Chapter 6 - The Trap Sprung
The heavy brass doors of the executive elevator slid open with a sharp ding.
Daniel stormed into my father’s suite, his Tom Ford tuxedo slightly disheveled, his jaw clenched so tight the muscles in his neck were bulging. Evelyn marched right behind him, clutching her emerald designer bag like a weapon, accompanied by a nervous man in a gray suit carrying a notary seal.
"Claire!" Daniel barked, his eyes flashing with fury as he marched toward my desk. "What the hell is the meaning of this?! You canceled the hotel venue? You pulled the security detail? Do you have any idea how much embarrassment you’ve caused my mother and me in front of three hundred guests?!"
I sat calmly behind my father’s massive mahogany desk. I was still wearing my wedding dress, but the veil was gone, replaced by a simple dark blazer draped over my shoulders. My father’s silver pocket watch rested prominently on the leather blotter in front of me.
Arthur Pendelton stood by the floor-to-ceiling windows, his hands folded behind his back, silent as a sentinel.
"Daniel," I said softly, leaning back in the leather chair. "You seem stressed. Is there a problem?"
"Is there a problem?!" Evelyn shrieked, stepping forward and slamming her manicured hand onto the desk. "You abandoned your own wedding, you ungrateful little brat! We spent months organizing this event! The press is waiting outside the St. Regis right now asking if you had a nervous breakdown!"
"I didn't have a breakdown, Evelyn," I replied, my voice disturbingly tranquil. "I simply went home to pick up my father's watch."
Daniel froze. A microscopic shadow of hesitation crossed his eyes before he recovered his composure.
"You went back to Beacon Hill?" Daniel asked, his tone dropping an octave, shifting from anger to guarded suspicion.
"Yes," I said. "Around two o'clock. You were in my study. You and your mother."
Evelyn’s breath caught in her throat. Her face drained of color so fast it was almost comical.
Daniel unbuttoned his tuxedo jacket, stepping closer to the desk, trying to project dominant authority. "Claire, listen to me. Whatever you think you heard—"
"I don't think I heard anything, Daniel," I interrupted smoothly. I reached down, tapped my phone screen, and turned the speaker volume to maximum.
“Three more hours, and she can't back out... Once the papers are signed, the house and the company access become my problem—not hers. We’ll liquidate the Harbor Street headquarters by Q3, sell off the shipping routes to the offshore consortium, and pocket the cash.”
The crystal-clear audio of Daniel and Evelyn’s cold, calculated voices echoed through the high-ceilinged room.
The notary in the gray suit gasped, backing toward the elevator doors. Evelyn staggered back against a bookshelf, her hand flying to her mouth.
Daniel stood completely motionless, as if he had been struck by lightning.
"You... you recorded us," Daniel whispered, his voice trembling with a terrifying mix of rage and shock.
"I also took photos of the forged proxy forms in your briefcase, Daniel," I said, pulling up the crisp images on my tablet and displaying them on the large presentation monitor mounted on the office wall. "Along with the illegal agreement with Vanguard Global."
Daniel’s face transformed. The handsome, charming, loving fiancé vanished entirely. In his place was a cornered, venomous predator.
"You arrogant little bitch," Daniel snarled, slamming his fist onto the desk. "You think a little audio recording stops this?! I have been running Reed Logistics behind the scenes for a year! The board trusts me! Half the senior vice presidents answer to me! You are a girl playing with dad’s toys!"
He grabbed his briefcase, whipped out a thick legal packet, and threw it in my face.
"Sign the corporate release forms right now, Claire," Daniel demanded, his voice thick with malicious desperation. "Sign them, or I will file for an emergency corporate injunction on Monday morning, freeze every liquid asset Reed Logistics owns, and drag your father's name through federal court until you don't have a single penny left to pay your legal fees!"
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I didn't flinch. I looked at the papers scattered across my desk, then looked up into Daniel’s eyes.
"You really don't know who my father was, do you, Daniel?" I asked softly.
