I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more to Charles’ sudden appearance than just some power play within the family. The way he slithered into meetings and casually acted as if he belonged at the head of the table made my skin crawl. Something was off, and I wasn’t going to wait around for him to make his next move.After my confrontation with Charles earlier that morning, I decided it was time to take action beyond just words. I needed to know what his true intentions were with Bermudez Group, and I wasn’t going to rely on Thiago to find out. This was my fight now.I had quietly reached out to a private investigator the day before—someone who specialized in corporate espionage and discreet investigations. I didn’t want anyone in the company to know about this yet, especially not Charles. The less he knew, the better.As I sat at my desk that afternoon, waiting for the investigator’s report, Lucia came into my office, looking anxious but determined. "Madame CEO, you need to s
As the days passed, the investigation into Charles’ activities only deepened. My private investigator had uncovered more connections between Charles and several of our competitors, particularly one shady conglomerate that had been sniffing around the edges of Bermudez Group for months.It became clear that Charles was playing a much bigger game than we originally thought.I sat in my office, pouring over the investigator’s latest findings, my mind racing. Every new revelation only made things murkier. Charles wasn’t just after my position—he was after the whole damn company.Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, and Lucia poked her head in, looking more concerned than usual."Madame CEO," she said softly, stepping into the room. "You’re going to want to see this.""What now?" I asked, barely hiding my frustration. I had enough on my plate as it was.Lucia handed me her tablet, her fingers shaking slightly. "I pulled another set of CCTV footage from last week. I know we’ve already s
The pressure weighed heavily on my shoulders, but if there’s one thing I knew, it’s that I couldn’t let Charles or anyone else see me crack. Not now, when the stakes were so high. Over the next few days, Lucia worked tirelessly to secure the files and move everything to an encrypted server. I’d also instructed her to set up a digital trap—something that would alert us the second Charles or anyone else tried to access any critical information without authorization. My private investigator, Mira, had stayed on the case as well, digging deeper into Charles’ background, tracking his financial movements, and confirming his ties with the Zorich Group. She was nothing if not thorough, and the deeper she went, the more unsettling details she uncovered.It was late in the evening when Mira called me. I was at home, unwinding with a glass of wine, trying to piece together my next move when the phone rang.“Ms. Bridgette,” Mira’s voice came through, urgent. “I found something. I have this stro
And so a day finally came when I have decided to finally chase Charles towards his trap. Despite knowing that the moment I decided to set Charles up, I knew it wouldn’t be easy. But for some reason, I still was confident that with the evidence Lucia had gathered and Mira's ongoing investigation, I could catch him in the act and end this nightmare once and for all.I called a private meeting with Lucia and Marcus the following morning in my office. They had been my most trusted allies, and I needed their expertise if we were going to pull this off."Here’s the plan," I began, leaning forward across the table, my voice low but determined. "We need to make Charles think he’s getting the upper hand. We’ll dangle something, like a project—a huge project, something that will seem like the perfect opportunity for him to steal. But it’ll be a decoy. We’ll set it as a trap, and after he bites, we’ll have all the proof we need to bury him."Lucia raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "You want to feed
I sat there, stunned, my hands cold and trembling under the table. The room’s oppressive silence felt like it was squeezing the air out of my lungs. Charles had pulled the rug out from under me, and the board was already convinced. What seemed to come to be even worse was that, Thiago, the man I thought I could count on, had hesitated to believe me. His silence was louder than the accusations being thrown my way.“I agree,” one of the board members, Mrs. Lavoie, said after what felt like an eternity. “It’s in the best interest of the Bermudez Group to suspend Bridgette while we investigate this fully.”The others nodded in agreement, their faces unreadable, though I could feel the judgment radiating from them.Suspension? My heart dropped even further. They were stripping me of my authority of being their CEO, right before my very eyes. Not officially firing me—not yet—but this was a public shaming. It was like being exiled from my own territory, a place I’d already bled so much for
As I stormed down and outside the mansion, my thoughts were a whirlwind of anger, frustration, and disbelief. I could barely think straight as I grabbed my coat and swung open the front door of the house. I needed air. I needed to get away, to do something, anything, before I lost my mind.But before I could take a step outside, a familiar figure blocked my path. Thiago.“Where the heck are you going this late, wifey?” His voice was calm, almost too calm for how I felt. He was leaning against the doorframe, his hands in his pockets, like he wasn’t even fazed by everything that had just gone down.“Get out of my way,” I hissed, trying to shove past him, but he didn’t budge.“Wifey, hey stop, hey I said, stop.”“I said get out of my way, Thiago!” My voice cracked, anger and hurt lacing every word. I felt the pressure building in my chest, threatening to explode. How could he just stand there, acting like nothing had happened, after everything Charles had done to me?“I’m not letting you
Thiago held me close, his hand rubbing soothing circles on my back as I rested my head against his chest. For the first time in days, I felt the tension in my body begin to ease. But it wasn’t enough. Not yet.I pulled back slightly, looking up at him. “How are you going to do it? How are you going to take down Charles?”He sighed, brushing a stray lock of hair behind my ear. “It’s not going to be easy. Charles is cunning, and he’s been setting this up for a long time. But he’s made a mistake.”“What mistake?” I asked, needing to hear every detail.Thiago’s jaw clenched, a sharp edge to his gaze. “He underestimated you. He thought you’d crumble under the pressure, that you wouldn’t fight back. And that arrogance is going to cost him.”I swallowed, feeling a flicker of satisfaction. Charles had been so sure of himself, but if there was one thing I had learned over the years, it was that arrogance always led to mistakes. “So what’s the plan?”“We need to hit him where it hurts,” Thiago
The next few days just became more intense, but everything went according to Thiago’s plan. We kept up the facade—me, particularly, pretending to be on the verge of collapse, and Thiago, feigning indifference as Charles continued to push me out of the Bermudez group. Meanwhile, we gathered every piece of evidence we could find. Lucia worked tirelessly, pulling surveillance footage, cross-referencing emails, and even enlisting some of her own contacts to dig deeper into Charles’s shady dealings. Then, the day that we’ve all been waiting for finally came.I sat in my office, pretending to work through the paperwork that Charles had left behind. I knew he was watching me, probably enjoying the sight of what he thought was a defeated woman. But what Charles didn’t know was that Thiago had already set the trap for him.Just after lunch, my phone buzzed. It was a text from Thiago: ‘It’s time. Come to the 14th-floor conference room.’My heart raced as I grabbed my things and left my offi