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

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

love child of your dad!”

the scene and nodded,

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

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

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 known

approved of Whitney or

by her he could silence his

the old lady had finally one upper Yvonne by secretly

drama with detached

feel sorry for Roselyn,” Tiana chuckled. “She wanted to climb the ladder, but turns out the man’s already got a son. What

this discovery. Tiana, can you find out where

assignment, and gave

in the villa compound,

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

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

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 vixen

snapped, annoyed by his mother’s

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

mistreat Whitney like that, Son. What happened to her granddad and mom was an unexpected ‘bonus‘ to us, and even though she is not really connected to you, you still shouldn’t take it out on her. I know you despise Whitney, but if you harm

shouted; his

clenched fist, he stormed off to his

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

was Whitney’s mother, a woman he could never have, who

clock and realized it

villa where Taryn was,

what’s next

at Imperial Gem Corporation’s tower

into detectives, fully armed, and swiftly switched their ride, trailing