Chapter 4

4: 4

Before the trial even began, the company called. Penelope had shown up making a scene, and they wanted me to come back and handle it.

By the time I got there, a crowd had already gathered around her.

The second she saw me, she pointed. "Wyatt, you know what I want. Tell me right now whether you'll agree."

"If you won't, I'll make sure you can't stay at this company."

"Security. Escort her out."

The moment I spoke, security moved in.

"What do you think you're doing?" Penelope shouted. They only tried to reason with her, not wanting to drag her out by force.

"Wyatt, I've been giving you a chance and you keep throwing it back at me. I'll give you one last minute to think it over."

I ignored her and called the police.

Her face went uglier at that. "Wyatt, you forced this."

She pulled out her phone and opened a video. "Come here, all of you. Come see what kind of man Wyatt really is."

"Abusing his position, taking kickbacks off the company."

As it played, the employees murmured and pointed at me.

"Ma'am, I'm the vice chairman of this company. Let me explain."

Philip Cobb came to stand beside me, looking at Penelope.

"The kickbacks you're claiming in that video, none of it happened."

She lost her patience. "What's that supposed to mean? Did Wyatt pay you off? Is that why you're covering for him?"

"A man like him poisons the whole company. He should be fired."

Philip turned to the finance director. "Director Walker, show Penelope Wyatt's pay stubs."

Elliot Walker had someone print my pay stubs on the spot and handed them to her.

The instant she saw the numbers, the fury boiled up in her. "Wyatt, you lied to me?"

The salary I'd told her was far below what I actually earned. The extra I'd chalked up to kickbacks, or bonuses from certain projects.

I did it to keep the peace at home, so Penelope would stop calling me rigid and one-track.

And the method itself had come from Philip. He was my superior, and my mentor.

"Wyatt, you win this round. We'll see about the rest."

She left with that parting shot. I knew she wouldn't let it go, just as I knew I wasn't about to let her off either.

The trial was in two days. That was where the real fight would happen.

On the day of the trial, I arrived early.

Penelope shot me a vicious look when she came in. Once the hearing officially opened, her lawyer went first.

He built his attack on my constant business trips and my absence from home, on my not spending time with the child.

He said I'd given nothing to this family.

When my lawyer's turn came, he didn't fight back on any of that.

He only looked at the judge. "My client has a paternity test report here."