The Secret Heiress: Bound By Deception

The revelation

(Marcus)

Three days had passed since the divorce was finalized, and I was still riding high. Victoria had moved into the penthouse officially now, and we'd been celebrating every night. That pathetic little secretary was finally out of my life, and the Lawson Enterprises contract was going to make me rich enough to forget she ever existed.

I adjusted my tie for the third time as I walked through the lobby of Lawson Tower. This was it. The deal that would save my company and make me rich beyond my wildest dreams. Sterling Enterprises was hemorrhaging money faster than I could count, but nobody knew that yet. This contract would change everything.

The elevator ride to the top floor felt eternal. I practiced my pitch in my head one more time. I had to nail this. Victoria was waiting for me at the penthouse tonight to celebrate. She had already picked out the champagne. The good stuff.

During the divorce proceedings, I'd enjoyed watching Sophie crumble as Victoria and I told her exactly what we thought of her. The look on her face when I called her damaged goods had been priceless. She'd tried to act all mysterious at the end, saying I'd "find out on Monday," but that was just desperate posturing from a woman who had nothing left.

The boardroom doors opened and I strutted in like I owned the place. Soon I would own a piece of it, in a way. The Lawson Enterprises board members were already seated around the massive conference table. Old men in expensive suits. Money practically radiated from every corner of this room.

"Gentlemen," I said with my most charming smile. "Ready to make some magic happen?"

A few polite chuckles. Good. I had them eating out of my palm already. I set my briefcase down and pulled out my presentation materials. Everything was perfect. Every number was calculated to impress them. Every projection showed massive profits for both companies.

"We're just waiting for one more person," said the chairman. I forget his name. Some fossil who probably founded this company back when dinosaurs roamed the earth.

The doors opened again and someone walked in. I barely glanced up from my papers. Probably some assistant or secretary taking notes. These big companies always had lackeys running around during important meetings.

"Now we can begin," the chairman said. "Mr. Sterling, I'd like you to meet our CEO."

I looked up with my practiced smile and felt my face freeze. Sophie. My ex-wife was standing there in a business suit that probably cost more than I'd spent on her entire wardrobe during our marriage. What the hell was she doing here? Did she follow me? Was this some kind of sick joke?

"Hello Marcus," she said. Her voice was different. Colder. More confident than I had ever heard it. This wasn't the broken woman who'd sat across from me in Catherine's conference room three days ago.

"Sophie? What are you doing here?" I stood up, confused. "Did you get lost? The secretarial pool is probably on a lower floor."

The board members exchanged glances. A few of them looked amused. What was going on here?

"Please sit down, Mr. Sterling," Sophie said. "I think there's been a misunderstanding."

"The only misunderstanding is you being in this room," I snapped. "Security should escort you out before we continue with business."

"Actually," the chairman said, "I think you're the one who's confused. Allow me to introduce Sophie Lawson, CEO and majority shareholder of Lawson Enterprises."

The words hit me like a truck. Sophie Lawson. Not Sophie Parker. Not the nobody secretary I'd divorced three days ago. Lawson. As in the company I was here to sign a deal with. As in the fifty billion dollar empire.

My legs gave out and I collapsed back into my chair. "That's impossible."

"I'm afraid it's very possible," Sophie said. She walked around the table and sat down across from me, just like she had during the divorce proceedings. But this time, she was the one in control. "I've been working undercover in various companies to learn the business from the ground up. Including your company. Where I met you."

My brain struggled to process this information. Sophie. The woman I'd called pathetic and worthless just three days ago. The woman Victoria and I had laughed about in front of a room full of lawyers. She was Sophie Lawson?

"You're lying," I said weakly. "This is some kind of setup."

Sophie opened a folder and slid it across the table. "Birth certificate. Harvard Business School diploma. Corporate documents. Board resolutions. Would you like me to continue?"

I grabbed the papers with shaking hands. Everything looked real. Too real. The photos matched. The signatures were consistent. This wasn't a joke or a mistake.

Suddenly, her words from the divorce proceedings made perfect sense. "You'll find out on Monday." She hadn't been posturing. She'd been telling me exactly what was going to happen.

"Why?" The word came out as a whisper.

"Why did I work undercover? Or why did I marry you?"

"Both. All of it." I felt sick to my stomach.

"I wanted to understand business from every level. As for marrying you..." She paused, and for a moment I saw a look of the woman I'd thought I knew. "I actually loved you, Marcus. Hard to believe now, but I did."

"Loved?" Past tense. Of course it was past tense. After what Victoria and I had said to her during the divorce.

"Yes, loved. Until I came home early from work and found you in our bed with Victoria."

The board members shifted uncomfortably. This was getting personal fast, but none of them seemed inclined to stop it. They were probably enjoying the show. Just like I had enjoyed humiliating her three days ago.

"Sophie, I can explain..."

"No, you can't explain. There's nothing to explain. You cheated on me with your mistress. You told her you were only married to me until you could get the Lawson Enterprises contract. Then you planned to divorce me and marry her."

"That's not... I mean..." But it was exactly what I'd planned. What I'd told Victoria dozens of times.

"Which brings us to why you're really here today," Sophie continued. She opened another folder. "You've been meeting with our competitors. Trying to sell them inside information about our operations. Information you thought you could get through your marriage to me."

"That's not true." But it was true and we both knew it.

"Hartley Corporation. Genesis Industries. Phoenix Group. Should I continue? We have photos, Marcus. Recordings. Bank records showing the payments they made to you for preliminary information."

The room started spinning. How did she know about those meetings? I had been so careful. And more importantly, how long had she known?

"You're also facing bankruptcy," she said matter-of-factly. "Your company has been losing money for two years. You've been using creative accounting to hide the losses. This contract wasn't just a business opportunity. It was your last chance to avoid complete financial ruin."

"How do you..."

"Know all this? I'm a CEO, Marcus. I do my research. Especially when someone is trying to use me." Her voice was getting colder with each word. "Did you really think I didn't know what you were doing? Did you think I was actually that naive little secretary you married?"

The board members were watching this like a tennis match. Back and forth. Each revelation hitting me harder than the last. But now I understood. She'd sat there during the divorce proceedings and let Victoria and me destroy her because she'd already known this moment was coming.

"So let me be clear," Sophie said. "There will be no contract between Lawson Enterprises and Sterling Enterprises. There will be no business relationship. And after the lovely things you said about me during our divorce proceedings, there will be no mercy either."

I found my voice again. "Sophie, we can work this out. I made mistakes, but..."

"We can't work this out. You made your feelings about me very clear three days ago. Something about me being pathetic damaged goods that no one else would want?"

The words I'd thrown at her in Catherine's conference room came flooding back. Every cruel thing I'd said. Every laugh Victoria and I had shared at her expense. She'd heard it all. Remembered it all.

"You can't do this to me," I said desperately. "I didn't know who you were."

"You're right. You didn't know who I was. But I knew exactly who you were." She stood up and walked to the door. "Security will escort you out. Don't come back to this building. Don't contact me. Don't contact anyone in my family. Are we clear?"

Two security guards appeared in the doorway. Big guys in suits. They looked like they could break me in half without breaking a sweat.

"This isn't over," I called after her as they approached my chair. "You'll regret this."

Sophie turned back to look at me one last time. The expression on her face was the same one she'd worn when she'd stood up at the end of our divorce proceedings. Cold. Final. Victorious.

"The only thing I regret is not telling Victoria exactly who she was laughing at three days ago. I would have enjoyed watching her face when she realized she'd just insulted one of the wealthiest women in the country."

The security guards grabbed my arms and lifted me from the chair. My briefcase fell to the floor, spilling papers everywhere. All my carefully prepared presentations scattered across the expensive carpet.

"Let go of me," I protested as they dragged me toward the door. "I can walk."

But they didn't let go. They marched me through the hallway, into the elevator, through the lobby, and out onto the street. Other people in the building stopped to stare. Some of them probably recognized me. By tomorrow this would be all over the business news.

Standing on the sidewalk, watching the security guards disappear back into the building, I felt completely lost. Everything I had worked for was gone. The woman I thought I could use and discard had turned out to be the most powerful person I had ever met.

And I had spent our last legal meeting calling her worthless.