Chapter 14
GAGE
Ihadn’t planned to tell my father and Rupert what Vanessa had done until my proof was indisputable. But I was out of time after what Vanessa did to Tessa today. My ex-wife needed to be stopped, and I couldn’t do that without their help.
They waited for me in the executive conference room only a few hours after my lunch with Tessa. Both men looked up when I stepped inside, irritation clear in Rupert’s expression and disappointment on my father’s face.
“My phone hasn’t stopped ringing. Investors are asking whether there’s truth to any of it.” Rupert glared at me. “And my daughter is beside herself.”
“What’s all this rubbish about your ex-girlfriend wrecking your marriage?” Dad asked, scratching his temple.
I sat across from them and promised, “I’ll explain everything. But you need to hear all of it before you react.”
Vanessa swept in like she was the one wronged, her eyes already shimmering with fake tears. She took the chair beside her father and leaned against him.
“Gage,” she murmured, her voice trembling in a way I didn’t buy for an instant. “I can’t believe you want to bring something so private to the board. After everything we’ve been through.”
Ignoring her performance, I centered myself and focused on the only two people who mattered. I couldn’t control how Vanessa handled this meeting. Only myself.
“We’ve gone way past keeping things private. This PR crisis didn’t come out of nowhere. Someone fed that influencer the initial post.”
Vanessa gasped, pressing trembling fingers to her lips.
I kept going. “Today’s blowup is the result of deliberate sabotage. Not random social media chatter. And it ties directly back to the manipulation that pushed me into marrying Vanessa.”
Her victim mask didn’t drop, but Rupert’s face went gray.
“Pushed?” my father echoed, his brows drawing together. “I thought you agreed to the engagement because you and Vanessa grew closer after things ended with Tessa.”
Three years ago, I’d been vague about the end of my relationship with Tessa. My parents assumed it happened earlier, and I hadn’t told them because I didn’t want to talk about my feelings. It had been easier than explaining how everything had really gone down the day my life fell apart.
But I couldn’t hide behind that narrative any longer. Not when my silence would hurt Tessa.
Meeting my father’s eyes, I confessed, “Tessa didn’t end our relationship like I thought. Vanessa orchestrated the entire breakup.”
My father leaned forward, concern shining from his eyes. Rupert shook his head, turning to stare at his daughter.
“That’s not—” Vanessa’s voice broke on a breathy half sob. “Gage, how could you even say that about me?”
I laid out every damning detail my PI had uncovered. The burner phone, duplicated keys for my penthouse and Tessa’s apartment, and payments made to a sketchy individual who was caught on camera going into my building that day and down the street from Tessa’s.
Her tears began to stream down her cheeks in the middle of my rundown, but I didn’t falter.
“Vanessa preyed on the confusion she created to get what she wanted, and I never once considered she was behind it all.” I shook my head.
“Rupert was the one who told me that our marriage would give the company the stability it needed when he stepped down as CEO. I had no reason to question his motives but a very big one to keep my mouth shut. The last thing I wanted was to cause stress and make his recovery harder.”
Rupert flinched. “You used my health as leverage?”
“It’s not true, Daddy.” Vanessa clutched his arm. “I would never do anything to hurt you.”
“I hope that’s true, but the same cannot be said for harming Tessa.
” I tapped on my screen to pull up my messages with the influencer who had made the original post. Then I slid my phone across the table so our fathers could see the screenshots she’d shared with me.
“Since you’re the one behind today’s PR nightmare, you can spare us the denials.
You used your influencer contacts to smear Tessa, but you didn’t hide your tracks as well this time. ”
“That’s a disgusting lie,” Vanessa gasped, pushing the phone back toward me. “Anyone could fake those images.”
“What about the rest of the evidence I’ve gathered?” I slid a folder across the table toward the two men. “This is the preliminary report from the PI I hired. He’s been digging for a month. There’s more coming, but this should be more than enough to prove that I’m not lying.”
Rupert opened the folder, and Vanessa’s face paled.
He looked at his daughter like he’d never seen her before.
“You told me the board might panic if I stepped back without a clear plan. Said Gage told you he couldn’t handle another heartbreak.
Suggested the marriage idea and confessed you’d always had feelings for him when I told you that I didn’t want you to make a sacrifice like that. ”
Vanessa’s breath hitched. “Daddy, I—I didn’t want you to worry—”
Rupert’s gaze hardened, his hand shaking slightly as he closed the folder. “Tell me this isn’t true, Vanessa.”
She couldn’t. There was too much evidence of what she’d done. Her silence answered for her. And something in Rupert’s expression broke, his eyes filling with sorrow.
My father was the first to speak. “Vanessa, you’re finished here.”
Her head snapped toward him. “Douglas—”
“No.” He lifted a hand, and the quiet authority behind it cut her off more effectively than shouting ever could. “As vice president of marketing, you had access to PR channels you weaponized to create a public relations crisis for Langford Tech.”
She sucked in a shaky breath. “I didn’t—”
“You did.” His tone hardened. “You’ve demonstrated that you cannot be trusted in a leadership role. Effective immediately, your employment with Langford Tech is terminated. Per the morality clause in your contract, there will be no severance package.”
The shock on her face would’ve been more satisfying if the past hour hadn’t dredged up every catastrophic choice that led us here.
Rupert slowly removed his glasses, polishing them with a trembling hand. “I can’t believe you used my illness like a bargaining chip. For the first time ever, I’m glad your mother isn’t here. She would be so disappointed.”
“Daddy,” she rasped.
Rupert shook his head. “I’m not finished.”
Vanessa fell silent, her lips pressed into a thin line.
“You’re disinherited. No access to my accounts or the family properties.” Rupert took a steadying breath. “Your mother’s trust is irrevocable, so you won’t be left with nothing. But if you ever want hope of reconciliation with me, you will make this right. For Tessa. And for Gage.”
Her mouth opened and closed again, but nothing came out. It was the first time I’d ever seen Vanessa truly speechless.
My father added, “A private apology won’t cut it. The damage was public. The correction needs to be as well.”
I leaned forward, meeting Vanessa’s eyes for the first time since this began.
“A retraction from the influencer isn’t enough.
You’ll make your own statement, too. Tell the world the rumor was false.
Our marriage ended because of your decisions, not anything Tessa did.
And that I didn’t see Tessa again until after our divorce was finalized.
They got it all wrong. She had nothing to do with any of it. ”
Her lower lip trembled. “But—”
“You heard the man, Vanessa,” Rupert growled. “Doing as he asked is the first step in proving to me that you want to make this right.”
“Fine,” she whispered, her shoulders slumping.
“Now,” he added, pointing toward the door. “Before security escorts you out of the building.”
Vanessa left, and Rupert was still staring at the closed conference room door when he finally exhaled, his shoulders slumping with exhaustion I’d never seen in him before. Not even when he was ill.
My father let out a similar sigh, then shifted his attention to me. “I know you were manipulated. You were hurting, and Vanessa preyed on that. But the fact remains that your judgment was compromised.”
He wasn’t wrong, so I didn’t bother arguing.
“You let a personal crisis bleed into your professional responsibilities,” he continued. “And today’s fallout proved how unstable that foundation was.”
I nodded. “I know.”
Rupert placed his glasses on the table, folding them with deliberate care. “I’m stepping back in as CEO for now.”
I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment to absorb the blow. Then I forced them open again when my father’s hand settled over mine. “The company needs steady leadership while you get your feet under you again. And your heart.”
I scrubbed a hand over my beard, feeling the weight of everything I’d failed at. Trust didn’t rebuild overnight, not even in myself. “I understand.”
Dad’s expression eased, just slightly. “When Rupert and I started this company, we hoped it would be a legacy we could leave behind for our children. But not like this.”
Rupert nodded. “Langford Tech will still be here when you’re ready. Go build a life worth returning to.”
I wasn’t sure what kind of future I could build out of the rubble, but the price I paid today was worth protecting Tessa.