Love Beyond the Mask by Adelaide Sinclair

Chapter 58

Tiana flipped through the menu, her eyes darting up at the sound of Whitney’s phone buzzing.

It was a call from a director at Skye Gem Ltd.

Whitney squinted, excusing herself from the table to take the call.

When she returned. Tiana gestured to a headline flashing on her tablet. “Monica’s plagiarism scandal is blowing up, dragging down Skye Gem Ltd’s stocks. The Valentine family’s shares took a nosedive today. Are the shareholders getting restless?”

Whitney nodded with a wry smile. “Monica’s got the Valentines backing her, but with a scandal this big, the shareholders I know aren’t fools. With the Valentine family’s fall, Skye Gem Ltd. is in turmoil, and they’re worried about their stakes.”

“So, they’re reaching out to you, the former CEO of Skye Gem Ltd.? Typical.”

“Many shareholders are clueless. For years, Monica’s been riding on my coattails, and now they’re finally realizing who the real expert is.”

As if on cue, another Skye Gem Ltd. shareholder called.

It was a good sign, Whitney thought as she patiently answered, her eyes narrowing. This could be her chance to reclaim Skye Gem Ltd.

After hanging up, Tiana suddenly waved her laptop, calling out, “Holy smokes, Whitney! You had me tail Roselyn last night, and you won’t believe what she led us to!”

Whitney watched intently as Tiana excitedly booted up a surveillance feed, showing Roselyn’s movements exactly as Whitney had instructed to be monitored.

Roselyn, having successfully wormed her way into Preston’s favor, was bound to make a move. Whitney wanted to have leverage over Roselyn, turning her into the blade to slice into the Valentine family’s core.

However, the footage was also showing that Roselyn was tailing Preston?

She trailed Preston to the front of a villa, and Preston remained oblivious. Soon, a captivating scene played out.

An elderly lady, with a young boy in tow, stepped out of the villa. The boy was carefully shielded by a hat, his identity evidently meant to be kept secret.

from his luxury car

young woman appeared at the gate. Preston greeted her with a hug and a cheeky pat on the rear, undoubtedly the boy’s

a secret love child of your dad!” Tiana

scene and

over daughters. Whitney vividly remembered the strictly

father had managed to father a secret child, now around five or six years

Whitney’s grandmother, who had supposedly retreated to the countryside to recover

the day, she had never approved of Whitney or Monica, and even less

Preston was utterly captivated by her he could silence his mother even

Yvonne by secretly introducing a new woman to her

drama with detached

wanted to climb the ladder, but turns out the man’s already got a son. What

her for this discovery. Tiana, can

nodded, understanding the assignment, and gave

in the villa compound, trembling

however, this love child could be the

back,” Preston said cautiously, urging

speaking, “Preston, I don’t know much about stocks, but I heard the neighbors talking about the Valentine Corporation’s shares plummeting. Monica’s made a mess with her scandal. What’s going on? I always said that vixen Yvonne

Preston snapped, annoyed by his mother’s

only said a few words about her, so what?” she retorted defensively. “You’ve been bewitched by that woman since you were young! You’re my son, and I know you. We owe our fortune to your father’s beginnings and everything else

Don’t mistreat Whitney like that, Son. What happened to her granddad and mom was an unexpected ‘bonus‘ to us, and even though she is not really connected to you, you still shouldn’t take it out on her. I know you despise Whitney, but if you harm her, her mother’s spirit will

his face contorted with

clenched fist, he stormed off to his car and

saw Preston pull out a pocket watch. Inside was a photo of a woman

was Whitney’s mother, a woman he could never have,

glanced at the clock and

hurriedly called the villa where Taryn was, to

what’s next on the agenda?”

at Imperial Gem Corporation’s tower claiming to ‘work‘, he’ll be in

fully armed, and swiftly switched their ride, trailing the Bentley that had rolled