Chapter 5 - Someone Inside Blackwood Wanted Claire GoneAdrien did not sleep.
By three in the morning, Marcus had identified the investigative firm.
Harrow & Pike.
A private intelligence company Blackwood Holdings had used years earlier.
The contract had supposedly ended after Adrien’s father died.
Supposedly.
Marcus placed a laptop on Adrien’s desk.
“Someone reactivated the account six weeks ago.”
“Who authorized it?”
“That’s the problem.”
Marcus turned the screen.
The authorization had come through an executive security account.
Adrien recognized the access level.
Only six people could use it.
One was Adrien.
One was Marcus.
Four were senior Blackwood executives.
“Start with all four.”
“I already did.”
Adrien looked at him.
Marcus smiled faintly.
“You pay me extremely well.”
“What did you find?”
“Three have clean access histories.”
“And the fourth?”
Marcus turned another document.
“Graham Voss.”
Adrien leaned back.
Graham had worked for Blackwood Holdings for twenty-one years.
He had been his father’s closest adviser.
After Richard Blackwood died, Graham had expected to become chairman.
Adrien had kept him as chief strategy officer instead.
“What does Graham gain by following Claire?”
Marcus hesitated.
“I don’t think this is about Claire.”
“Then what is it about?”
“You.”
The answer should have been obvious.
Adrien stood.
“Arrange a meeting.”
“With Graham?”
“No.”
He looked toward the window.
“With Claire.”
Marcus raised an eyebrow.
“You’re asking permission?”
Adrien looked at him.
“I’m learning.”
Claire listened without interrupting.
They sat in the closed restaurant before opening.
Her father was there too.
Adrien had insisted he be informed because he had appeared in the photographs.
Claire had agreed.
Adrien explained everything.
When he finished, Claire’s father asked the first question.
“What does this Graham fellow want?”
“My position.”
“Can he get it?”
“Not easily.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
Adrien looked at him.
Claire almost smiled.
Her father had a gift for stripping wealthy men of their vocabulary.
“Yes,” Adrien admitted. “If he convinces enough board members that I’m unstable or damaging the company, he could force a leadership challenge.”
Claire understood.
“And I’m evidence.”
Adrien’s expression tightened.
“In his version of the story.”
“The waitress distracting the billionaire.”
“Yes.”
“The gold digger.”
“Yes.”
“The woman who makes you irresponsible.”
“Yes.”
Claire sat back.
“So this isn’t about getting rid of me.”
“No.”
“It’s about getting rid of you.”
Adrien nodded.
Her father looked at Claire.
“Then what are you going to do?”
Adrien started answering.
Claire’s father held up a hand.
“I asked my daughter.”
Adrien stopped.
Claire looked at her father.
Then Adrien.
“I’m going to work.”
Adrien frowned.
“That’s your plan?”
“Yes.”
“Claire—”
“The restaurant opens in forty minutes.”
“Someone is trying to use you against me.”
“Then the worst thing I can do is start behaving like your helpless girlfriend.”
The word girlfriend hung between them.
Claire noticed.
Adrien noticed.
Her father definitely noticed.
Claire cleared her throat.
“Whatever we are.”
Her father smiled into his coffee.
Adrien almost did too.
Then Claire became serious.
“I’m not going to disappear.”
Adrien nodded slowly.
“Security?”
“Discreet.”
“Two people.”
“One.”
“Claire.”
“One visible to me. You can hide another somewhere if it makes you sleep.”
“Three.”
She stared at him.
“Two.”
“Deal.”
Her father laughed.
“You two negotiate like you’ve been married for twenty years.”
Both looked at him.
He lifted his coffee.
“I said nothing.”
The restaurant opened.
And Claire did exactly what she promised.
She worked.
For the next two weeks, the Open Table program expanded.
Customers began quietly paying extra for meals that strangers could claim later.
No photographs.
No public performances.
Just food.
One wall near the entrance held small wooden tokens.
Each represented one prepaid meal.
Anyone could take one.
No questions asked.
The program attracted attention for a different reason.
A local newspaper wrote about it.
Then a national morning show requested an interview.
Claire almost refused.
Adrien encouraged her to accept.
“Why?”
“Because this is yours.”
“You hate interviews.”
“I hate my interviews.”
She smiled.
During the television segment, the host asked the inevitable question.
“Did Adrien Blackwood fund the Open Table program?”
Claire answered immediately.
“No.”
“Really?”
“He offered.”
The audience laughed.
“What did you tell him?”
“No.”
More laughter.
Claire continued.
“This program is funded by restaurant revenue and voluntary customer contributions. Adrien gave me an extraordinary opportunity. But I want the restaurant to stand on its own.”
The interview went viral.
Not because of Adrien.
Because of Claire.
That mattered.
For the first time, headlines began describing her as a restaurant owner rather than a billionaire’s mystery woman.
Graham Voss noticed.
Three days later, Adrien entered a board meeting.
Graham sat at the far end of the table.
Silver hair.
Perfect suit.
Expressionless face.
Adrien placed a folder in front of him.
“What’s this?” Graham asked.
“Your mistake.”
Graham opened it.
His face barely changed.
Harrow & Pike invoices.
Authorization records.
Photographs.
Adrien remained standing.
“You used company resources to investigate Claire Bennett.”
“I authorized a risk assessment.”
“Without my permission.”
“You are CEO of a public company. Anyone influencing you becomes a potential risk.”
“Claire does not influence corporate decisions.”
Graham looked around the table.
“Doesn’t she?”
Nobody spoke.
Graham continued.
“You purchased a restaurant worth millions because a waitress paid forty-seven dollars for your dinner.”
Several directors shifted uncomfortably.
“You’ve appeared in tabloids almost daily.”
Adrien remained calm.
“You’re confusing my private money with company assets.”
“I’m questioning judgment.”
“No.”
Adrien leaned forward.
“You’re manufacturing evidence of poor judgment because you want my chair.”
Graham’s eyes hardened.
“You think this company belongs to you because your name is on the building.”
“I think you broke company policy.”
“For protecting shareholders?”
“For stalking a private citizen.”
The room went silent.
Graham stood.
“Be careful, Adrien.”
“Is that a threat?”
“It’s advice.”
Adrien smiled without warmth.
“My father used to say the same thing right before threatening someone.”
That landed.
Graham’s expression changed.
Adrien saw it.
And understood.
“You admired him.”
“Richard built this company.”
“And nearly destroyed everyone around him doing it.”
“He understood sacrifice.”
“No. He understood control.”
Adrien gathered the papers.
“You’re suspended pending investigation.”
Graham laughed.
“You don’t have the votes.”
Adrien looked around the table.
“I do.”
One director raised his hand.
Then another.
Then another.
Graham’s confidence disappeared.
He looked at Adrien.
“This is because of her.”
“No.”
Adrien shook his head.
“This is because you thought she was weak enough to use.”
Graham left without another word.
Adrien thought the problem was finished.
He was wrong.
That evening, Claire closed the restaurant at eleven-fifteen.
Her security guard walked her toward her car.
A black sedan waited across the street.
Claire noticed it.
“Is that ours?”
“No.”
The guard moved in front of her.
The sedan door opened.
Graham Voss stepped out.
Claire froze.
He raised both hands.
“I only want to talk.”
The guard reached for his phone.
Claire stopped him.
“Stay right there.”
She looked at Graham.
“You have two minutes.”
Graham approached no closer.
“You think you know Adrien.”
Claire said nothing.
“You know the version of him who forgot his wallet.”
“I know enough.”
“No, you know the man he wants to become around you.”
Claire folded her arms.
“Is there a point?”
“Adrien Blackwood destroys things.”
“Interesting coming from the man who had me followed.”
Graham’s face tightened.
“You’re temporary.”
Claire almost laughed.
“That’s what this is?”
“I watched Adrien end an engagement without blinking. I watched him remove executives who had served his father for decades. I watched him close divisions and destroy careers.”
“And?”
“And eventually, he will decide you are inconvenient.”
Claire looked at Graham for several seconds.
Then she smiled.
“What?”
“You really don’t understand him.”
Graham’s expression hardened.
“And you do?”
“No.”
That surprised him.
“But I understand myself.”
She stepped closer to her security guard, not Graham.
“If Adrien ever treats me badly, I leave.”
Graham stared.
“I don’t need his money. I don’t need his permission. And I don’t need you warning me about the possibility.”
She opened her car door.
Graham spoke again.
“You think the restaurant makes you independent?”
Claire turned.
“No.”
“What does?”
“The fact that I was independent before I had it.”
Then she got into the car.
Graham watched her leave.
What Claire did not know was that someone else had recorded the entire conversation.
May you like
By morning, a heavily edited version appeared online.
And in that version, it sounded as though Claire had admitted she was planning to leave Adrien after keeping the restaurant.
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