Chapter 14
MASON’S POV
I stared at the headline flashing on my phone screen:
Whitehill Family In Turmoil, Future of Eternity Group Foggy
The article was relentless. It hit on my strained relationship with my family and painted a picture of a business propped up by my parents‘ wealth, claiming that without their financial support, Eternity Group would fall. It even speculated that my older brother, Clarke, would reclaim control of the family fortune and cast me out.
And what hurt the most was a lot of it was factual. But only the people closest to me would have known that.
I reached the end of the article when I got a call from my assistant.
“Hi, Candace. Please tell me you have something useful.”
“The board is demanding an urgent meeting to discuss stock prices,” she said. “They’ve been dropping since the article.”
“Yeah, I’m not surprised. Schedule it for this afternoon.”
“Already done.”
“And Candance?”
“Yes, sir?”
did this.”
“Find out who did this.”
When I walked into the conference room, 12 pairs of eyes turned to me. All the stuffy men in suits and glasses looked at me accusingly as if I’d published the article myself. I took my seat at the head of the table and let them begin.
“This is a disaster, Mason,” one of the senior board members, Hamilton, snapped. “Do you have any idea how many calls I’ve fielded this morning? Investors are panicking.”
“They need reassurance,” another member, Strauss, chimed in. “And frankly, so do we. Is Eternity really propped up by Whitehill International?”
I barely resisted rolling my eyes. “Eternity was built without my family’s money. You all know that.”
“That’s not how the public sees it,” Hamilton said. “And the court of public opinion matters.”
I leaned back in my chair, tilting my head slightly. “So, what do you suggest?”
Silence.
Because they didn’t have a real solution. Only complaints.
가
Finally, the oldest board member, Langley, cleared his throat. “A public response. That would be best. The longer we stay silent, the worse it will get.”
“Okay. What kind of response?”
“Something that says that you and your family are on good terms.”
I let out a low chuckle, shaking my head. “You want me to ”
Strauss’s lips thinned “You want to keep your company from crashing? Then yes.
“Etemity is not crashing.
“Yet,” Langley muttered under his breath.
I glared at him. As rude as he was, he was right.
I got up. “I’ll handle it. I pay PR guys the big lacks for this after all.
The meeting ended, and I walked out, my jaw clenched so tightly it hurt. Whoever leaked this information… knew exactly where to hit me
1 had spent years proving I could build something without by family’s name. And now, thanks to one article, everything was being called into question. I wasn’t going to let someone control the fate of my company.
I was already letting one part of my life–Florence–slip away from me. All because Jade showed up out of the blue. Part of me hated myself for running to Jade to rescue her that night instead of staying with Florence at the hospital.
But I simply couldn’t refuse Jade.
I thought back to the night at her apartment. It was right to go check she was safe, I told myself. But aside from her theories, nothing actually connected Daniel to the burglary. Was she just assuming? Or did she know something more?
I had left her apartment that night, my thoughts in complete chaos. Why would Daniel be after her? What did she ever do to him?
1 got home, hoping to see Florence back from the hospital and feeling better. Yes, she would be furious that I had gone to see Jade… but it would give me a chance to tell her everything.
Maybe… we could begin fixing our relationship. Be a real couple. I promised myself I wouldn’t run to Jade’s rescue
anymore.
With all this in mind, I made my way to our bedroom.
But my fondness dampened when I saw the listening bug. had bent down to untie my shoes and put them aside when the light caught the silver metal.
I removed it from its hiding place and studied it. Who the hell planted this?
“Agatha!” I called. “Come here, please!”
The housekeeper rushed to the bedroom. “Yes, sir?”
I held up the device so she could see. “Who put this here?”
Her smile disappeared, and she got nervous. “Madam Florence instructed me to place it.”
“Right… and why would she do that?” I asked in disbelief.
“I–I don’t know, sir. But… she left the house after I put it there.”
“Left? Left where?”
2/3
+25 BONUS
Chapter 14
Agatha subtly gestured to the room, and for the first time, noticed how bare it was. All of her things were gone. Florence had never been the type to play games. If she wanted to know something, she would ask, even when it irritated me. But her things were, indeed, missing, and she had left without informing me.
No problem. I could find her.
I used my phone to track Florence’s to a nightclub downtown. This was not her scene; she was more the type to enjoy bookstores and hipster coffee shops rather than dance clubs.
Something was wrong.
When I showed up, sure enough, Daniel Lockwood was pouring alcohol onto her face while a group of bodyguards and a blonde model watched. The sight of it sent a sharp, blinding rage through me, and before I could think, I swung at him and pulled Florence out of that mess.
Florence was barely conscious as I put her in the car and drove back home. She mumbled about work, something about Raiden giving her a chance. I wanted to scream, but Florence had every right. I hadn’t been an attentive husband. What did I expect?
I probably should have waited, but curiosity got the best of me and I asked her about the device.
She just laughed. “You mean the thing you’ve been using to spy on me?”
That stunned me. Did she really think so little of me? Had I been that… neglectful?
She looked at me, her glassy eyes searching my face, then started crying. I had never seen her like that before.
Raw. Unfiltered. Broken.
Just before she passed out, she mumbled something. “Did you ever love me?”
I sighed. I really had been a terrible husband to her.
“Of course I love you,” I whispered. But she was out like a light.
I gritted my teeth, frustrated. A part of me wanted to shake her awake, force her to hear me. Waves of emotions- sadness, anger, regret, guilt–washed over me as I gripped the wheel. But I hadn’t earned the chance yet. I needed to prove that I had changed for her.
So, I just took her home, cleaned her up, and changed her clothes. It was the least I could do.
Taking care of someone was exhausting. How had she managed to do this for me all these years?
I resolved to stay home for a while and take care of Florence, It would be good for me to take a break, after all.
That’s when Candace showed up with a file in hand. I had asked her to dig into any contact Daniel might have had with Jade or Florence, and as usual, she had done her homework well.
“We found something,” she said. “We couldn’t find any connections between Lockwood and Florence, but we did uncover something interesting about the woman with him.
She placed a photo on my desk.
“A model named Carmen. But her real name is Emily Hart.”
I stiffened.
Florence’s sister?
