“CHEAP MAN!” She Left Her Fiancé For Her Lover—Unaware He Was Heir To A $4B Empire
Chapter 3
Daniel spent the next month investigating the company’s finances.
The fraud was larger than expected.
Money had been moved through shell companies.
Contracts had been inflated.
Suppliers had been overpaid.
Several senior executives were receiving secret commissions.
Someone had been stealing from Cole Global for years.
Daniel brought in an independent audit team.
The board resisted.
He ignored them.
One evening, Margaret called.
“You have enemies.”
“I expected that.”
“These people were loyal to your father.”
Daniel sighed.
“That doesn’t mean they’re loyal to the company.”
“No.”
She paused.
“They may know about Sophie.”
Daniel froze.
“What?”
“Your ex-fiancée has been appearing at several Cole Global social events with Adrian Blake.”
Daniel’s expression hardened.
“What does that have to do with the audit?”
“Adrian’s family has been trying to acquire one of our hotel divisions.”
Daniel looked at the financial documents.
He remembered Adrian.
The man Sophie had chosen because she wanted luxury.
Maybe this was more than romance.
The next day, Daniel discovered that Adrian’s family had been negotiating with Cole Global for months.
Their goal?
Acquire a major subsidiary at a discount.
But Daniel’s father had refused.
Now Daniel had replaced him.
Daniel requested every document involving Blake Holdings.
The files revealed something disturbing.
Three days after Sophie left Daniel, Adrian’s family had submitted a revised acquisition offer.
A month later, a senior Cole executive had privately recommended accepting it.
The timing wasn’t a coincidence.
Daniel contacted Sophie.
“Why did you leave me?”
She laughed awkwardly.
“You already know.”
“No.”
“You weren’t ambitious enough.”
“Was Adrian?”
“He understands what I want.”
Daniel nodded.
“Did he know about Cole Global?”
She went silent.
“Sophie.”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Before I left you.”
That hurt.
She knew.
She had known that Daniel’s father owned a huge company.
But she apparently hadn’t known Daniel would inherit it.
He asked:
“Did you choose Adrian because of his money?”
She answered softly:
“I chose a future.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“You chose what you thought was a future.”
“Yes.”
He didn’t argue.
“Goodbye, Sophie.”
He ended the call.
Later that evening, Daniel discovered that Adrian had requested a confidential meeting with three Cole Global directors.
He wanted the company to remove Daniel.
The reason?
Inexperienced leadership.
Daniel almost smiled.
They were underestimating him.
Again.
He called the audit team.
“Find every transaction connected to Blake Holdings.”
Within forty-eight hours, they found one.
A payment from an offshore company.
To one of the directors.
The amount?
$12 million.
Daniel stared at the evidence.
“This isn’t a business disagreement.”
Margaret nodded.
“It’s a takeover attempt.”
Daniel closed the file.
“Then we stop it.”
But neither of them noticed one thing.
Someone was standing outside the office.
Listening.
And that person was Sophie.
