Page 24 of Suddenly Desired (APEX Billionaires’ Club #2)

BLAKE

The board members filed into the room like it was a funeral procession, and Blake couldn’t help feeling like he was the guy in the coffin. He stood at the head of the table — a table that he himself had bought for the company when he’d made his first million — waiting for them to take their seats.

Agnes was first, dressed all in black. She sat opposite Blake, shuffling her papers into a pile and looking sad.

Maurice groaned wearily as he descended into his chair, Mike dropping into his like he was completing a wrestling move.

David came next, offering Blake a smile and a reassuring nod.

For a moment it looked as if Michelle wasn’t coming, and Blake prayed that she’d had the sense to remove herself quietly from the situation rather than stay here and face him.

Then she strolled past the window and through the door, smiling as if this was Christmas Day.

She had the audacity to wink at Blake, and he had to look away to keep the rage from boiling over.

“Good afternoon, everyone,” said Agnes. “Thank you very much for coming. Blake, how are you?”

The question took Blake by surprise, and he cleared his throat. “Better now that I know who did this,” he said, glancing at Michelle.

If she was worried, she wasn’t showing any sign of it. She was perfectly calm, her features icy. She drummed her long nails on the desk as if she was bored.

“Thank you for giving me the opportunity to present my case,” Blake continued.

“This meeting will give you the chance to do exactly that,” said Agnes.

“But I should warn you, Blake, we will be making a decision about your future in the next ten minutes. We are at a tipping point for Heartbook. If we do not act now, then everything is lost. We have a press conference scheduled for three sharp. We will either be telling them your story, or telling them that you’ve decided to leave the company. ”

“She means it,” said Mike, popping gum. “I’m not going to let you strip my bank account. My ex-wife does enough of that. Either you convince us, or you’re gone.”

Blake felt a tremor of fear run through him. He was ten minutes away from losing everything that he had spent his life building. He could practically feel the colour drain from his face as everyone looked at him, scrutinised him.

“Easy, Mike,” said David. “Let’s give Blake a chance to explain himself.”

Mike threw his hands in the air dramatically. Maurice adjusted his glasses, then nodded at Blake. “Please, go ahead,” the old man said.

Blake took a moment to compose himself. This was probably the most important speech he would ever have to make, and he couldn’t afford to mess it up. He looked each of the board members in the eye, ending with Michelle. She gave him another cold smile and he knew for sure that she was guilty.

“I have proof that it wasn’t me who made those posts,” he said.

Michelle scoffed, but the other board members studied him with grave expressions.

“I had my own expert look into it, and he found that somebody else used my devices to upload the posts, setting them to private with the intention of activating them later on. This person wasn’t acting on behalf of the government, or another company, or another country.

The person who did this is sitting in this very room. ”

Agnes gasped. “That is a very strong accusation.”

Blake nodded. “I know, Agnes. I’ve been facing the same accusations for two days now.

But it’s the truth. If you look at the time stamps for each post you will see that they were written at a time when I was either away from my desk, or away from my phone.

I haven’t had time to look at them all yet, but I can guarantee this.

My expert — you all know him, but his name is embargoed — discovered one instance where a post was made and I was inside the hospital with him waiting for his mum to come out of surgery.

There is no way I could have posted to Heartbook at that time. ”

Maurice and Agnes shared a look. A flicker of concern passed over Michelle’s face, but only for an instant. David threw him another smile, urging him to go on.

“You all knew my Heartbook security details — it was part of the deal we made. I had to be untouchable, so everyone here had the ability to log in to my account and vet it. But only one person was with me during work hours and home hours.”

He looked at Michelle, and for once she didn’t meet his eye.

“I spoke to Michelle earlier, and she all but admitted that it was her who hacked my account. This is her doing.”

There was silence in the boardroom, other than the hammer blows of Blake’s pulse in his ears. He wasn’t sure how much later it was that Agnes spoke.

“Michelle? This can’t be true.”

Michelle looked at Blake, and he thought there might be tears in her eyes. The wave of relief that passed over him felt strong enough to knock him over. She was going to confess — it was going to be okay.

Michelle turned to Agnes and clasped a hand over her mouth to contain the sobs that were spilling out of her.

“Michelle?” said Maurice. “We need to hear your response immediately.”

“I . . .” she started. “I don’t know what he’s talking about.”

Blake slammed a hand on the table. “You admitted it!”

“I did no such thing,” she replied, smudging away the tears.

“He’s lying. I know we were together for a while, and it didn’t end well, but I would never do that to anyone, even you, Blake, and I would never jeopardise a company that I love with all my heart.

It’s financial suicide — it wouldn’t make any sense. ”

“It makes perfect sense,” Blake said. “You were always looking for a way to hurt me after I broke it off with you.”

“You broke it off with me ?” To her credit, she could have been an Oscar-winning actor. “Another lie. I ended it with you because of your views on women, because of the way you treated me.”

“That’s insane,” said Blake. “ You’re insane.”

“No, it’s true,” she said, throwing pleading looks to all of the board members. “You were horrible. In the public eye you were Mr Charming, but behind closed doors you thought women were inferior in every way. Your views made me sick.”

“What?” He couldn’t believe this was happening. He couldn’t believe she was doing this to him.

“These posts were written when we were still together,” she said. “That’s proof enough that it wasn’t me.”

“You planned it,” he said. “You were only with me to force my downfall. You knew from the start what you wanted and it certainly wasn’t me. It was my office.”

Even as he said it, he heard how crazy it sounded. Michelle was an expert — she’d planned this perfectly. But there was one thing she hadn’t planned for. Blake turned to David, his best friend and right-hand man. “David, you were there when Michelle confessed. Tell them.”

“I was there,” David said. “I was there when Blake confronted Michelle earlier.”

“And?” said Agnes.

“And I totally agree,” David said. “Michelle is innocent.”