My Best Friend Is Pregnant With My Husband’s Baby, But The Dna Test Just Proved It Actually Belongs To His Father. I’m About To Reveal This At The Anniversary Gala. Should I Record Their Faces?

The Boardroom Coup

A glint of satisfaction flashed in my father’s eyes. “Do you have a plan?”

“First, we need to turn them against each other.” I opened my phone and looked at a report that had just arrived from Matthew. “The substandard steel used in Blackwood Construction’s Hudson Yards project was supplied by a shell company managed by George Vance.”

My father’s eyes lit up. “You want them to tear each other apart?”

“The media is ready,” I said, looking at my watch. “In an hour, the news about the collapse risk at Hudson Yards will be on the front page of every business newspaper.”

My father offered me a glass of whiskey. “As for Vance, I’ve already tipped off the FBI to raid his containers of smuggled goods at the port. They’ll move tonight.”

The glasses clinked with a crisp sound. In that moment, I was my father’s heir. No longer the foolish woman crying in the cage of a marriage.

Leaving the estate, Lucas handed me an envelope. “Miss Sophia, these are internal documents from Blackwood Construction that Cain found.”

As I flipped through the confidential documents, I smiled unknowingly. Alexander’s embezzlement was worse than I thought. Not only had he lost at gambling, but he had also forged the Board of Directors’ minutes to secretly mortgage the company’s main assets.

“Lucas, we’re not going back to the townhouse. Take me to the Blackwood Construction Headquarters.” I had suddenly changed my mind. It was time to pay my dear husband a visit.

In the boardroom on the top floor of Blackwood Construction Headquarters, an emergency board meeting was underway. Through a secretary infiltrated by my father, I was receiving real-time updates.

“The Hudson Yards collapse risk is an accident! The media is exaggerating!” I heard Alexander’s voice through my earpiece. He was already in a panic. “The priority now is to stabilize the stock price!”

“Director Blackwood, the problem isn’t just the media.” It was an old man’s voice—Director D’Angelus, a company veteran. “According to the safety report that just came in, all the materials failed inspection. The supplier is an affiliate of the Vance Group. How do you explain this?”

“I don’t know anything about that!” Alexander said, clearly panicking. “That’s the purchasing department’s responsibility!”

“The head of the purchasing department is your cousin,” D’Angelus replied coldly. “The board demands a full inspection, including the destination of the $5 million you spent.”

I heard the sound of a cup shattering and Alexander’s shouts. I turned off the earpiece and cheerfully rode the building’s elevator to the top floor.

When I opened the boardroom door, all the directors turned abruptly. Alexander was standing in front of the chairman’s seat, his face livid, his tie crooked. He looked like a defeated rooster in a cockfight.

“Sorry to interrupt,” I said, smiling as I headed for an empty seat. That seat was mine, acquired through the shares my father had obtained via a shell company. “As a shareholder, I want to know what measures you plan to take for the Hudson Yards project.”

Alexander’s eyes looked like they would pop out of their sockets. “You… how…?”

“Madam, you may not be aware,” D’Angelus said, standing to greet me. “From preliminary investigations, it appears the incident was due to a problem with the materials, and the supplier in question has close ties to the Vance Group.”

“Oh, what a coincidence,” I said, feigning surprise. “My father just received information that the FBI is raiding the Vance Group smuggling warehouse tonight.”

The boardroom erupted. Directors whispered, and some pulled out their phones to make calls. Alexander’s face turned gray. He knew better than anyone about the dirty dealings between Blackwood Construction and the Vance Group.

“Gentlemen,” I raised my voice. “I propose we establish an independent investigation committee to thoroughly review all transactions between our company and the Vance Group. Furthermore, given Director Alexander Blackwood’s current unstable state, I request his duties be temporarily suspended.”

“You fucking bitch!” Alexander lunged to grab me, but his bodyguards held him back.

“Calm down, honey,” I said calmly. “It’s for your own good. Imagine if your gambling debts in Atlantic City went public, or the documents where you mortgaged company assets.”

Alexander gasped for air like a strangled chicken. Only then did he seem to understand that the cards I held were not just evidence of his infidelity.

The board approved my motion by a huge majority.

Leaving the building, the sky was as red as blood, like the fate of this city about to be overturned. The phone vibrated. A message from Matthew: “Short sales successful. 60% drop in Blackwood stock. Acquired 11% of outstanding shares.”

Immediately followed by a message from my father: “FBI operations successful. George Vance taken in for questioning.”

I took a deep breath and got into the car. Lucas handed me a cup of hot tea. “Miss Sophia, shall we return to the townhouse?”

“No.” I didn’t finish my sentence before I noticed a black SUV in the rearview mirror. It had been following us since we left the company. “Lucas, we’re being followed.”

Lucas’s gaze hardened. He pressed a button on his earpiece. “Team two, checkpoint. Black Range Rover, license plate Romeo Golf Hotel 134. Check it.”

Not a minute passed before the reply came: “Plate is fake, but the face captured inside is the head of security for Blackwood Construction. Alexander’s man.”

I narrowed my eyes. “When a fox is cornered…”

“Ditch them and head for the safe house.” Lucas made a sharp turn, and the car entered a narrow alley. The SUV followed us. The two cars engaged in a silent chase through the sunset traffic of New York City.

“Miss Sophia, hold on tight.” Lucas pressed a red button on the center console.

A large amount of smoke billowed from the back of the car. Taking advantage of the pursuers’ obscured vision, Lucas made several sharp turns and drove into the underground parking of a mall. We switched to another prepared vehicle and exited quietly through the rear. I saw the SUV still circling the parking lot entrance.

“Alexander is starting to suspect you.” Lucas’s voice was tense. “Do you want me to tell the Don to send someone to take care of him?”

“No. Let him be.” I sneered. “I need to make him understand clearly that I am not an easy target.”

The safe house was a secret apartment my father had prepared on the Upper West Side. As soon as I entered, I opened my laptop to check the latest developments. The financial news was full of the Blackwood Construction scandal. On social media, the hashtag #BlackwoodCollapse was trending. The most interesting news was George Vance’s arrest spreading like wildfire. It was even rumored he had smuggled not just luxury goods but also drugs and weapons. The Vance Group website was shut down and its stock suspended from trading.

Suddenly, the phone rang. It was Alexander. I let it ring more than ten times before answering.

“Sophia, is this your doing?” His voice was a hoarse whisper. From the background noise, he seemed to be in a bar.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, honey.” I put him on speakerphone and continued to review documents.

“Don’t pretend! The board, the stock, the Vances… It’s all you’re doing! What do you really want?” He screamed hysterically.

“For you to feel what it’s like to lose everything.” My voice was as light as a feather. “Just like you did to me.”

There was a moment of silence on the other end. Then the sound of a glass shattering and Alexander’s screams: “You’ll see, you bitch! I’ll make you experience a pain worse than death!”

The call ended abruptly. I shook my head and called Matthew. “Continue buying up Blackwood Construction shares and spread the rumor that George Vance is selling all his shares to pay the smuggling fines.”

“Already on it,” Matthew laughed. “And we discovered that Vittorio Blackwood has a secret account in Switzerland. For the last five years, a fixed amount has been deposited every month. The beneficiary is Clara Vance.”

This unexpected information made me raise an eyebrow. My father-in-law was sending money to Clara every month? Why?

“Find out the reason for the transfers. And let’s prepare the next plan. We need to deliver a very big gift to Vittorio Blackwood’s birthday party.”

After hanging up, I went to the window. The night was as black as ink, but in the distance, the lights of the Blackwood Construction building still shone. By sunrise, however, the owner of that building might change.

Alexander, did you think breaking my leg was the end? No. I’m going to break the spine of your entire family.