Chapter 9 - The Double Cross
Daniel stared at Vanessa, his expression dark with bitter anger.
"Shut up, Vanessa!" Daniel shouted, slamming his hand onto the table. "You knew where the money was coming from! You demanded the apartment in Gold Coast! You demanded the diamond ring!"
"Because you promised me!" Vanessa shrieked back, her red-lipped mouth twisted in rage. "You promised me you were divorcing her! You said she was an idiot who didn't know how to run a household, let alone a multi-million dollar corporation!"
"Enough," Thomas Vance’s voice cut through the shouting like a heavy iron blade.
The room went instantly silent again.
Claire leaned forward, picking up a sleek black USB drive from the table and tapping it gently against the glass surface.
"You both seem to forget one very important thing," Claire said, her voice calm, clear, and perfectly poised. "This entire company was built on data security. My father built Vale & Croft on logistics tracking and secure communications."
She looked directly at Vanessa.
"Did you really think I didn't know about the private apartment in Gold Coast, Vanessa? Did you really think I didn't know about the dinner reservations at Gibson’s every Thursday night?"
Vanessa swallowed hard, taking a step backward. "How... how could you know?"
"Because the lease on that luxury apartment," Claire said, her eyes narrowing slightly, "was underwritten by a subsidiary company owned by my trust. I bought the building six months ago, Vanessa. You’ve been paying rent to me."
Vanessa stared at Claire in utter horror, her mouth hanging open in complete shock.
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"And every security camera in that building," Claire added softly, "is monitored by our head of corporate security. I have two hundred hours of high-definition footage of you and Daniel discussing how to slowly drain the company’s treasury before filing for my declaration of mental incompetence."
👉 Exposed and ruined, Daniel makes one last desperate attempt to bargain for his freedom, but Claire is about to deliver the ultimate blow.
