My Four Adopted Sons Lost Everything

Chapter 4

By 3:30 p.m., the conference hall on the top floor was full of business partners and reporters.

The Young Entrepreneur Awards results would be announced before the signing ceremony. The event was also being streamed live.

Daphne and I had barely sat down when a reporter stood with a microphone.

"Ms. Mercer, someone has accused you of stealing Ms. Lane's business proposal. Is that true?"

Another immediately followed.

"Ms. Lane came first in the preliminary round, yet you asked the organizers to disqualify her. Are you using your family's influence to suppress an entrepreneur without your advantages?"

Several cameras swung toward Daphne at once.

The gauze was still on her forehead. The reporters ignored her injury, asking only whether she had plagiarized the proposal.

On the stage, Adrian picked up a microphone and stood.

He wore the same suit as the day before. His badge still identified him as a Mercer Group vice president.

"Please, everyone, settle down. As a vice president of this company and Daphne's eldest brother, I owe the public an explanation."

He faced the cameras with an expression of grave regret.

"My sister has been indulged all her life. Jealous of Phoebe's ability, she first bullied her at the mall, then tried to claim her work. Family ties cannot come before business ethics. I won't cover for my own sister."

Nolan took another microphone.

"Phoebe completed the proposal independently. All four of us witnessed the entire process. Daphne privately contacted the organizers and demanded that Phoebe's name be removed. We can make those records public."

Tristan projected several selectively cropped chat screenshots onto the big screen.

Wesley sat beside the control console and brought up the livestream comments.

Abuse scrolled across the screen, one comment after another.

Some demanded that Daphne leave the business world. Others said she should kneel, apologize, and hand over all her patent rights.

Daphne rose from her seat, her chest heaving with anger.

"I wrote that code. You took my computer, deleted the original files, and put Phoebe's name on my work. You know perfectly well who stole it."

Phoebe lifted her microphone, tears dripping onto the back of her hand.

"Please, stop. If Daphne will just admit she was wrong, I'll give her the proposal. I don't need to keep anything. I just want to clear my name."

Adrian came down from the stage and stopped in front of Daphne.

"Phoebe is still trying to give you a way out. And what do you do? You hide behind your family's name and refuse to tell the truth."

He gestured toward the side door.

Several men in project security uniforms entered the hall.

Adrian had managed that team for years. Their old authorization hadn't yet been fully revoked. On his orders, they headed straight for Daphne.

"Bring her up to the front."

Adrian raised his microphone again and held it toward her.

"Today, in front of the press and our business partners, you will admit that you stole the proposal. Then you'll bow to Phoebe, apologize, and give her back the patent rights."

I stood and blocked the first guard.

"Whoever touches her answers to me."

He hesitated, then looked back at Adrian.

Adrian pointed at me.

"The chairwoman's judgment has been compromised by a family matter. I'll take full responsibility for anything that happens."

The guards closed in again.

Every camera in the room was now trained on Daphne.

Adrian wanted far more than a proposal.

He intended to destroy her reputation on a livestream, then use the public backlash to force me to restore his authority over the company.

Under his pressure, the guards reluctantly advanced on Daphne.

With every camera pointed at her, they were trying to force her to submit.

Just as a guard's hand was about to touch her shoulder, two lines of black-suited bodyguards threw open the doors.