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.

ensuring the coast was clear, emerged from his luxury car

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

child of your dad!” Tiana gasped,

scene and nodded, “It

traditional values, consistently favoring sons over daughters. Whitney vividly remembered the strictly

such watchful eyes, her father had managed

other than Violet, Preston’s mother and Whitney’s grandmother, who had supposedly retreated to the countryside to recover

day, she had never approved of Whitney or Monica, and

when Preston was utterly captivated by her he

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

drama

the ladder, but turns out the man’s

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

assignment, and

behind a bush in the villa compound,

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

Let’s head back,” Preston said

about stocks, but I heard the neighbors talking about the Valentine Corporation’s shares plummeting. Monica’s made a mess with

by his

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

added worriedly, “You even let her persuade you to harm Whitney. 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

shouted; his face contorted

a clenched fist, he stormed off to

saw Preston pull out a

mother, a woman he could never have, who met

clock and realized it was already two

was, to find out when

“So what’s next

L. If he shows up at Imperial Gem Corporation’s tower claiming

two transformed into detectives, fully armed, and swiftly switched their ride, trailing the