Chapter 14 - THE PRICE OF BETRAYAL
“A board seat,” Gregory said.
Daniel stared at him.
“Raines would keep me on for three years.”
“And me?” Daniel asked.
Gregory looked away.
“Consulting role for twelve months.”
Daniel laughed once. It sounded empty.
“So my wife gets control, you get a board seat, Raines gets the assets, and I get a consulting badge.”
Gregory said nothing.
I had known him seventeen years. Trust sometimes breaks with paperwork, not a shout.
Martin asked Gregory to surrender his board materials pending an emergency meeting. He refused at first.
Then I reminded him that the bylaws allowed a temporary suspension for undisclosed conflicts of interest.
His face hardened. “You planned this?”
“No,” I said. “I read what I sign.”
By midnight, the wedding dress, the cake, the ballroom—all of it felt like another lifetime.
Daniel and I returned to the hotel because my car was still there.
Vanessa was waiting in the lobby.
No bridesmaids. No smile. No mother.
Just her.
She walked toward Daniel.
“Kyle called me.”
“He called you from police custody?”
Her mouth tightened.
“I didn’t tell him to steal anything.”
“You gave him the badge.”
“I asked him to copy documents we needed.”
“We?”
“For our future.”
Daniel stared at her for a long time.
Then he removed his wedding ring.
Vanessa’s expression cracked.
“Don’t do this because your mother is upset.”
He looked at me, then back at her.
“This is the first decision tonight that has nothing to do with my mother.”
He set the ring on the lobby table.
Vanessa grabbed his sleeve. “Daniel.”
“No.”
Her eyes filled. Maybe the tears were real. People can be manipulative and still feel pain.
Then she whispered something that made him stop.
“You can’t leave me.”
“Why not?”
May you like
Her hand moved to her stomach.
“Because I’m pregnant.”
