Chapter 20
The next morning, chaos erupted at Harris Group headquarters.
The buzzing energy of the usually pristine office was replaced with hushed whispers, panicked phone calls, and the incessant clicking of keyboards.
News outlets were running the story nonstop, reporters camped outside the building gates, their cameras flashing at every employee who dared to step out.
Anthony stormed into the building like a tempest, his broad shoulders tense, his ⚫ dark eyes narrowing at the scene around
him.
The moment he entered the boardroom, the uneasy shuffle of his managers‘ feet and the averted gazes told him everything he needed to know.
“What the hell is going on?” Anthony‘ st voice boomed, silencing the chaotic room
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instantly.
“Sir, there’s been a breach,” stammered Mark, the head of operations. His usually
calm demeanor was nowhere to be seen.
“Confidential files have been leaked online… documents that implicate the company in financial discrepancies. The board is demanding answers. immediately.”
Anthony clenched his fists, veins bulging on his forearms as his jaw tightened.
“Find out who’s responsible. I want names. And handle this before it gets worse. Now.”
“Yes, Sir,” Mark replied, but the nervous. flicker in his eyes betrayed the growing despair among the team.
Anthony retreated to his office, slamming the door behind him. His mind raced with
possibilities.
Within hours, Anthony‘ s father and grandfather stormed into his office later
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that afternoon.
“Anthony,” Edward roared, his booming voice shaking the walls. “What in the world have you done? Your recklessness has brought shame to our name!”
Anthony rose to his feet, matching hist father‘ s glare. “I’m handling it.”
“Handling it?!” his father scoffed. “The company is bleeding money. Investors are pulling out. You‘ ve alienated half the board with your absence, all because you’ve been chasing a ghost–your wife who ran away!”
“Enough!” Anton‘ s gravelly voice cut through the tension, silencing both men.
The elder Harris patriarch looked at Anthony with a hard, scrutinizing gaze.
“This is your mess, boy. Fix it. And if you don‘ t… you’ll never leave London
anymore.
“No business trips, no personal vacations. Certainly no chasing after Daisy. Is that
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clear?”
Anthony’s chest heaved, but he nodded sharply. “Crystal clear.”
As the team scrambled to find the culprit, Anthony‘ s phone buzzed with a message. The name on the screen made his blood
boil.
[Julie: I have everything. Every single detail about Harris Group‘ s rottenness. But I‘ 11 retract it all if you take me back, Anthony.]
Anthony’s already grim expression darkened further, his knuckles white as he gripped his phone. The audacity of her demand burned through him like fire.
With that, Anthony called his personal. investigators, issuing cold, direct orders.
“Spill everything about Julie. Every detail -her accounts, her movements, every man she’s been in contact with. I want it all.”
As a result, within 24 hours, Julie‘ s
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schemes were plastered across the media, eclipsing the story of Harris Group s troubles.
Articles detailed how she had embezzled company funds, funneling money into offshore accounts while living
extravagantly under the guise of being Anthony’s trusted secretary.
More damning, her reckless spending- luxury items, expensive trips, and gifts for her friends–had drained a significant amount from Harris Group’s resources.
Julie‘ s photo was now circulating with the label ‘Wanted for Financial Fraud.‘ The police issued a warrant for her arrest, making her the center of a national scandal.
Anthony read the headlines with cold satisfaction. “You played the wrong hand, Julie,” he muttered.
Yet, there was one loose end that Anthony couldn’t afford to ignore–the child.
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It was not his child, and he knew it. But Julie s pregnancy was the thread she clung to, the weapon she wielded to justify her actions.
Anthony had no intention of allowing her to use it to control him any longer.
“Find Julie before the police do.” Anthony ordered his head of security over the phone.
His voice was as cold as ice. “I need her here. There are things that need to be addressed before she faces the law. And make it clear–I want her alive and unharmed.”
“Yes, Sir,” the man responded.
Anthony hung up, his fingers drumming on the desk as his mind raced.
If Julie went to jail while still pregnant, the Harris family name would be dragged even further through the mud.
He needed to deal with the pregnancy
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privately before things spiraled further out
of control.
However, fate seemed not to be on
Anthony’s side. Because before he could bury it, Julie’s face appeared on screens across the country as her live stream gained traction within minutes.
Her mascara ran down her cheeks, her voice shaking as she spoke directly to her audience.
“I didn’t know where else to turn,” she began, her voice breaking. “I’ve been abandoned, betrayed by the man I thought loved me. And now… now they’re trying to silence me.”
Her viewers poured into the stream, comments flooding the screen with a mix of outrage and sympathy.
“What happened, Julie?”
“Are you okay?”
“This is just another publicity stunt!”
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Julie sniffled, clutching her stomach as if to shield her unborn child. “I’m carrying
his baby, and yet he’s turned the world against me. I’ve made mistakes, yes, but I don’t deserve this. My baby doesn‘ t deserve this.”
She paused, her eyes wide and tear–filled as she leaned closer to the camera. “Anthony Harris–yes, the billionaire you all adore- wants me to abort this baby. He said it himself. He said this child doesn’t deserve to live because it’s an inconvenience to him!”
The comment section exploded with rage.
“Is this true?! He told you to get rid of the baby?!”
“Anthony Harris is cheating on his wife?!”
“She’s lying for attention. Don’t fall for
it!”
Julie placed a trembling hand on her stomach, her voice dropping to a whisper.
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“Please… please help me protect my child. If anything happens to me or my baby, you’ll all know who’s responsible.”
Anthony’s jaw tightened as he watched Julie’s tearful performance. Her accusations sent a ripple of fury through him, but her blatant lies enraged him even
more.
“That woman,” he hissed, slamming his fist on the desk.