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.

emerged from his luxury car and scooped

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

a secret love child of your dad!” Tiana gasped,

checked the scene and nodded, “It

renowned for his traditional values, consistently favoring sons over daughters. Whitney vividly remembered the strictly management imposed

a surprise to her that, under such watchful eyes, her father had managed to father a secret child, now

other than Violet, Preston’s mother and Whitney’s grandmother, who had supposedly retreated to the countryside to recover her health. In reality, she’d

approved of Whitney or Monica, and even

by her he could silence his mother even if she

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

the drama

Roselyn,” Tiana chuckled. “She wanted to climb the ladder, but turns out the

thank her for this discovery. Tiana, can you find

understanding the assignment, and gave a

in the villa compound, trembling with

detour had led to an unexpected discovery; however, this love child

being watched. Let’s head back,” Preston said cautiously, urging the

talking about the Valentine Corporation’s shares plummeting. Monica’s made a mess with her scandal. What’s

snapped, annoyed by his mother’s superstitious

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 is…” She

unexpected ‘bonus‘ to us, and even though she is not really connected to you,

his face contorted with

stormed off to his car

out a pocket

woman he could never have, who met her end through

Whitney glanced at the clock and realized it was already two

called the villa where Taryn was,

smirked and asked, “So what’s next on

Gem Corporation’s

swiftly switched their ride, trailing the Bentley that had