Chapter 43
Penelope
I felt like I was floating on air.
I found myself staring at my ring. Daydreaming about seeing my husband, ignoring all the inconvenient truths I didn’t want
to think about. The ones that became so loud over the last few days, I knew we had to have the conversation sooner rather
than later.
The conversation that figured out where we’d be past the terms of this marriage.
A loud knock on my office door jarred me from my thoughts.
“Sorry to interrupt.” Maya’s unsteady voice came through from beyond the closed door. Each thump became more forceful and
frantic. “But this is important.”
“Come in.” I shuffled a bit in my seat.
Maya opened the door, her eyes bewildered. Her hair was askew as if she’d been raking her hands through it while running around
the halls.
“What’s going on?” I rose, hearing a commotion in the hallway.
“Sloan is being questioned by agents from the Federal Trade Commission. They’re escorting her to their offices.”
A feeling of vertigo kept me stationary for an extended pause with a sudden blaring ring in my ears. Everything felt jumbled,
moving in slow motion.
Then the sound of Maya’s voice shot everything back to full speed. She tapped her foot with an expectant expression. “Let’s go,” I finally answered.
My mind kicked into autopilot, and I rounded my desk to join Maya. Just as I left my office, three agents accompanied Sloan
down the hallway. We followed a few steps behind them.
Every partner, associate, secretary... everyone was watching.
Working at a large law firm in corporate law meant that this type of questioning wasn’t too far-fetched. But the spectacle
was new. Something was going on.
As she walked, Sloan turned her head to look over her shoulder at Maya. “Get Declan. Tell him to meet us at the federal offices.”
Declan Parsons—Maya’s boss—was a senior partner in litigation, but made a name for himself as one of the best defense attorneys
in the country.
Maya nodded and scurried quickly to the bull pen to get her things and fetch Declan.
“Sloan,” I called after her, keeping in pace. My mind flipped to all the next steps. “Don’t worry and don’t say anything until
Declan gets there.”
“It’s a voluntary questioning. I’m not being charged with anything and if I can help these fine people...” She turned to
smile politely at the two federal agents. “I’m happy to help. Once my counsel arrives.”
“We appreciate that, ma’am,” one of the agents, a burly man with sandy hair and his arms neatly folded on each other, answered.
“May I see your credentials?” I asked sternly to the two agents—a man and woman, both with stony facades, who clearly had
no idea who they’d been tangling with. Nobody was above the law, but if someone were, it was a member of the Amari family.
The agents looked at each other and held out their badges for my inspection.
“I already asked, Pen. I’m complying with an inquiry received by the Federal Trade Commission.” Her voice remained calm, stoic. It was the tone Sloan put on when she was nervous. The outer exterior of confidence, a tranquil surface, with a storm beneath.
I knew better than to ask any more questions to Sloan about what was going on with the two federal agents a couple of feet
away. I handed back the badges and smiled politely.
“We’ll get this sorted,” I assured her.
“Of course,” Sloan agreed. She craned her neck to look out the window and down to street level. I followed her gaze and noticed
press lining the entrance. Her shoulders dropped and a sigh was barely audible over the sounds of the office picking back
up. “Great. Press.”
My eyes shot up to the two agents. “That is wildly inappropriate.”
“The FTC has no interest in a scandal.” The other agent with pin-straight brown hair responded. “We would never alert the
media.”
“Then how do you suppose they knew that Sloan Amari would be questioned today?” I crossed my arms.
Silas.
Nausea rolled through me.
Sloan was silent as she got into the elevator.
I caught the next elevator down to the lobby to see a swarm of reporters waiting to meet her there.
“Shit,” I cursed to myself, and walked out beside Maya to an array of flashes aimed at Sloan.
Summoning all of her mother’s stoicism, Sloan was stone-faced. She turned and said a few things to Declan, who nodded and
motioned for Maya to follow him.
Before I could say anything, all three were in the black SUV and on their way.
I walked back into my office in a blurred state of shock.
I took a seat at my desk and pulled out my phone to let Xander know what had just happened when my phone lit up with a call.
My heart sank.
It was Silas.
“What did you do?” I answered without waiting for whatever he wanted to say.
“Misery loves company.”
“What did you do?” My voice hardened to steel.
“Nothing, Penny,” he stated calmly. “I simply called in suspicious behavior. Whatever the FTC makes of it is none of my business.”
“What are you—”
“I told you I was keeping a close eye, and I couldn’t help but wonder. What could a billionaire leading a venture capital
firm want with someone like you?” He noted grimly, “We needed to bribe the Xus with your titles, yet here he is wanting seemingly
nothing. Doesn’t that strike you as odd?”
I knew I was nothing more than a bargaining chip for a lot of people who sought to control me, but even so, it hurt to hear
it.
“Whatever you’re getting at, just spit it out.” The shakiness began to bleed into my voice.
“Did your husband know the merger would fall apart? I’m guessing he did,” Silas went on, taunting.
My stomach turned.
I remembered the drive to the Hamptons after I slipped on his mother’s ring. He knew about the merger and I told him about
Xu Enterprises, not thinking it was all that important at the time—I was reeling from everything else.
“It wasn’t a secret,” I reasoned.
It also wasn’t front-page news, the pessimistic part of my mind reminded me. Someone had to go looking for that information.
“But it was fortuitous,” he pointed out. “Being married to you meant he’d know when the merger might fall through, so he can
strike at just the right time.”
“He wouldn’t do that,” I snapped.
“He already did, with Hightower Energy. Why do you think your friend is being questioned as we speak?” A long pause came from
the end of the phone. “Dawn Capital just acquired it.”
I was speechless as I put it all together.
I had no idea about Dawn Capital’s current dealing because after the wedding, Dawn Capital retained other counsel due to our
conflict of interest—or I thought that was the reason they left the firm. But if Xander was planning to take over Hightower
Energy, then it would have raised red flags since our firm also represented the Hightowers. Switching counsel would avoid
scrutiny.
When I didn’t answer Silas went on. “Isn’t that convenient, they struck at the perfect moment, too. A takeover just days before
the board voted down Victor Hightower. With the perfect company all lined up to take over—SunCorp.”
My mind put together the strings of information it knew. Hightower was implicated in many crimes, all of which were well outlined
in the whistleblower’s documents.
The ones Senator Alders took to the Senate oversight committee.
The ones Sloan, as the Hightower account’s counsel—had access to.
“That doesn’t mean anything,” I insisted.
Even if what he was implying—that Sloan aided in bringing down Hightower Energy—were all true, it didn’t mean it had anything
to do with Chen Tech. Either way, I couldn’t believe Xander set any of this in motion to take something from me or my family.
“Your husband now has control over a global energy company and SunCorp—who owns the technology that every tech-related manufacturing
company will need,” he stated. “He is waiting out the demise of Chen Tech. And that has nothing to do with you?”
My mind reeled.
“You are his pawn,” Silas continued. “At least Maddox was clear with his intentions. Did you ever stop and think that maybe your family may know best?”
“I know what’s best for me,” I retorted on such a shaky breath it almost came out a sob. The revelations began to make me
question my intuition, every single choice I’d made. Again.
He chuckled humorlessly. “Clearly.”
“What do you want, Silas?” I tried to regain some composure. He called for a reason and it had to be more than gloating.
“A compromise. The Xus are the only company that will merge with Chen Tech given its financial constraints.”
“Whose fault is that?” I hadn’t driven the company into the ground; he had.
“Fine, I admit it. I’m not the best leader, but misery loves company,” he repeated. “So, I am going to come at this from another
angle. You can still save your family’s company. Or you can watch it fall down. I wonder how Arabella will feel being collateral
damage because you couldn’t do the one thing she did without argument.”
Every single person affected by this spun past my vision. Once again, I’d be blamed for doing something that was only meant
to give myself a chance at happiness. And now, I couldn’t trust my own intuition. And maybe I couldn’t trust Xander either.
I had to speak to him before I let this consume me.
“Silas,” I warned.
“The choice is yours. You can finally be worthy of this family. Or you can turn your back on it and let your friends in Manhattan
deal with me slowly releasing all the fun tidbits I’ve collected over the years. Today was just a tiny little sample.” He
laughed without humor. “Now that Xander has what he needs from you, let’s see how long it takes for you to lose that family,
too.”
The call ended and I sat there in a state of disbelief.