They Publicly Tore Up the Single Dad Invitation Not Knowing He Owned the Company Signing Their $1B
Chapter 3
The signing ceremony went ahead.
But Daniel noticed the guest-relations employee standing at the back of the room.
Her name tag read Amanda Reed.
She looked devastated.
After the ceremony, she approached him.
“Mr. Cole.”
Daniel turned.
“Yes?”
“I’m sorry.”
He nodded.
“You don’t need to apologize for everything.”
“But I humiliated you.”
“You were doing your job.”
“No,” Amanda said quietly.
“I wasn’t.”
Daniel studied her face.
“What happened?”
Amanda glanced around.
“The event manager gave me a list.”
She pulled out her phone.
“Your name wasn’t on the executive guest list.”
Daniel frowned.
“That list came from whom?”
“My supervisor.”
“Who?”
Amanda hesitated.
“Robert Hale.”
Victoria’s chief event and corporate relations officer.
Daniel remembered the name.
Robert had been uncomfortable with the deal from the beginning.
He believed Sterling should acquire ColeFlow outright instead of signing a partnership.
Daniel had refused.
Now Daniel wondered why his invitation had been missing from the list.
Victoria approached.
“What happened?”
Amanda immediately became nervous.
“Ms. Sterling…”
Daniel looked at her.
“She was instructed to keep me out.”
Victoria’s expression hardened.
“By whom?”
Amanda said:
“Robert Hale.”
Victoria’s jaw tightened.
Robert appeared moments later.
“I can explain.”
Victoria turned.
“You’d better.”
Robert smiled.
“It was a clerical issue.”
Daniel held up the torn invitation.
“A clerical issue that somehow allowed me to be publicly humiliated?”
Robert spread his hands.
“No harm was intended.”
Lily looked at him.
“You ripped Daddy’s paper.”
Robert’s smile disappeared.
“I’m sorry.”
Daniel crouched beside her.
“It’s okay.”
But it wasn’t.
Daniel knew corporate politics.
Small humiliations were rarely accidental.
They were often warnings.
Victoria apparently thought the same.
She dismissed Robert from the reception.
Then she turned to Daniel.
“I’ll handle this.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
Victoria looked surprised.
“No?”
“I’ll handle my side.”
“You shouldn’t have to.”
“I know.”
He glanced at Lily.
“But I don’t want her growing up thinking powerful people can solve everything for us.”
Victoria softened.
“You’re a good father.”
Daniel smiled.
“I’m trying.”
That night, after the event, Victoria drove Daniel and Lily home.
She refused to let Daniel take the old car.
Lily sat in the back seat between them.
“Is Victoria your boss?”
Lily asked.
Daniel laughed.
“Sort of.”
Victoria smiled.
“That’s complicated.”
“Are you rich?”
Lily asked.
Victoria looked at Daniel.
“So many questions.”
“I like knowing things.”
Daniel smiled.
“She’s very rich.”
“Like, billionaire rich?”
Victoria laughed.
“Something like that.”
Lily turned to her father.
“Are you rich?”
Daniel looked out the window.
“Yes.”
“But you drive an old car.”
Daniel smiled.
“I don’t need an expensive car.”
Victoria glanced at him.
There was something unusual about Daniel.
He had access to enormous wealth.
But none of it seemed to matter to him.
The next morning, Victoria received a report from corporate security.
Someone had accessed the event guest system three hours before the reception.
Someone had manually removed Daniel’s name.
And the access credentials belonged to Robert Hale.
Victoria immediately scheduled a meeting with him.
But before she could confront him, she received another message.
A confidential internal document had been leaked.
The document contained financial details about the $1 billion deal.
And the person who leaked it wasn’t Robert.
It was someone much closer to Daniel.
