She Was Never Just the Billionaire’s Wife (Natasha and Chase) novel Chapter 104

(Natasha)

Priya set my flat white on my desk twenty minutes ago. I haven't touched it.

I’m staring at my monitor.

The financial news sites usually take a day to aggregate gossip, but the photos from the Biltmore were apparently too lucrative to sit on.

They’re everywhere.

The framing is aggressive.

On the left side of the screen, Chase is walking through the lobby with Sonia. She’s draped over his arm, smiling like she owns him.

On the right side, a photo taken from the edge of the ballroom shows Chase holding me on the dance floor.

His grip on my waist looks possessive.

My posture is rigid.

We look like we’re plotting murder.

Most likely each other’s.

Warren Global Heir Caught Between Past and Present.

My skin crawls.

I close the browser tab with a sharp click, but the knot of disgust in my stomach doesn't dissipate.

I look like a woman fighting a mistress for scraps of a billionaire’s attention.

Exactly the opposite of why I went there.

My office door opens and Mason walks in.

He doesn't knock. He walks straight to my desk, picks up my cold coffee, and replaces it with a fresh cup he brought in with him.

He reaches over and closes the browser tab on my screen with a sharp click.

"Stop looking at them," Mason says, dropping into the chair opposite me.

He doesn't look like my boss right now.

He looks like the man who sat with me in a hospital room for weeks when everything fell apart.

His green eyes look darker as they trace the exhaustion on my face.

"The photos are bad," I tell him, rubbing my temples.

"I don't care about the photos," Mason says softly. "I care that you look like you haven't slept in three days."

"I haven't."

I lean back in my chair.

I need to focus on something I can actually control.

"Jeffrey Bauer cooked the offshore valuations. He altered the IP logs to hide it."

Mason freezes. The concern in his face shifts, replaced by the sharp, calculating intellect that built this firm.

"Are you absolutely certain?"

I reach into my bag, pull out the metal USB drive, and drop it on the desk between us.

"He’s inflating the assets. He wants Warren Global to absorb the liability of the merger, and when the SEC eventually notices the rot it will look like Chase did it. The company’s reputation will take a massive hit."

Mason lets out a short, disbelieving laugh.

"I’m suddenly grateful we didn’t win the tender. Why would Jeffrey do this? Have you told Chase?"

"I don’t know, and no. Things between us are very unstable right now. But I’ll have to go to him before this merger goes any further. I’ve been stalling Jeffrey’s finance people."

"Good."

Mason looks at me, his expression turning intensely serious.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify