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

her with a hug and a cheeky pat on the rear,

secret love child

scene and nodded, “It seems

over daughters. Whitney vividly remembered the strictly

as a surprise to her that, under such watchful eyes, her father had managed to father a

grandmother, who had supposedly retreated to the countryside to recover her health. In

the day, she had never approved of Whitney or

with Yerine, and when Preston was utterly captivated by her he could silence his mother even if she

times had 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 her

observed the drama with detached

to climb the ladder, but turns out the man’s

her for this discovery. Tiana, can

nodded, understanding the assignment,

behind a bush in the villa compound, trembling

however, this love child could be the downfall

Preston said cautiously, urging the woman to take the child

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

by his mother’s superstitious and cunning

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

to her granddad and mom was an unexpected ‘bonus‘ to us, and even though she is not really connected

Preston shouted; his face contorted

fist, he stormed off to his car and

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

could never have, who met her end through

glanced at the clock and realized it was already two in

the villa where Taryn was, to find

and asked, “So what’s next on the agenda?”

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

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