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.

clear, emerged from his luxury car and scooped the boy up in a fatherly

after, a beautiful young woman appeared at the gate. Preston greeted her with a hug

love child of your

scene and nodded,

for his traditional values, consistently favoring sons over daughters. Whitney vividly remembered the strictly management imposed by Yvonne when she lived

as a surprise to her that, under such watchful eyes, her father had managed to father a secret child, now around five or six

and Whitney’s grandmother, who had supposedly retreated to the countryside to recover her health. In reality, she’d been hiding away, raising her grandson- a woman

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

when Preston was utterly captivated by her

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 her

observed the drama with

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

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

understanding the assignment, and gave a

behind a bush in the villa compound,

to an unexpected discovery; however, this love child could be the downfall of Yvonne

feel like we’re being watched. Let’s head back,” Preston said cautiously, urging the woman

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

Preston snapped, annoyed by

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 is…”

to us, and even though she is not really

shouted; his

a clenched fist, he stormed off to

whole conversation, but through the car window, she saw Preston pull out a pocket watch. Inside was a photo of a woman who bore an uncanny resemblance

could never have, who met

at the clock and realized it was already two

hurriedly called the villa where Taryn was,

“So what’s

at Imperial Gem Corporation’s tower claiming to ‘work‘,

switched their ride,