Chapter 86

"Earl and Brandon have already had their fallout at the company, so they're not much of a threat anymore."

"The only ones worth noting are Renee and Irene, but Renee doesn't care about the company's affairs, so that leaves just Irene."

"She's a tricky one. Easy to deal with in some ways, but difficult in others."

"What do you mean?"

I thought back to my impression of Irene. "Irene is all about the money. She only cares about her own interests and would throw the company's interests under the bus for her own gain."

She almost went to jail for embezzling company funds when she was an accountant. I had to pull some strings and pay back the money to get her out of that mess.

Royce nodded. "That's good for us. We should be glad our enemy has such a glaring weakness."

"And only Joanna can handle this. Irene won't trust anyone else."

Royce was echoing my thoughts, and I nodded in agreement.

With the audit coming up in a few days, I got up and called Joanna.

She picked up quickly. "What's up? Are you worried about Brandon?"

I chuckled. "I trust you to handle things. I just need a favor."

"Go ahead, don't be shy with me."

"I feel bad asking for so much, but since you insist... There's a high-ranking executive at Brandon's company named Irene. I need you to bribe her for me. She won't trust anyone else but you."

"Got it. No problem."

Joanna agreed without hesitation. I was about to say I'd pay her back once it was done, but she got a bit annoyed. "Why do you always bring that up? I help you because I like you. Talking about money ruins it."

I quickly apologized. "Sorry, I didn't mean to treat you like an outsider. I'll treat you to dinner once it's done."

"That's more like it."

I hung up, feeling relieved, and turned to Royce and Asher. "Joanna's on board."

With Joanna's help, the plan was almost 80% complete.

We all relaxed a bit, and Asher started chatting with me.

"You know, after you left to have the baby, I felt something was off at the company."

I glanced at Royce, who was making tea with the hotel's disposable cups as if they were fine china. He had an air of elegance that was hard to miss.

"What happened?"

Royce handed me a cup of tea, but before I could drink, he touched my wrist with two fingers. "It's hot!"

I obediently put the cup down.

Asher didn't notice our interaction and continued talking.

"After you left, Brandon brought Earl into the company, and soon after, Irene joined as the deputy CFO. It didn't sit right with me, but I thought it wasn't a big deal. Earl was useless, and I could keep Irene in check until you returned."

"But then Brandon started firing your old friends one by one, with Elora's help. She knew the company inside out and got close to Brandon. Their relationship was definitely more than professional."

"Elora studied us veterans and found reasons to fire each of us. It started to feel suspicious."

"I wanted to contact you to find out what was going on, but Brandon wouldn't let me see you, and you didn't answer my calls. We lost touch."

Asher looked at me, anger in his eyes. "I later found out what Brandon did to you. That bastard deserves the worst."

Royce had been listening quietly but spoke up now. "If Elora was so important, would Brandon really let her go so easily?"

I shook my head. "Brandon likes to mess around, but he doesn't tolerate it from his subordinates. He might have ditched Elora, just like he might ditch Earl to bring in new people."

Just then, my phone rang. Seeing Elora's name on the screen, I thought it was quite the coincidence.

I showed the screen to Royce and Asher before answering. "Hello?"

"Caroline, this is all your doing, isn't it?"

I put the call on speaker so they could hear her hysterical voice.

"You set Kurt up to get close to me, then had his wife catch us and record it. You spread the video and stirred up public opinion, exposing me and Brandon. Then you released photos of me and Earl, shifting the blame onto us. You helped Brandon get rid of me and pushed Earl out of the core business. You're so vicious!"

I couldn't believe she was playing the victim. "Vicious? You seduced Brandon while I was sick and pregnant. I promoted you from a regular employee to a manager, and now you call me vicious? Didn't you do all those things?"

"So what? Brandon never loved you. He was only with you for your money. Do you think he loves you? Don't kid yourself."

I laughed coldly. "Really? Do you have money? You might be beautiful, but Brandon still dumped you without a second thought."

"Ask Brandon if he dares to divorce me."

Elora knew the answer. Brandon wouldn't dare. If he had to choose between us, he'd pick me because of my money.

Elora gritted her teeth. "Caroline, don't get too comfortable. One day, you'll get what's coming to you, and I'll be there to laugh."

I smirked. "We'll see if you can still laugh when that day comes."

Elora's voice grew shrill. "You think getting rid of me will make Brandon faithful? He has other women, and one of them is someone you can't mess with!"