Chapter 94

• Unbeknownst to Howard and Ryan, their heated exchange on the private top floor of Carter Enterprises carried faintly through the slightly ajar door—words like "contract," "slap," "Wendell," and "waiting for Grandfather's death" drifting into the hallway. No one had any idea someone lurked, but Daisy, a mousy new junior admin assistant, pressed flat against the wall just beyond, heart hammering. Hired only weeks ago, she wasn't a regular employee; Anastasia had plucked her from poverty—a desperate club waitress scraping by—and offered a lucrative "special job": infiltrate Carter Enterprises as a spy, eyes on Howard, reporting every whisper. The missing pen drive was Anastasia's deepest secret: she was the mastermind behind stealing company funds with Jeremy's help, and all evidence was on it—ledgers, transfers, and her digital fingerprints. She couldn't risk searching herself; Daisy was her invisible hand.
• Breath held, Daisy absorbed every damning detail—the secret marriage contract until Wendell's death, Charlotte's slap bruise, and family lies exposed. As Ryan's footsteps faded, she slipped away silently, heels muffled on carpet, weaving past staff to the elevator. Heart racing, she burst into the bustling street, pulling out her burner phone.
• She dialed; Anastasia picked up from her plush beauty salon chair, cucumber slices over her eyes, mid-facial. "Yes, Daisy? I've been waiting—anything juicy?"