Kylie shook her head. “No, but I have a feeling it’s about Tiffany.”
“What’s going on with my goddaughter?” Lena asked, concerned.
“I have no idea,” Kylie said. She then turned to Chance. “Please don’t tell me that Tiffany and Gary eloped.”
“No, that’s not it,” Chance said.
Kylie expelled a relieved breath before asking, as calmly as she could, “Then what is it? What’s wrong, Chance? You’re making me nervous.”
“Morgan and I want you and Lena to sit on the sofa so we can tell you everything.”
Lena and Kylie did as he requested. “Please tell me our daughter is okay, Chance?” Kylie said, close to tears.
“Tiffany is fine, and is probably asleep in her room without a care in the world. However, tomorrow might be a different story.”
“Why?” Kylie and Lena asked at the same time.
Chance shoved his hands into the pockets of his pants. “Apparently, Gary Palmer is a fraud.”
“What!” Kylie and Lena exclaimed simultaneously.
“You heard me right. He’s a fraud and has been using Tiffany to gain access to my computer. Thanks to York and Quade, his duplicity has been discovered. Tomorrow, the FBI will arrest him for espionage and theft.”
Morgan came forward. “Since Chance wasn’t advised about York and Quade’s investigation into Palmer until tonight, I’ll fill in the details, since I was there in the beginning.”
Then Morgan began to tell a tale of corporate espionage, vengeance, and ultimately heartbreak.
**
Hours later, after Morgan and Lena left, Chance was holding a weeping Kylie in his arms. “I just don’t understand, Chance. How could he have pretended to love Tiffany? How could he have deliberately used our daughter to get back at your company, when it was his own father who was at fault? You had proof Devonshire paid that spy. You could have had him arrested then.”
“A part of me now wishes I had. Then my daughter would have been spared the likes of Palmer, as well as the heartbreak she’ll face when we tell her the truth. I thought the fact that Devonshire went bankrupt for doing something unethical was enough. Obviously, it wasn’t.”
He led her toward the sofa. “Come on, baby, let’s sit down. We need to come up with a plan to tell Tiffany as early as possible, before Gary sees her for breakfast.”
Kylie nodded. “Lena needs to be here when we tell her. Marcus, too. Besides us, they are the two most important people in her life.”
Chance nodded. “I’ll call Marcus first thing in the morning.”
“I’ll make arrangements with Lena in the morning, too. Then I’ll call Tiffany and pretend I need her to do me a favor regarding the New Year’s Eve anniversary celebration. She knows I’m onthe decorating committee. I’ll use that as an excuse to see her,” Kylie said.
CHAPTER 28
“Sure, Mom. I’ll be there as soon as I get dressed. I need to call Gary to let him know I’ll be missing breakfast.”
After disconnecting the call with her mother, Tiffany called Gary. “Hello, sweetheart,” he answered in a drowsy voice.
“Good morning, Gary.”
“Good morning. You’re up early.”
“Mom called and needs my help. She’s part of the decorating committee, and the flowers she selected came with longer stems than she ordered. I’ll be helping her clip them, which means I won’t be there for breakfast.”
“No problem, I’ll just order room service. What will you eat if you’re skipping breakfast?”
“I’m sure Mom will order something for us as well.”
“Good. If more hands are needed, let me know,” he said.
