Chapter11
1416 Words
The chaos didn’t end with the headlines from the previous day. By noon, it had turned into a hurricane.
Every news headline, every gossip blog, every social media influencer was chewing Adrian Carter-Reed’s name like wolves ripping at raw meat. Adrian was trending all over the media.
“Illegitimate heir.”
“Fraudulent takeover.”
“ReedTech CEO built on a lie.”
The words splashed across screens in banks, restaurants, and airport terminals. Stock tickers flickered red. Unknown rivals made calls behind closed doors. Reed’s empire was under siege, not with bullets, but with whispers that spread faster than fire.
Inside ReedTech’s boardroom, the atmosphere was thick. Screens on the walls displayed headlines as his top executives argued over solutions.
“We need an emergency press release now!” barked Michael Tran, ReedTech’s COO, pacing furiously. “We emphasize Jonathan Reed’s personal acknowledgment of Adrian as heir. We put out legal documents, maybe the DNA results. We need to stop this nonsense before it spreads further.”
“That won’t stop it,” Anna Rodriguez argued immediately, his head of PR. Her eyes had dark circles under her sleepless nights. “We’re not fighting facts—we’re fighting people’s perception. Every blog wants scandal. They’ll twist whatever we give them. We need to distract ourselves. By shifting narratives.”
Adrian sat at the end of the table as the head, he had not uttered a word. His hands clung under his jaw, his grey eyes scanned the argument and chaos like a man watching a battlefield. Within one year he took over before reappearing, with the help of his father’s trusted lawyer Mr Arnold,he had built ReedTech’s stability on silence, strategy, and patience. But this attack wasn’t just mere numbers on a ledger. It was personal.
And it was working.
Michael slammed his palm against the table. “If we don’t get rid of these rumors, ReedTech stock will keep dropping. We’ve lost nearly seven percent just this morning.”
“Which is exactly what our enemies want,” Adrian said finally, his voice calm but bold and sharp. “They want me to panic. They want me to lash out. I won’t give them that satisfaction.”
“But if you say nothing—” Anna cut in.
“Then we investigate,” Adrian snapped. “Rumors don’t appear from nowhere. This was planted deliberately. Which means one of us in this room, or close to it, fed them this story.”
The room went silent. Everyone froze, except one man.
David Klein, ReedTech’s Chief Strategy Officer, sat two seats from Adrian, sipping water calmly. He was in his mid-forties, sharp suits, deep smiles. For two years, he’d been Adrian’s right hand in navigating corporate warfare. Trusted. Loyal.
Adrian’s gaze was all on him for a few seconds before moving on. He didn’t show suspicion—not yet. But his instincts pricked at him.
“We’ll trace this leak,” Adrian said. “And once we find it, ReedTech won’t just defend itself. We’ll strike back.”
Meanwhile back at Harris’s Mansion, Veronica Harris swirled wine in her crystal glass, a smile filled her face as she listened to her informant’s latest call.
“You should’ve seen him today,” his voice purred over the line. “Calm on the surface, but inside? He’s cracking and scared. The board’s over seriousness. PR is drowning. He’s trying to find the mole, but he’s looking in the wrong places. He put so much trust in me.”
Veronica’s laugh wasn’t loud but sounded triumphant. “Excellent. Keep it that way. Feed him just enough lies mixed with a little bit of truth to keep his faith in you, and keep passing me everything else. Adrian Carter thinks he’s playing chess, but he doesn’t realize he’s already in checkmate.”
“But he’s smart though,” he admitted. “But smart people fall the hardest. I’ll make sure his own team doubts him before long.”
Veronica widened her eyes. “Perfect. When ReedTech burns, it won’t just be a company crumbling because of Adrian. It’ll also be the downfall of Adrian Carter himself. His name, his legacy, his precious inheritance—ashes.” And I’m sure he’ll come back to me again.
Back in ReedTech’s tower, Adrian leaned against his office window, staring at the skyline of Seattle. His phone buzzed constantly with texts—lawyers, shareholders, journalists. He ignored them all.
Michael snapped in without knocking. “We have shareholders threatening to withdraw! If these rumors are not sorted out by next week, hostile bidders will start circling. They’ll see our stocks as nothing important.”
Adrian’s jaw tightened. “Then we don’t give them such reasons. We give them a clearer vision of what is coming.”
Michael blinked. “What do you mean?”
Adrian turned, his eyes wide open. “If assumption is the weapon, we turn it back on them. Announce a new expansion project. Something massive. A move so bold it overshadows the scandal.”
Anna entered behind him and overheard their conversation, she shook her head. “That could backfire. If investors don’t trust your legitimacy, how then will they trust your expansion?”
“They’ll trust results,” Adrian said. “And ReedTech delivers results.”
But even as he said it, frustration burned beneath his calm demeanor. Wasting his time to manage lies was a minute stolen from his real fight—uncovering the truth about his mother, about Veronica, about the web that had strangled him for decades.
He rubbed his forehead. For the first time in years, the weight pressed hard against him.
Meanwhile, Emily Harris had her own issues too.
Her phone wouldn’t stop vibrating —calls from journalists, friends turned strangers, even business partners who wanted to distance themselves. All of them repeating the same story: Adrian wasn’t legitimate. Adrian was a fraud. And by extension, she was just like him too.
She sat right in front of her mirror, staring at herself. She had once been as proud, confident, untouchable as Harris. Now? She looked small, worn, and haunted.
Her mother barged in without knocking. “You’re still feeling bad? Pathetic. You should be on camera right now backing up everything. Defending your company. Make the world think you’re united with me.”
Emily rose sharply. “You used me! You faked my signature, you stole millions, and now you want me to defend you?”
Veronica stiffened her face, but her eyes turned cold. “I did what I had to do. And you’ll do the same. If Adrian goes down, he might drag you with him. Or do you think you’re left out?Emily? He despises you. You never meant anything to him even when he was a loader.” She released a hard laugh.
Emily’s throat tightened. This time, she didn’t. Instead she turned away.
But deep inside, a seed of defiance was growing. For the first time in her life, she wasn’t sure if she hated her mother more… or herself for listening to her for so long.
Later that evening, Adrian sat in his office, files spread across his desk. The city glittered below, indifferent to his war.
His phone buzzed. A private, encrypted line. He answered.
“Adrian.” The voice was female, urgent. “You don’t know me, but you need to listen. You’re being watched from inside. Someone close to you is feeding your enemies everything. Check people around you. They’re who you think they might be.”
The line went dead.
Adrian dropped the phone quietly, the warning repeating in his ears. His mind replayed the meetings, the private conversations, the strategies they couldn’t conclude on. “Who could this be”?
His instincts were right and if he eventually finds out who it was, the betrayal will cut deeper than any headline.
He closed his eyes briefly, letting the anger surge through him like fire before forcing it down. When he opened them, his gaze was ice.
“Who could this be?” he asked himself again. “And that’s how Veronica keeps winning.”
Adrian stood up from his chair, and walked toward the window. The city stretched before him, wide and merciless. For the first time since stepping into ReedTech’s throne, frustration clawed at him. The fake news. The betrayals. The enemy inside his walls.
But frustration was fuel. And Adrian Carter-Reed was about to burn his enemies with it.
- Writer
