My face flamed from embarrassment and anger as I watched a video from our trip to New Ripon play on Lucy’s TV screen.Seeing what I thought were private moments with Victor on television for the world to see made me feel sick in my stomach.The reporter’s voice cut to my soul. “This is Daisy Wilson, billionaire Alex Wilson’s daughter, with her fiancée, Victor Klein, walking into the most expensive restaurant in New Ripon. It must be nice that she's enjoying herself after destroying many lives at Frampton University.”My head spun, and my chest felt tight. Why was he saying these things and invading my privacy? He made me seem like a terrible person.Lucy put a hand on my arm. “Are you okay, dear? I don’t believe what he’s saying about you. This channel lies a great deal or spins things to make them seem worse. They should lose their broadcasting license.”Lucy’s words were comforting, but many people would believe every word the man on the TV said. Many people thought anything they sa
Tony and Findlay were with Lucy when I arrived at her home. The poor woman was frantic. I understood her feelings about having her home violated again.“I slept well all night,” Lucy told me as she sat in her living room next to Tony. “But when I got up and went to the kitchen this morning, my statuette of Lycaon was missing from the display case in the hall.”She began twisting a tissue in her hands. “That figurine was found in a mountain cave by my great-great-grandfather. It can’t be replaced.”I spotted Buddy in the backyard and forced back a smile at his doggie antics.“And you’re sure the doors were bolted?” I asked.“Yes,” I double-checked before bed, and as soon as I saw it was gone. And Buddy was sleeping at the foot of my bed, and he never moved or barked.”“Daisy,” Tony said. “Buddy barks at me when I use my key to enter the house. Strangely, he didn’t alert Mom to an intruder.”The dog appeared in the living room when Tony said his name. He came to me and sniffed my hand b
The fire company arrived moments after I did and put out the fire before the Mercedes exploded.But the car Alex gave me for my graduation was destroyed.I held back my tears as a group of reporters demanded I make a statement and ran back toward the store to call Benson for a ride home.Joe arrived quickly in the limousine. I was surprised to see Benson riding in the passenger seat.“Are you alright, Miss?” he asked as he rushed out of the limo and chased away the reporters with a stern look and a wave of his hand.I nodded in answer and lost the fight with my tears.Benson helped me into the backseat of the limousine with the shopping bags I had forgotten I was holding.“I arranged to have your car towed back to the estate,” he told me. “I’m sure Mr. Klein will want someone to go over it for evidence.”“Evidence of what?” a reporter asked behind him.“Arson is a crime, and eavesdropping is extremely rude,” Benson informed the reporter before climbing into the car next to me and clos
Victor’s POV“Daisy, fighting this will just make it worse and keep it alive longer,” I explained. “People are going to believe what they want no matter what we say.”“You are underestimating the situation,” she argued. “We need to do something. I can’t even turn my phone on without getting nasty prank calls, and somebody roasted my car!”I tried to put my arms around her, but she pulled away from me. “Sweetheart, giving it air will keep it going.”“You’re going to wait until it’s too late,” Daisy said, her eyes flashing with anger. “Are you paying attention to what’s happening to us?”She turned and put her hands on my chest. “They want to take the leadership away from you. They hound me wherever I go and on TV and in the newspapers. We must do something!”Her incredible green eyes pleaded with mine, and I knew I’d lost the argument.But perhaps she was right.I kissed her and headed for the door.“Where are you going?” she called after me.“I need to think,” I replied and went out t
Daisy’s POV“You were right,” Victor admitted. He arrived at the mansion a few minutes ago and was taking off his suit to get ready for bed.I sat up on my side of the big bed. “I don’t care about being right. All I wanted was for us to be on the same page and fight this threat to our lives together.”Victor unbuttoned his white shirt. “I’m sorry it took so long for me to see it. Now we only have six weeks, or the council will replace me and repeal the new college admissions laws.”“Six weeks is plenty of time,” I assured him. “And the council agreed to stand behind you while we work to uncover the identity of our foe. That is good news.”He kissed me before sitting on the edge of the bed to remove his trousers. “I’m truly sorry, my love, I didn't take your advice before. I don’t know what made me think a huge problem of this type would disappear.”“I understand why,” I said. “We have had too many obstacles to our happiness. I’m also tired of having to fight these threats constantly.”
I knew as I followed the man to the back door how he was getting inside Lucy’s home. It hadn’t been a dog I heard squeezing through Buddy’s door.It was a wolf.Why hadn’t I thought of it before? If a large dog like Buddy could squeeze through the dog door, so could a small wolf.Without making a sound, I reached the bottom of the stairs. I stayed close to the foyer's walls to keep the man from spotting me and made my way to the kitchen.Peeking around the doorway, I saw what I expected.I took several photos of the neighbor pushing the vase through the dog door before shifting. As planned, he was leaving with the decoy vase. We could track the vase with the GPS tracker and tell the police.But before the wolf put his head through the dog door, a sound behind me made him turn. Amy had followed me downstairs. Her surprise at seeing the small wolf made her gasp.The wolf bared his teeth and snarled at us. But his small size made him no problem for Amy and me, especially if we shifted to
“It must be important, or you wouldn’t be calling me,” I heard Shane say. “Can you give me a hint about what it’s about?”“Daisy and I are staying at Alex’s mansion while he’s away on a cruise,” Victor said. Why don’t you come for dinner, and we’ll discuss it? We’ll wait for you and dine when you get here.”“I’ll be there soon,” Shane agreed. “I’m ten minutes away.”“You want Shane to write the story of the antiquities thefts,” I guessed. “Do you think the newspapers will print it if he does?”“They print every word Shane writes,” Victor replied. “But we will see what he thinks.”“Shane may not want to take on the story,” I said. I didn’t want to start trouble for him. He had a promising career ahead of him.“We can ask,” Victor said and kissed my hand.I was glad Victor thought of asking Shane to correct the TV news report. It was past time Victor and I fought back.An article telling the truth about how the thief was caught would be a beginning. And with Shane’s name on it, there wa
Benson was smiling while he poured our coffee the next morning. “If you don’t mind me saying so, Miss, it’s good to see the truth about you being reported instead of lies or distortions.”Victor and I exchanged a warm look before I thanked Benson for his kind words.I had spent a passionate evening with myhandsome and virile fiancé and slept as well as he had predicted.We were both feeling refreshed and happy. The article Shane wrote about me was a bonus to our blissful morning.After my first sip of delicious coffee, I unfolded The Gazette and placed it in front of me, grinning at the spread across the bottom of the first page.Besides the copy Shane emailed to us last night, the newspaper had printed three photos. Two were photos I took of the burglar after he stole the decoy vase and was trying to leave the house.In the first, I captured the neighbor pushing the vase through the dog door, and then the second showed his wolf as he was trying to escape through the same dog door.T