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.

his luxury car and scooped the boy up in

woman appeared at the gate. Preston greeted her with a hug and a cheeky pat on the

child of your dad!” Tiana

scene and

Whitney vividly remembered the strictly management imposed

such watchful eyes, her father had managed to father a secret

retreated to the countryside to recover her health. In reality, she’d been hiding away,

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

utterly captivated by her he could silence his mother even

old lady had finally one upper Yvonne by secretly introducing a new woman to her son’s life, bearing him the male her he’d

drama with

the ladder, but

“We should thank her for this discovery. Tiana, can you find out where Violet’s

understanding the assignment, and gave a

in the

unexpected discovery; however, this

back,” Preston said cautiously, urging

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

Preston snapped, annoyed by his mother’s superstitious and cunning

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 is…” She trailed off,

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

his face contorted with

fist, he stormed off to his

window, she saw Preston pull out a pocket watch. Inside was a photo of a woman who bore

a woman he could never

diner, Whitney glanced at the clock and realized it was already two

where Taryn was, to find out

and asked, “So what’s next

L. If he shows up at Imperial Gem Corporation’s tower claiming to ‘work‘, he’ll be

swiftly switched their ride, trailing the Bentley