Chapter 6 - Lauren Hayes Makes Her Move
Lauren Hayes packed quickly.
Not clothes. Not jewelry. Not photographs.
Documents.
She had always known men like Daniel Whitmore were useful but temporary. They believed desire was loyalty. They mistook flattery for love. They heard a beautiful woman call them brilliant and forgot to ask why she needed them to believe it.
Lauren had not intended to get caught so soon.
Emily’s identity had ruined the timeline.
She zipped a leather portfolio and called her contact at Halden Price Consulting.
“It’s collapsing,” she said. “Rowan froze everything.”
The man on the other end swore. “You told us the wife was harmless.”
“I was misinformed.”
“You were careless.”
Lauren’s eyes hardened. “Careless people don’t survive this long.”
She ended the call.
Then Daniel walked into her office.
He looked exhausted, furious, and frightened.
“Tell me everything,” he said.
Lauren smiled gently. “Daniel, you’re overwhelmed.”
“Do not manage me.”
That was new.
For the first time, Lauren saw him not as a vain man but as a desperate one. Desperate men were dangerous because they sometimes became honest by accident.
She crossed the room. “I did what your mother asked me to do.”
Daniel went still. “My mother?”
Lauren tilted her head. “You didn’t think Victoria was just watching, did you?”
Daniel turned away.
The worst part was that he had known.
Somewhere deep down, he had known his mother’s hands were inside every locked drawer.
“What did she ask?”
“She wanted Emily removed from the marriage before Rowan discovered how exposed Whitmore was. She believed a divorce agreement could pressure Emily into signing away any unknown claims.”
Daniel stared at her. “But she didn’t know Emily was Rowan.”
Lauren laughed softly. “I think she suspected Emily was connected. She just didn’t know how connected.”
Daniel felt sick.
His mother had not simply disliked Emily.
She had feared her.
And he had mistaken that fear for judgment.
Lauren stepped closer. “Daniel, listen to me. Emily is emotional right now. Hurt. Angry. But you know her. She loved you. Use that.”
His eyes lifted slowly.
Lauren continued. “Apologize. Cry if you have to. Get her alone. Convince her to release the freeze. Once the company stabilizes, we can handle the rest.”
Daniel looked at the woman he had destroyed his marriage for.
For the first time, her beauty seemed sharp instead of warm.
“And by ‘we,’ you mean you and my mother?”
Lauren’s smile vanished.
“I mean the people still trying to save you.”
He left without answering.
That evening, Daniel drove to Rowan Tower.
Security stopped him in the lobby.
“I’m her husband,” he said.
The guard checked his tablet. “Not according to Mrs. Rowan’s access instructions.”
Daniel flinched.
Mrs. Rowan.
He looked toward the elevators he could not enter.
Above him, forty-two floors up, Emily watched from her office window as Daniel stood in the lobby like a man locked outside his own life.
Her phone rang.
Unknown number.
She answered.
A woman whispered, “Mrs. Rowan, my name is Anna. I work in Whitmore accounting. I have proof they forged more than your signature.”
Emily’s heart tightened.
“What proof?”
May you like
Anna’s voice broke.
“Proof that Daniel knew.”
