Chapter 4 - The Front Page
The next morning at six o'clock, Wesley was sitting in his kitchen on the sixty-fifth floor of his penthouse, drinking dark coffee and reading financial reports on his tablet, when his private phone began to ring.
It was Clara.
"Sir," she said, her voice tight with tension. "Don't open the business section today. Open the Daily Ledger website."
Wesley tapped his screen three times. The headline on the front page of the city’s largest tabloid was bold, red, and eight words long:
THE BILLIONAIRE’S SECRET FAMILY? WESLEY DAVIS’S HIDDEN TWINS.
Beneath the headline was a crystal-clear photograph of Wesley carrying Bella into the Blackwood Tower, with Sarah walking beside him holding Daisy. The article claimed that Wesley had been secretly supporting an unhoused mistress and two illegitimate daughters for four years, and that the scene at Quantum headquarters yesterday was a staged stunt to avoid a massive child support lawsuit.
Wesley’s face didn't change color, but his hand tightened on his coffee mug until the white porcelain groaned under the pressure.
"Who sold the photo?" Wesley asked, his voice dead calm.
"We checked the metadata on the digital publish," Clara replied. "It was submitted by a freelance photographer named Miller, but the invoice was paid through an offshore account registered to a subsidiary of Vance Holdings."
Wesley set his mug down with a sharp click. Vance Holdings.
Julian Vance was Quantum’s chief competitor in the regional tech infrastructure market, and a close ally of Evelyn Shaw. For six months, Vance had been trying to launch a hostile takeover of Quantum Enterprises by lowering the company’s stock value before the annual board election next month.
"Is Evelyn in her office yet?" Wesley asked.
"She arrived twenty minutes ago, sir. She’s already called an emergency press briefing for nine o'clock, claiming she needs to 'protect the company’s moral reputation.'"
"Cancel her press briefing," Wesley said smoothly. "And call a full board meeting for eight-thirty. Tell them if anyone is missing, their seat will be declared vacant under Section 4 of the corporate bylaws."
Wesley hung up, stood up, and walked to the floor-to-ceiling glass window overlooking the foggy skyline. Below him, the city was waking up, oblivious to the war that was about to break out on the top floors of the Quantum tower.
He walked into his dressing room, selected a fresh dark navy suit, a crisp white shirt, and a silver tie. Before he left, he picked up a small velvet box from his nightstand—a box he had kept in his drawer for ten years—and slipped it into his jacket pocket.
He didn't call his driver. He took the private elevator down to the 31st floor first.
When the doors opened at Suite 3102, he found Sarah standing in the vast, open-plan kitchen, wearing a clean sweater provided by the building’s concierge service. She was staring at a copy of the Daily Ledger open on the marble island, her eyes wide with shock and fear.
"Wesley..." Sarah said, her voice trembling as she looked up. "They... they put my name in the paper. They called the girls... they said terrible things about us."
Bella and Daisy were sitting on a plush sofa in the living room, watching cartoons on a massive screen, blissfully unaware of the storm outside.
Wesley walked into the kitchen, picked up the newspaper, folded it in half, and tossed it into the stainless steel trash chute beside the counter.
"Don't read trash, Sarah," Wesley said. "It stains your hands."
"They're going to destroy you," Sarah whispered, coming around the counter. "Your company, your reputation... all because you helped us for five minutes!"
Wesley looked down at her. For the first time, he noticed the soft green of her eyes—the exact same shade as her daughters'.
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"They can't destroy me, Sarah," Wesley said quietly. "Because unlike the people who wrote that article, I don't care about the picture on the wall. I care about who’s sitting at the table."
He reached into his pocket, pulled out a small silver keycard, and laid it on the island. "Stay here today. Don't open the door for anyone except Clara or Marcus. By noon, this will be over."
