tell her about the second copy.”
