“Send the Poor, Ugly Girl—He’ll Reject Her!” They Laughed… Until the Millionaire Stood Up
Chapter 10
Vanessa stared at Claire.
“You really think you can beat me?”
Claire looked around the warehouse.
“For eight years, I thought I had nothing.”
She held up the flash drive.
“Now I know exactly what you were afraid I’d find.”
Vanessa’s expression changed.
“You don’t understand.”
“Then explain.”
Vanessa laughed.
“You think your father was innocent?”
Claire didn’t answer.
“He wasn’t.”
“I know.”
That stopped Vanessa.
Claire continued.
“He made mistakes.”
She stepped closer.
“But he didn’t betray me.”
Vanessa looked at Adrian.
“And he never loved your family.”
Adrian spoke.
“Enough.”
Vanessa smiled.
“You still don’t know what your father did, Adrian.”
Adrian’s face hardened.
“I know enough.”
Vanessa suddenly pulled out a document.
“The transfer is already signed.”
Claire looked at it.
Her father’s signature.
Again.
But this time the date was different.
“How?”
Vanessa smiled.
“Your mother signed it.”
Claire froze.
“No.”
“She signed it years ago.”
Adrian took the document.
His lawyers examined it.
Something wasn’t right.
The signature was authentic.
But the authorization date was wrong.
Claire suddenly remembered something.
Her mother’s stroke had happened before the document was supposedly signed.
Impossible.
“It was forged.”
Vanessa laughed.
“You’re smart.”
Claire looked at her.
“But not smart enough.”
Vanessa’s smile disappeared.
The warehouse doors opened.
Federal investigators entered.
Adrian had already forwarded the evidence.
Vanessa was arrested.
But there was one last twist.
The investigators found another person waiting in the warehouse.
Vanessa’s father.
He had not fled the country.
He had been working with her.
But when confronted with the recordings, he confessed.
Claire’s father had indeed discovered the criminal network.
He had been preparing to expose it.
Vanessa’s father ordered the theft operation.
Adrian’s father tried to stop it.
And someone else had given the final order that led to Claire’s father’s murder.
Not Vanessa’s father.
Not Adrian’s father.
A corrupt executive who had been stealing from both families.
The man was arrested the next day.
The network collapsed.
The property was secured.
The truth finally came out.
But Claire didn’t feel victorious.
She felt tired.
Adrian found her sitting alone outside the warehouse.
“You okay?”
“No.”
He sat beside her.
“I don’t think I will be for a while.”
“You don’t have to be.”
She leaned against him.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Yes.”
“When did you know you loved me?”
He smiled.
“The café.”
She laughed.
“You fell for me over pasta?”
“No.”
“Then?”
“When you told me you liked the kitchen window more than the apartment.”
She looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because you could find something beautiful where everyone else saw something ordinary.”
She smiled.
“That’s a very good answer.”
“I practiced.”
She laughed.
Then Adrian took out a small velvet box.
Claire stared.
“What’s that?”
“Not a business proposal.”
She smiled.
He opened it.
Inside was a simple ring.
“I don’t want to make you my wife because your family needs something.”
He paused.
“I want to ask because I love you.”
Claire’s eyes filled with tears.
“You’re proposing?”
“Yes.”
“Here?”
“Bad timing?”
“Terrible.”
He laughed.
She took his hand.
“Ask me somewhere prettier.”
He smiled.
“Fair.”
She kissed his cheek.
“Yes.”
He blinked.
“Yes?”
“Yes.”
“That’s not how proposals work.”
She laughed.
“You heard me.”
