Single Dad Turned Down His CEO Boss Twice—Then She Proposed in Front of the Board
Chapter 6
That evening, Daniel invited Victoria into his house for the first time.
It was modest.
Clean.
Warm.
There were children’s drawings on the refrigerator.
A framed photograph of Daniel’s late wife stood beside Noah’s school picture.
Victoria saw it and immediately lowered her gaze.
“You don’t have to apologize,” Daniel said.
“I wasn’t.”
“You were thinking about it.”
She looked at him.
“You seem to know what I’m thinking often.”
“Occupational hazard.”
Victoria smiled.
Noah came running into the room.
“Ms. Victoria!”
He grabbed her hand.
“I have something to show you.”
Daniel watched them disappear upstairs.
For the next ten minutes, he stood in the kitchen making coffee.
Then he realized something.
His house had never felt this alive since his wife died.
When Victoria returned downstairs, Noah was wearing a paper crown.
“I’m the dinosaur king.”
Victoria nodded seriously.
“You look very powerful.”
“He says you need one too,” Daniel said.
Victoria was holding another paper crown.
She put it on.
Daniel laughed.
Victoria looked at him.
“You haven’t laughed around me much.”
“I didn’t realize.”
“You do it rarely.”
Daniel leaned against the counter.
“Maybe I have reasons.”
She looked at the photograph of his wife.
“Do you still love her?”
The question was gentle.
Daniel nodded.
“I always will.”
Victoria swallowed.
“I think that’s okay.”
“It has to be.”
She looked at him.
“Because I’d never ask you to stop.”
Daniel’s expression changed.
“Victoria…”
“I know.”
She lowered her eyes.
“I shouldn’t have said that.”
Silence.
Then Daniel’s phone buzzed.
He checked it.
A message appeared.
Your boss cannot protect you forever.
Attached was a photograph of Victoria outside Daniel’s house.
Taken minutes earlier.
Daniel’s entire body went cold.
Victoria saw the image.
“We need to leave.”
Daniel nodded.
He grabbed Noah’s jacket.
Victoria immediately called security.
Within minutes, two security vehicles arrived.
The house was searched.
No one was found.
But one of the guards discovered something near the fence.
A small black recorder.
Daniel picked it up.
Victoria stared at it.
“Someone was listening.”
“Yes.”
Daniel looked at her.
“This ends now.”
Victoria nodded.
The next morning, she called an emergency board meeting.
Every director was present.
Daniel stood beside her.
Victoria placed a folder on the table.
“We have evidence of internal surveillance, intimidation of an employee, and attempted contact with his child.”
The board erupted.
One director, Richard Sloan, leaned forward.
“This is serious.”
Victoria looked at him.
“It is.”
Richard glanced at Daniel.
“Why involve him?”
“Because he’s part of the investigation.”
Richard’s expression tightened.
Then another director asked,
“Is this connected to Thomas Hale?”
Victoria looked around the room.
“Yes.”
Silence.
She opened the folder.
“Someone inside this company has been hiding the truth for fifteen years.”
Richard suddenly looked nervous.
Daniel noticed.
So did Victoria.
And for the first time, they both understood something important.
The threat wasn’t outside.
It was sitting at the boardroom table.
