I turned the phone face down.
At 5:17, the screen showed one hundred fifty-two missed calls.
Then my doorbell rang.
Daniel stood outside without a coat, his tie loose, his face gray.
Vanessa stood behind him, furious.
I opened the door but kept the chain locked.
Daniel forced a smile.
“Claire, baby, we need to fix this.”
Vanessa snapped,
“Tell her to stop playing games. She’s crashing the company.”
I looked at Daniel.
“You told her I was irrelevant, didn’t you?”
He swallowed.
Vanessa stepped closer.
“Daniel said you owned inherited shares but had no operational authority.”
“That was true,” I said. “Until thirty-eight minutes ago.”
Daniel’s face twitched.
“You used my guarantee to finance acquisitions. You used my father’s company to pay your mistress’s apartment. And you announced an engagement while married to me in front of employees and clients.”
“Claire, it was symbolic.”
Vanessa stared at him.
