Phoebe's POV
Charlies's expression shifted when Johnson posed his question, like something had just clicked. He turned to Harold with urgency. "Wait—did those bastards deliberately leak this whole thing?"
Though Charlies hadn't been around me much lately, I knew he'd been hearing plenty about my situation through Malcolm.
He understood I wasn't just some powerhouse—I had a tragic past that would make anyone's blood boil. And knowing how fiercely protective Harold was, there was no way he'd just stand back and do nothing.
Naturally, the Bailey family's Clearwater resources were mine to command. But there might be snakes in the grass within their own ranks.
Those leeches wouldn't just sit there watching Harold drain the family coffers, especially when the endgame meant crushing other Bailey family members.
Revealing that Harold wasn't blood-related was their way of muddying the waters—giving those scumbags a chance to slip away undetected. Pretty damn clever.
