Chapter 6 - The First LieBy noon, the story had reached the media.
Not officially.
Never officially.
Someone leaked documents suggesting Vanguard Holdings had manipulated the Hawthorne family's finances.
By 1:00 PM, financial blogs were calling it a scandal.
By 2:00 PM, television networks were calling it a corporate conspiracy.
By 3:00 PM, my photograph was everywhere.
MYSTERY BILLIONAIRE BEHIND HAWTHORNE COLLAPSE?
I watched the headlines without blinking.
Arthur stood beside me.
“It's coordinated.”
“I know.”
“They're trying to make you look like a predator.”
I smiled without humor.
“They're forgetting something.”
“What?”
“I've survived worse than bad press.”
He looked at me.
“You haven't survived this.”
I turned.
“What does that mean?”
Arthur hesitated.
Then he handed me a tablet.
A video was playing.
Daniel.
Sitting in an interview chair.
His face looked devastated.
His voice sounded broken.
“My wife changed after she became successful.”
I felt something inside me tighten.
“She stopped trusting people. She became obsessed with control. I tried to protect my family.”
The interviewer leaned closer.
“Are you saying Evelyn Vance manipulated the Hawthorne family's finances?”
Daniel lowered his eyes.
“I don't know what she did.”
A perfect lie.
A carefully designed lie.
I turned off the screen.
“He's working with Cross.”
Arthur nodded.
“Almost certainly.”
I looked at the clock.
“How long?”
“Until the market opens tomorrow.”
I smiled.
“Then let's give them something to talk about.”
That evening, I held my first press conference.
The ballroom was packed.
Cameras flashed.
Reporters shouted questions.
“Ms. Vance! Did you secretly control Hawthorne Real Estate?”
“Did you financially destroy your husband's family?”
“Did Vanguard acquire the Hawthorne estate illegally?”
I walked to the podium.
Waited.
Then said one sentence.
“Yes.”
The room exploded.
Arthur closed his eyes.
The reporters shouted louder.
I raised one hand.
“I controlled Hawthorne Real Estate.”
Silence.
“Because I owned it.”
Another wave of shouting.
I continued.
“I acquired the company's debt legally. I funded its operations legally. I appointed its CEO legally.”
A reporter yelled:
“Are you admitting you controlled your husband's career?”
I looked directly into the camera.
“Yes.”
Then I paused.
“But I never controlled his choices.”
That sentence went viral within minutes.
I continued.
“My husband chose to humiliate me.”
Another pause.
“He chose to threaten me.”
“And he chose to protect the people who insulted our three-year-old son.”
The room became completely silent.
“I didn't destroy Daniel Hawthorne.”
I looked toward the cameras.
“He destroyed the illusion that he was ever standing alone.”
Across the city, Daniel watched the broadcast.
His face went white.
Richard Cross stood behind him.
“She anticipated us.”
Daniel shook his head.
“She always does.”
Richard smiled.
“Then we change the game.”
“What game?”
Richard placed a file on the table.
Inside was a birth certificate.
Daniel stared at it.
His expression changed.
“What is this?”
May you like
Richard's smile disappeared.
“Something your wife doesn't want the world to see.”
Related Stories
