Chapter 10 - THE NIGHT THE BILLIONAIRE LOST EVERYTHINGVictor applauded when we entered the boardroom.
Television networks replayed old footage of his temper at business meetings.
Anonymous sources described him as controlling.
Former employees discussed aggressive negotiations.
A tabloid published the photograph of Chloe bent over his desk beneath the headline:
THE AFFAIR THAT MADE HIS FIANCÉE DISAPPEAR
Nobody mentioned drugs.
Nobody mentioned Victor.
Nobody mentioned that Chloe had been paid.
The internet decided the story within an hour.
Marcus had cheated.
I discovered him.
I fled while pregnant.
Then four years later he tracked me down and forced me into hiding.
It was almost impressive.
Victor had taken pieces of truth and assembled them into a perfect lie.
“We release everything,” I said.
Marcus stood in the media room watching the coverage.
“No.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
“You and the boys leave.”
“You’re joking.”
“Adrian has a plane ready.”
“To where?”
“Canada first. Then somewhere private.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Elena.”
“No.”
His expression hardened.
“I am not letting Victor turn you into collateral.”
“He already did.”
“He wants the company.”
“Then give it to him.”
Marcus looked at me.
“I mean it.”
“Vale Group employs sixty thousand people.”
“Fine. So don’t give it to him.”
“You just said—”
“I changed my mind.”
Despite everything, his mouth twitched.
I pointed at the television.
“That man spent years controlling my life without me knowing. He manipulated my sister. My medical treatment. My relationship. My children.”
Marcus became serious.
“I know.”
“I ran once.”
“That saved you.”
“Yes.”
I looked at him.
“But I’m not running again.”
Something passed between us.
Not romance.
Not yet.
Something stronger.
Partnership.
Marcus nodded.
“Then we fight.”
Chloe entered.
“I’ll testify.”
I looked at her.
“You don’t have to.”
“Yes, I do.”
She held up the flash drive.
“I started this.”
“Victor started it.”
“I helped.”
Marcus crossed his arms.
“If you go public, he’ll expose everything you did.”
“I know.”
“You could go to prison.”
“I know.”
I walked toward her.
“Chloe.”
She smiled sadly.
“I spent four years being afraid of consequences. Maybe it’s time I accepted them.”
I hugged her.
She froze.
Then held me tightly.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“I know.”
This time, forgiveness finally began.
At three that afternoon, we held a press conference.
Marcus’s lawyers objected.
His board begged him to delay.
He ignored everyone.
Hundreds of reporters filled the ballroom of a Boston hotel.
Marcus stood behind a podium.
I waited backstage.
“Marcus Vale will make a statement and take no questions,” his attorney announced.
Marcus stepped forward.
Cameras exploded with flashes.
“My name is Marcus Vale.”
The room quieted.
“Over the past twenty-four hours, serious allegations have been made against me regarding Elena Hartwell and her two children.”
Our children, I thought.
Marcus continued.
“Some accusations regarding my past behavior are true.”
His lawyer visibly flinched.
“I have been controlling. Secretive. And I kept information from the woman I loved because I believed secrecy protected her.”
My heart tightened.
“But I did not imprison Elena. I did not abduct her children. And I did not willingly engage in a relationship with her sister.”
Murmurs spread.
Then he did something nobody expected.
He stepped away from the microphone.
And I walked onto the stage.
The room erupted.
Questions flew.
“Ms. Hartwell!”
“Elena!”
“Were you held against your will?”
“Are the twins Marcus Vale’s children?”
I reached the microphone.
“My sons are Marcus Vale’s biological children.”
The room exploded again.
I waited.
When silence returned, I continued.
“I disappeared four years ago because I believed Marcus had betrayed me with my younger sister.”
I looked toward Chloe backstage.
“Today, I know that what I witnessed was staged.”
Reporters shouted.
I raised one hand.
“My sister drugged Marcus under pressure from Victor Hale and others associated with him.”
That name changed the room.
Victor was famous.
Powerful.
Untouchable.
“We have financial records, medical evidence, messages, and eyewitness testimony supporting these facts.”
A reporter shouted, “Are you saying Marcus Vale is innocent?”
I looked at him.
“No.”
Marcus turned slightly.
The room fell silent.
“He is innocent of the affair.”
I continued.
“But Marcus has made mistakes. So have I. So has my sister.”
I looked into the cameras.
“This is not a fairy tale about a perfect man being falsely accused.”
Marcus’s eyes held mine.
“This is about a powerful man named Victor Hale manipulating multiple lives for money and control.”
Another reporter shouted.
“Did Marcus Vale threaten Mr. Hale?”
Marcus leaned toward the microphone.
“Yes.”
His attorney nearly died.
I closed my eyes.
Marcus continued.
“He kidnapped my four-year-old son.”
Someone laughed nervously.
Marcus did not.
“I consider protecting my children a higher priority than maintaining a polite public image.”
Oddly, that might have been the most popular sentence he ever spoke.
Within minutes, clips spread everywhere.
Then Chloe walked onto the stage.
The room gasped.
She looked terrified.
But she kept walking.
“My name is Chloe Hartwell.”
I reached for her hand.
She took it.
“Four years ago, I accepted money from people working for Victor Hale.”
Marcus’s lawyer whispered, “Jesus Christ.”
Chloe continued.
“I drugged Marcus Vale and staged an intimate situation so my sister would believe we were having an affair.”
Questions erupted.
She raised her voice.
“I did it because I was jealous, addicted to gambling, deeply in debt, and cowardly.”
Tears filled her eyes.
“I betrayed my sister.”
I squeezed her hand.
“But I am telling the truth now because Victor Hale kidnapped my nephew and has attempted to kill members of my family.”
The room went silent.
Then Adrian appeared at the edge of the stage.
His face was grim.
Marcus saw him.
“What?”
Adrian approached and whispered.
Marcus’s expression changed.
He grabbed the microphone.
“This conference is over.”
Reporters shouted.
We were rushed backstage.
“What happened?” I demanded.
Adrian held up his phone.
“Victor called an emergency board meeting.”
Marcus frowned.
“That was expected.”
“That isn’t the problem.”
“What is?”
“He has fifty-two percent of voting control.”
Marcus went still.
“How?”
“Your CFO.”
“Daniel Price?”
“He sold his proxy.”
Marcus cursed.
“When’s the vote?”
“Forty minutes.”
The room erupted into movement.
Marcus’s attorney began calling board members.
I looked at Marcus.
“You can still stop him.”
“No.”
“What?”
“If the numbers are correct, he wins.”
“You’re just giving up?”
Marcus laughed bitterly.
“On Vale Group?”
He looked at me.
“Yes.”
I didn’t understand.
Then he removed something from his pocket.
A small velvet box.
My heart stopped.
He placed it in my hand.
Inside was my engagement ring.
The ring I had left on his pillow four years earlier.
“You kept it.”
“Every day.”
My eyes burned.
“Why are you giving this to me now?”
“I’m not asking you to wear it.”
His voice softened.
“I’m giving you back something that belonged to you.”
The man I once knew would have tried to place it on my finger himself.
This man simply closed my hand around it.
“I have to go to New York.”
“For the board meeting?”
“For Victor.”
“You promised.”
“I know.”
“No killing.”
“I remember.”
“I’m coming.”
“No.”
I narrowed my eyes.
Marcus sighed.
“Fine.”
Twenty minutes later, we were in his helicopter.
As Manhattan appeared beneath us, my phone rang.
Unknown.
Victor.
I answered.
“You made a mistake,” he said.
“Which one?”
“Standing beside Marcus.”
“No.”
I looked at the man sitting across from me.
“I made that mistake once.”
Marcus’s expression darkened.
I continued.
“This time, I’m standing beside him with my eyes open.”
Victor laughed.
“You think you know him?”
“No.”
I looked at Marcus.
“But I’m starting to.”
Victor’s voice became cold.
“You will regret embarrassing me.”
“You kidnapped my son.”
“And I returned him.”
“You threatened my children.”
“Business.”
Something inside me hardened.
“You know what your mistake was, Victor?”
Silence.
“You thought because Marcus was dangerous, I would always be afraid of him.”
I smiled.
“You never considered that one day you’d make me more afraid of you.”
I ended the call.
Marcus stared at me.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Marcus.”
He almost smiled.
“I’m wondering how I survived without you for four years.”
My heart betrayed me with one hard beat.
May you like
Then the helicopter descended toward Manhattan.
And inside Vale Tower, Victor Hale waited to steal an empire.
