Chapter 4 - Tessa's First Mistake
Tessa made her first mistake that afternoon.
She went on television.
She sat across from a sympathetic daytime host wearing a white dress and a carefully placed bandage around her ankle.
She cried.
She talked about trauma.
She said she had been attacked by her best friend's wife.
She said Reid had tried to protect me.
She said she still loved me.
I watched the interview from my father's library.
I almost admired her.
Almost.
“She rehearsed that,” I said.
My father nodded.
“Three times.”
“How do you know?”
“Because we have the original recordings.”
The screen showed another video.
Tessa in a hotel room.
No makeup.
No tears.
Laughing.
She lifted her champagne glass.
“To Mrs. Kessler's final night.”
The recording was timestamped.
Two hours before Marjorie's birthday dinner.
I stared.
“How did you get this?”
My father smiled.
“Boston.”
That answer was becoming irritating.
Then my phone rang.
Nolan.
“Miss Bellamy, the Kessler board has requested a meeting.”
“When?”
“Tomorrow morning.”
“Why?”
“They're divided.”
“Over Reid?”
“Over whether they want to survive him.”
I smiled.
“Tell them I'll attend.”
My father looked at me.
“You'll need to be careful.”
“I will.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“You don't understand.”
He pointed toward the television.
“They know you as Audrey Kessler.”
“Then I'll introduce them to Audrey Bellamy.”
The next morning, I walked into the Kessler headquarters.
Every conversation stopped.
Employees stared.
Some recognized me from the news.
Others whispered.
The receptionist nearly dropped her phone.
“Mrs. Kessler?”
“Not anymore.”
I walked toward the elevators.
Two security guards stepped in front of me.
“Mr. Kessler gave orders that you aren't permitted upstairs.”
I handed them a document.
“Then you should probably read this.”
The taller guard read it.
His face changed.
He stepped aside.
“Ma'am.”
The elevator doors opened.
I stepped inside.
At the twenty-eighth floor, the boardroom was full.
Reid stood at the head of the table.
Tessa sat beside him.
Marjorie was there.
Victor Hale was there.
And thirteen board members.
Reid stared at me.
“You have no right to be here.”
I placed my handbag on the table.
“I own thirty-eight percent of this company.”
Silence.
Reid laughed.
“You don't own anything.”
I turned to Evelyn.
She handed him a document.
He read it.
His face went pale.
“That isn't possible.”
“It's very possible.”
Victor grabbed the paper.
He read it.
Then looked at me.
“Bellamy voting rights.”
I nodded.
“Activated this morning.”
Victor stood.
“You're Warren Bellamy's daughter.”
“Yes.”
He looked at Reid.
“You knew?”
Reid didn't answer.
Victor's face darkened.
“You married her.”
“Yes.”
“You married Audrey Bellamy.”
“Yes.”
“And you hid that from the board?”
Reid shouted.
“Because I didn't know!”
I smiled.
That was almost funny.
“You knew enough to marry me.”
Tessa stood.
“This is insane.”
I looked at her.
“Sit down.”
She blinked.
“You can't talk to me like—”
“Sit.”
Something in my voice made her obey.
I opened my folder.
“Let's discuss the staircase.”
Reid stepped forward.
“We are not doing this here.”
“Yes, we are.”
I pressed a button.
The screen behind me turned on.
Security footage appeared.
The foyer.
Tessa walking toward the staircase.
Looking directly at the camera.
Then glancing toward me.
Then deliberately throwing herself down the stairs.
No one spoke.
The video continued.
Reid arriving.
The guards entering.
The attack.
The room went silent.
Tessa's face turned white.
Reid whispered:
“Turn it off.”
I didn't.
The recording continued.
Marjorie watched her son order the guards to “teach Audrey a lesson.”
Then came the hospital footage.
Reid placing the $40 million check on my blanket.
His voice echoed through the room.
“Five million each.”
Someone at the table whispered:
“Oh my God.”
I paused the recording.
Then I looked at Reid.
“You offered me five million dollars for every broken rib.”
He stared at me.
I leaned forward.
“Today I'm returning the offer.”
His eyes narrowed.
“How?”
“Five million dollars for every person who testifies against you.”
The boardroom erupted.
Reid slammed his fist against the table.
“You're destroying your own marriage!”
I looked at him.
“No.”
I smiled.
“You destroyed that four years ago.”
Then Victor Hale stood.
He looked at the board.
“I move for Reid Kessler's immediate suspension.”
Reid stared at his uncle.
“Victor?”
Victor's face was cold.
“You were supposed to acquire Bellamy Holdings.”
He looked at me.
“Instead, you married it.”
May you like
I picked up my handbag.
“And now,” I said, “I'm taking it back.”
