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Georgia’s hands twisted in her lap, though not for the reasons Vaughn assumed. “You want me to go public?”
“The timing would be perfect. As the financial evidence surfaces, your testimony would destroy what’s left of his reputation.” Vaughn’s smile grew wider. “The loving husband revealed as a manipulator who coerced a young designer into marriage. The public loves a victim’s story, especially one with your… appeal.”
She nodded slowly, careful to keep her expression neutral despite the rage building in her chest. Her fingers curled into her palm, but she forced them to relax.
Georgia met his gaze, letting him see what he wanted. Behind her eyes, though, pieces clicked into place. Every detail he’d revealed, every confident admission, formed a pattern she could unravel. She just had to play her part a little longer.
Georgia swallowed, her throat tight. “When would you need me to do this?”
“This Friday.” Vaughn pulled out his phone, scrolling through a calendar. “I’ll arrange an exclusive interview with Catherine Walsh from theFinancial Times. She’s been following Adrian’scareer for years. The story will drop Monday morning before the market opens.”
His thumb traced circles on her knee, the touch making her skin crawl. “The timing aligns perfectly with our other moves. While the public focuses on the scandal, we’ll execute the takeover. Adrian won’t see it coming until it’s too late.”
Georgia uncrossed her legs, pulling away from his touch under the pretense of reaching for her glass. The scotch burned as she took a long sip, buying time to steady her voice. “Friday works for me.”
Vaughn’s smile spread across his face, satisfaction gleaming in his eyes. He stood, buttoning his jacket with practiced ease. “I’ll have my driver pick you up at seven. We’ll do the interview at my private residence. It’s more intimate that way. Better for the story.”
“Of course.” Georgia rose, smoothing her skirt. She forced her lips into a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “I’ll be ready.”
Georgia kept her steps unsteady as she left Vaughn’s office, letting her shoulders curve inward with imagined defeat. Each detail crystallized in her mind like frost forming on glass. The takeover planned for Monday’s market opening. Years of manufactured evidence pointing to fraud. A source inside Adler Capital, someone Adrian trusted completely.
Her fingers traced the strap of her handbag where her phone sat silent, recording every damning word. The weight of Vaughn’s scotch still coated her tongue, but triumph burned brighter. He’d revealed so much, drunk on his own certainty of victory.
The elevator doors closed on his satisfied smile. Georgia’s reflection showed exactly what he expected, a woman tornbetween loyalty and self-preservation. But beneath that careful mask, her mind raced through the web of information he’d unknowingly handed her.
His entire plan laid bare: the forged documents, the SEC investigation, the media circus he’d orchestrated. Each piece designed to destroy Adrian’s empire from multiple angles. The manufactured evidence. The strategic timing. The inside source he’d planted years ago.
Her hand steadied as she pressed the lobby button. Vaughn thought he’d recruited Adrian’s greatest weakness. Instead, he’d just armed Adrian’s most dangerous asset.
Georgia stepped into her workspace, closing the door with a soft click that sealed her away from the rest of the penthouse. The familiar sight of her sewing table and sketches grounded her as she sank into her chair.
She pulled her notebook closer, pen poised above clean paper. Her hand steadied as she began documenting the web of subsidiaries she’d observed on Vaughn’s phone.
Her pen skimmed across the page, each stroke clean and focused as she brought her observations to life on paper.
Only then did she reach for her phone, scrolling to the audio recording. Her fingers trembled slightly as she connected it to the laptop, silently willing the mic to have caught every damning word from inside her purse.
The laptop chimed softly. Georgia inserted the flash drive and dragged the file across. The transfer completed in seconds.
She held the small drive in her palm, its weight insignificant compared to the damage it contained. Every detail of Vaughn’s plan that he’d told her, every calculated step, encoded in his own confident voice, now hers to deliver.
Georgia eased through Adrian’s office door, the flash drive pressing cold against her skin. Shadows stretched across marble floors and glass walls, the city lights beyond reduced to dim pinpricks through the tinted windows. The desk lamp cast Adrian in amber relief, papers scattered across dark wood like pieces of a complex puzzle.
His fingers stilled over a document. He didn’t look up right away, but she sensed how the atmosphere changed—his focus zeroing in on her though he kept up his show of disinterest.
Her steps echoed against the stone, each step deliberate despite her racing heart. This wasn’t about seeking approval or playing his games. She had information that could save or destroy everything he’d built.
Adrian’s gaze lifted, eyes narrowing as they tracked her approach. A muscle ticked in his jaw, the only tell that her unannounced entrance had disrupted his carefully ordered world.
She stopped before his desk, chin lifted. The flash drive pressed into her palm, a tiny weapon with the power to shift the balance between titans. Her fingers uncurled, revealing the device.
Adrian’s eyes fixed on it, his expression unchanged save for a slight tensing of his shoulders. Still, he didn’t speak, waiting for her to make the next move in whatever game she’d chosen to play.
Georgia laid the handwritten notes beside the flash drive, her fingers lingering on the edge of the paper. The list of shell companies and hidden accounts that she had quickly committed to memory spread across the page in her careful script, each connection mapped with arrows and annotations.
“Vaughn’s using these subsidiaries to funnel money through offshore accounts.” Her voice cut through the silence. “He’s orchestrating a hostile takeover of Adler Capital through Vincent, but that’s just the surface. The real damage comes from the SEC investigation he’s planning.”
The lamp cast shadows across Adrian’s features as she detailed the scope of Vaughn’s plan. How he’d manipulated market positions, planted evidence of financial misconduct, even arranged meetings with journalists to craft the perfect narrative of Adrian’s downfall.