Chapter 6 - THE LIE THAT BROKE THEM
The next morning, Claire received an anonymous envelope.
Inside were photographs.
Adrien meeting men in dark warehouses.
Adrien entering a private club.
Adrien standing beside a man later arrested for organized crime.
Then one photograph made her blood run cold.
Adrien shaking hands with Victoria Vale.
On the back were four words.
He never loved you.
Claire refused to believe it.
Until she overheard Victoria.
“You'll get your company back once he signs the merger.”
Adrien answered coldly.
“You'll never get anything from me.”
Claire froze outside the office.
Merger?
Company?
Victoria?
She walked away before they saw her.
That night, she confronted him.
“Were you ever planning to tell me?”
Adrien looked confused.
“Tell you what?”
“About Victoria.”
“There is nothing between us.”
“Then why are you meeting her?”
“To stop her.”
Claire threw the photographs onto his desk.
His expression changed.
“Where did you get these?”
“That doesn't matter.”
“It matters.”
“You lied to me.”
“No.”
“You hid things.”
“Yes.”
“That is still lying.”
Adrien moved closer.
“Claire, listen to me.”
“No.”
She backed away.
“I trusted you.”
“You still can.”
“I don't know if I can.”
His face fell.
That was the first time Claire had seen Adrien genuinely hurt.
Then she said the words she would regret.
“Maybe the man who couldn't pay forty-seven dollars was the only version of you I ever liked.”
Adrien went still.
She left.
Outside, tears blurred the city lights.
She didn't see the black SUV following her.
She didn't see the man watching from across the street.
And she didn't know the photographs had been deliberately altered.
Because Victoria had never been Adrien's lover.
She was his informant.
And the merger Claire overheard was a trap designed to expose the person inside Blackwood Holdings who was stealing millions.
The person behind it was Julian.
But Julian had one more card.
He called Claire's brother.
Daniel answered.
“Hello?”
May you like
Julian smiled.
“Your sister is in danger.”
