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.

from his luxury car and scooped the boy

gate. Preston greeted her with a hug and a cheeky pat on the rear, undoubtedly the

child

checked the scene and nodded, “It

sons over daughters. Whitney vividly remembered the strictly management imposed by Yvonne when

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

elderly lady was none other than Violet, Preston’s mother and Whitney’s grandmother, who had supposedly retreated to the countryside to recover her health.

of Whitney

captivated by her

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

observed the drama with detached

to climb the ladder, but turns out the man’s already got a son. What can she possibly achieve

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

assignment, and

Roselyn hid behind a bush in the villa

this love child could be the downfall of

Let’s head back,” Preston said

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 vixen Yvonne

Preston snapped, annoyed 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

to her granddad and mom was an unexpected ‘bonus‘ to us, and even though she

his face contorted

off to his car

but through the car window, she saw Preston pull out a pocket watch. Inside was a

he could never have, who

at the clock and realized it

called the villa where Taryn was, to find out when L

smirked and asked, “So what’s

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

ride, trailing the Bentley that had