Chapter 13 - Desperate MeasuresDesperate and cornered, Victoria Hale decided to take a gamble that could either save her or destroy her completely. She couldn't trust the blackmailer on the phone, and she couldn't rely on Jonathan rotting away in a federal cell. There was only one person in Chicago powerful enough to protect her from the unseen predators closing in: Claire Whitmore.
It took Victoria three hours of waiting in the public lobby of Whitmore-Bennett Holdings before security finally allowed her upstairs. When the double doors opened, Claire was sitting at her desk, looking calm, composed, and effortlessly powerful.
Victoria stopped a few feet away, her usual polished arrogance completely shattered. She looked exhausted, her hair messy and her eyes red-rimmed.
"Claire," Victoria whispered, her voice trembling. "I know you have every reason in the world to have me thrown out by security. But I need your help."
Claire didn't invite her to sit down. She simply rested her hands on the edge of her desk, her gaze piercing. "You helped my husband systematically destroy our family business while sleeping in my bed, Victoria. Why on earth would I give you even a fraction of my time?"
"Because whoever is blackmailing Jonathan didn't stop with him," Victoria pleaded, taking a hesitant step forward. "They’re coming after everyone connected to the old regime. They called me this morning. They have files on every single fraudulent transaction Jonathan forced me to sign, and they’re going to frame me for the entire municipal bribery scheme if I don't hand over the digital access keys."
May you like
Claire stared at her former rival for a long, silent moment. "What access keys?"
"The encrypted ledger," Victoria confessed. "Jonathan hid it in a secure cloud server linked to my design firm. I didn't know what it was until an hour ago. If you help me protect myself against these people, I’ll give you the password. It contains the names of every corrupt city official who took bribes to approve The Horizon Center."
