Chapter 3 - The Boardroom Betrayal
The next morning, the glass towers of Wright Investments in downtown Burlington felt more like a fortress than a place of business. James sat at his massive oak desk, staring out at the mist-shrouded Lake Champlain. He hadn't slept a wink.
The door to his office burst open without a knock.
In walked Eleanor Wright, his stepmother and the chairperson of the board. At sixty, Eleanor was a woman carved from ice and diamonds. She had married James’s father for power, and she had spent the years since Arthur's death trying to wrest control of the firm away from James.
She threw a tablet onto his desk. The screen was open to a local gossip blog. The headline read:
"STREET MUSICIAN SCANDAL: BILLIONAIRE CEO JAMES WRIGHT SCENE IN ALLEYWAY CONFRONTATION WITH DISHWASHER."
There was a grainy photo, taken by a passerby, showing James on his knees in the wet alley, reaching out to Catherine.
"Care to explain this, James?" Eleanor asked, her voice dripping with venomous satisfaction. "The board is in an absolute frenzy. We are in the middle of closing the Vanguard merger, and you are photographed groveling in the dirt before a kitchen worker."
James didn't look at the tablet. "She's not just a kitchen worker, Eleanor. She's Catherine Wilson."
Eleanor’s eyes narrowed slightly, then a cruel, knowing smile spread across her face. "Ah. The violinist girl. The one your father paid to go away. I thought we settled that little nuisance years ago."
James stood up slowly, his hands resting on the desk. "Paid to go away? My father blackmailed her. He threatened her family. And she was pregnant, Eleanor. With my child."
Eleanor let out a sharp, mocking laugh. "A child? Oh, please, James. You can't be that naive. A street performer claims her child is yours, and you immediately believe her? It's a classic shake-up. She saw you through that window, recognized the golden goose, and sent her little puppet out to play a tune to pull on your heartstrings."
"She didn't know I was there!" James slammed his fist on the desk, rattling the bronze pens. "And Lucy is my daughter. I saw her. I heard her play. She has the Wright eyes, Eleanor. And she has Catherine's soul."
"I don't care if she has the wings of an angel," Eleanor hissed, leaning over the desk. "Wright Investments has a strict morality clause in its charter. If your personal life brings public disrepute to this firm, the board has the power to strip you of your voting shares and remove you as CEO. I have already called an emergency board meeting for tomorrow morning."
James stared at her, realizing the trap was closing. Eleanor didn't care about Catherine or Lucy. She cared about the empire. This was the weapon she had been waiting for to finally dethrone him.
"You wouldn't dare," James said quietly.
"Try me," Eleanor whispered. "You have twenty-four hours to make this story go away. Pay the woman off. Sign a non-disclosure agreement. Make sure she and the brat leave the state. If they don't, I will use this to destroy you, James. I will take everything your father built and leave you with nothing."
She turned and swept out of the office, the scent of her expensive perfume lingering like poison in the air.
James sank back into his chair, rubbing his temples. He was trapped. If he paid Catherine off, he would prove to her that he was exactly the heartless monster she thought he was. But if he did nothing, Eleanor would strip him of his company, and he would lose the financial power he needed to protect them.
His phone buzzed on the desk. It was an unknown number.
He picked it up. "James Wright."
"James," Catherine’s voice came through, trembling and panicked. "They took her."
James sat up straight, his adrenaline spiking. "What? Who took who?"
"Lucy," Catherine sobbed. "Two men in suits. They came to our apartment. They said they were representing Wright Investments. They said if I didn't sign a custody relinquishment form, they would have the state social services take Lucy away because of my 'unstable living conditions.' They took her violin, James! They forced her into a car!"
James’s blood ran cold. Eleanor. She hadn't waited for the board meeting. She was playing dirty.
"Where are they taking her, Catherine?" James demanded, already grabbing his coat.
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"I don't know! They said she was being taken to a private care facility in upstate New York. James, please... I don't care about our past. Please save my baby!"
"I'm coming to get you," James said, his voice hardening into steel. "We are going to get our daughter back."
