“You and your daughter must leave right now,” I demanded.“Why?” John said with a sneer. “Don’t you want everyone to hear the truth?”Victor squeezed my hand, and I felt his strength flowing through me. It gave me the extra courage I needed at that moment.“The …the truth is, Mr. Cameron, is that you and your daughter are here only to make trouble,” I said.Despite my anger, I was trying to choose my words carefully. The Camerons were devious enough to spin my words to their advantage.But it was hard to think while arguing in front of all these people. If I started to stutter, my words would become meaningless. Nobody would take stammering seriously.I needed to give in to my anger just enough to let my words flow freely yet remain in control of myself.But Karen seemed intent on making me lose it on her.“How is enlightening these people about your scam causing trouble?” Karen yelled. “The only trouble that’s been caused is by you trying to pull the wool over these good people’s eye
After the triumph at the auction, my entire Sunday was spent studying. I finally put down a book on the use of AI in risk assessment around midnight when I couldn’t hold my eyes open any longer.Still dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, I collapsed onto my bed and slept until it was time to get ready for school Monday morning.When I arrived at school, I spotted Amy sitting on a bench near the tree where we always met. I could tell she was crying as soon as I got out of the car.But when she heard me approaching, she dried her eyes and tried to act normal.I sat down next to her. “What’s going on, Amy?”She shrugged. “I miss Justin. He wasn’t supposed to be gone this long.”“Have you heard from him?” I asked. My concern that he was going to ghost her was growing.“Yeah. We were texting last night,” she replied. “He seems okay, but I have the feeling something is wrong. I just want him to come home.”I didn’t know what to do. I knew what Justin’s problem was, but I didn’t think I should te
I woke up the next morning and bolted from my bed. Test day was here!Even though the test wasn’t scheduled until early afternoon, I wasn’t going to school today because I was too nervous to sit in class. Alex agreed I should stay home and relax this morning.Resisting the urge to do some last-minute studying, I dressed and went downstairs.Alex was in the dining room eating breakfast. “Good morning, sweetheart. Sit down and eat something.”“I’m not hungry,” I replied. I was sure I couldn’t eat a bite. My stomach was gurgling and fluttering madly.“You should try to eat, honey,” he advised. “You’ll be able to think better with something in your stomach.”I sat down and nibbled on a piece of toast and accepted a glass of juice from Benson.“There’s no reason to be nervous,” Alex said. “Victor assured me you are more than prepared.”“What if he’s wrong,” I mumbled.“Judging from the company reports I’ve seen, you know what you’re doing,” Alex said as he patted my hand. “Believe in yours
The head of security rushed to my office. “I’ve got men combing through all the footage from this floor, the elevator, and the stairwells during the past half hour.”“Concentrate on the conference room and the adjacent hallway,” Victor instructed the man. “Somebody took Miss Wilson’s test from that table. We need to find it as soon as possible.”“Other than Miss Wilson, we were the only ones in the room and the hallway,” Mr. Foster insisted. “Are you accusing us of cheating, Victor?”“Of course not,” Victor replied. “But the test is gone, and I know Daisy would never cheat. That means somebody else took it.”The security chief received a call on his cell phone. He stepped outside the room, and I heard him giving orders.“Send the footage to Miss Wilson’s email, and close off all elevators, stairwells, and exits until further notice.”He returned to my doorway. “We know who took your test from the conference room table,” he said. “Please watch the footage on your monitor while I detain
Even though I was enjoying my time with Victor, I was curious about the surprise waiting for me at the mansion.I savored the drive home in the Lamborghini and said goodbye to Victor before I hurried inside to find Alex.I found him in the living room with Benson. Their smiles and the way Benson left quickly with his clipboard made me wonder what was going on.Alex rose to his feet and took me into his arms. “Congratulations, my darling. I knew you would do well.”“Then you heard I passed,” I said. “Word travels quickly.”“Indeed it does,” he agreed. “Word of your triumph is spreading along with John Cameron’s shame. He is no longer connected in any way to Wilson, Inc.”“That’s good news,” I said. “I heard you have a surprise for me.”“Yes, I’ll give it to you at dinner this evening,” Alex replied. “Why don’t you take an hour to go to your room and rest? You had a long, trying day.”“A nap sounds good,” I said. I was full of fast food, and all the adrenaline from the test drama had wo
“The telephone has been ringing all day, Miss Wilson,” Benson said as we went over last-minute details for the evening’s charity ball.“Over two dozen individuals who declined your invitation due to other obligations now wish to attend,” he explained. “Even the hosts of another party have canceled their affair and wish to come to your ball.”“Can we accommodate them all?” I asked, wondering why this many had a change of heart.Benson assured me they would all fit in the ballroom, or they wouldn’t have been invited in the first place.It would be a challenge to handle this many last-minute guests, but each person attending paid a five thousand dollar donation to the charity foundation.How could we turn them down?“I’m sorry for all the extra work, Benson,” I apologized. “I never dreamed this would happen.”“It’s quite alright, Miss,” he replied. “It’s all for a good cause.”I patted him on the back. Benson was an absolute treasure. “Is there anything I can do to help?”“I called in th
I was dreaming about dancing with Victor when something began to tickle my nose. Then my whole body began to shake until my head flopped around like a rag doll.“Victor, what’s happening?” I asked him in my dream. “Why is everything shaking?”I heard a feminine giggle. “I’m not Victor. Wake up, goofy.”My eyes flew open, and I realized I had been dreaming when I saw Amy sitting on my bed next to me.Was this a dream too?I sat up and rubbed my eyes. “Amy, what are you doing here?” I asked. “What time is it?”“It’s nine o’clock, and I need to talk to you,” she replied. “After your butler let me in, your dad said I could come up to your room and wake you up.”I stretched and yawned. “I tried to call you last night when I found your messages, but you didn’t answer your phone.”“Yeah, I fell asleep and found the missed calls from you when I got up this morning,” she said.Amy seemed normal, but I could tell something was on her mind.She always tries to hide it when she is upset. But I co
After one brief text, I didn’t see or hear from Amy until the following morning when I arrived in front of the school.She sat on the bench near the tree. Her facial expression told me nothing as she stared at her phone screen.I hurried over and sat next to her. Relief flooded me when she flashed me a quick smile before returning her attention to a sitcom on her phone screen.“Whatcha doing?” I asked.“Catching up on my show,” Amy replied. The pain I saw yesterday in her soft brown eyes was gone. “There are only three episodes left this season.”What happened with Justin to put her in such a good mood? She wasn’t volunteering any information, so I’d have to ask.“I’m glad you’re feeling better,” I said. “Did you hear from Justin?”“We were on the phone for half an hour yesterday.” Amy looked into my eyes and smiled. “He said he loves me, and he will return to the city soon.”“That’s great news.” I gave her a side hug. But was it really great news, or was Justin putting off the inevit