Jennifer's POV
I wake up to someone shaking my shoulder.
"Jennifer. Wake up. Now."
My eyes fly open. Michael's standing over me, fully dressed, his face tight with tension.
"What's wrong?" I sit up fast, my heart racing.
We're in Michael's penthouse. I fell asleep on his couch around 2 AM while we reviewed all the evidence for the board meeting. The last thing I remember is Michael saying he'd keep working while I rested.
Now it's—I check my phone—5 AM.
"We have a problem," Michael says. "A big one."
Daniel and James appear behind him, both looking grim.
"What happened?" I ask.
James holds up his laptop. "Someone hacked my computer. While we were sleeping. They got into my files."
My stomach drops. "What files?"
"Everything we compiled on Richard. All the evidence Emma gave you. The photos from the anonymous sender. All of it." James's jaw is tight. "It's gone. Deleted. Every single file."
"What?" I'm fully awake now. "How is that possible? You're a cybersecurity expert!"
"Whoever did this is better than me," James admits, and I can hear the frustration in his voice. "They didn't just delete the files. They corrupted my entire backup system. Everything we had is gone."
I feel like I'm falling. "The board meeting is in four hours."
"I know," Michael says.
"Without that evidence, we have nothing!" My voice rises. "Richard will destroy me in that boardroom. We needed those files to prove what he's been doing!"
"We still have the flash drive Emma gave you," Daniel says calmly.
"Do we?" I grab my purse, dig through it frantically.
The flash drive is gone.
"No, no, no." I dump everything out of my purse onto the couch. Keys, wallet, lipstick, phone—but no flash drive. "It was here. I put it in my purse at the diner!"
"Are you sure?" Michael asks.
"Yes!" I'm shaking now. "Someone took it. While I was sleeping. Someone was in this apartment and took it."
The four of us freeze, looking at each other.
"That's impossible," James says. "This building has the best security in Manhattan. Nobody gets past the lobby without clearance."
"Then it was someone who already had clearance," Daniel says quietly.
We all think the same thing at once.
"The anonymous helper," I whisper. "The person who's been sending me messages. They were here."
Michael's face goes dark. "They've been playing us. Sending you evidence, making you trust them, and then stealing it all back right before the meeting."
"But why?" I ask. "If they wanted to help Richard, why send me evidence at all?"
"To make you confident," Daniel says. "To make you think you had a chance. So the fall would hurt more."
I sink back onto the couch. "We're screwed. Completely screwed."
"No," Michael says firmly. "We're not."
"Michael, we have no evidence! Nothing! Richard's going to stand up in that boardroom and destroy me with his fake records, and we can't prove any of it's a lie!"
"Then we don't use evidence," Michael says.
"What?"
"We use something better." Michael's eyes are cold, calculating. "We use Richard himself."
"I don't understand," I say.
Michael pulls out his phone. "James, how long would it take you to set up a recording system in the Morgan Media boardroom?"
James's eyes widen. "You want to record the meeting?"
"No. I want to broadcast it. Live. To the internet."
I stare at him. "That's insane."
"It's perfect," James says slowly, understanding dawning. "If the meeting is public, Richard can't lie. He can't present fake evidence without millions of people watching."
"The board will never agree to it," Daniel points out.
"They don't have to agree," Michael says. "We just do it. James, can you hack the boardroom's AV system? Set up a livestream?"
"Easily," James says. "Give me two hours."
"Do it," Michael orders. Then he looks at me. "Jennifer, here's what's going to happen. You're going to walk into that boardroom and tell them everything. The truth about Richard. About his affairs, his fraud, his plans. Everything."
"They won't believe me without proof—"
"They will if Richard confirms it himself," Michael interrupts.
"Why would he do that?"
Michael's smile is dangerous. "Because you're going to make him angry. Angry enough to drop his mask and show everyone who he really is."
"That's a huge risk," Daniel says.
"It's the only play we have left," Michael counters. "Unless you have a better idea?"
Nobody does.
"Okay," I say, my voice shaky. "Okay. I'll do it."
"Good." Michael checks his watch. "We have three and a half hours. James, set up the livestream. Daniel, call Marcus and fill him in on the plan. I'm taking Jennifer to get ready."
"Ready for what?" I ask.
"For war," Michael says simply.
An hour later, I'm standing in Michael's bedroom, staring at myself in the mirror.
I'm wearing a navy suit that Sophia dropped off—professional, powerful, perfect for a boardroom battle. My hair is pulled back. My makeup is minimal but flawless.
I look like someone who knows what she's doing.
I feel like I'm about to throw up.
"Hey." Michael appears behind me in the mirror. "You okay?"
"No," I admit. "I'm terrified."
"Good."
I turn to look at him. "Good?"
"Fear means you're taking this seriously." Michael steps closer. "But Jennifer, listen to me. You are stronger than Richard. Smarter than Richard. And you have something he'll never have."
"What?"
"The truth." Michael's hand cups my face. "He's been lying for so long, he doesn't even know how to be real anymore. But you? You're real. That's your power."
"What if my truth isn't enough?"
"It will be." Michael's voice drops lower. "And if it's not, I'll burn that boardroom to the ground before I let them take anything from you."
The intensity in his eyes makes my breath catch.
"Michael—"
He kisses me.
It's not gentle. It's claiming, possessive, desperate. Like he's trying to pour all his certainty into me.
When we break apart, I'm breathless.
"What was that for?" I whisper.
"For luck," Michael says. But his eyes tell a different story.
They tell me this is more than helping a friend.
More than fighting for justice.
This is personal for him.
"We should go," I say, suddenly scared of what I see in his face. "The meeting—"
"Has an hour before it starts." Michael's hands don't leave my waist. "Jennifer, I need to tell you something."
"Now? Really?"
"Especially now." Michael takes a breath. "In case everything goes wrong today. In case Richard somehow wins. I need you to know—"
My phone rings, cutting him off.
It's Jason.
"I have to take this," I say, stepping back from Michael.
"Jennifer, where are you?" Jason sounds panicked. "I'm at the Morgan Media building and something's wrong. There are reporters everywhere. TV cameras. Someone leaked that there's going to be a major announcement at the board meeting."
"What kind of announcement?"
"I don't know, but Victoria Morgan just arrived with Richard. They're both smiling. Jen, they look way too confident. Like they know something we don't."
My blood runs cold. "Jason, I'm on my way."
I hang up and look at Michael. "Richard knows something. This feels like a trap."
"Then we spring it," Michael says. "Come on."
Twenty minutes later, we're walking into Morgan Media Group headquarters. Michael, Daniel, and James are with me, a united front.
The lobby is chaos. Reporters. Cameras. Security trying to keep everyone back.
"Ms. Morgan!" A reporter shouts. "Is it true you're being removed from the board today?"
"Jennifer!" Another one. "Do you have any comment on Richard Morgan's allegations?"
I ignore them all, pushing toward the elevators.
That's when I see her.
My mother.
She's standing by the elevator bank with Victoria Morgan. Both of them are dressed immaculately, looking like society queens.
When my mother sees me, her face goes cold.
"Jennifer," she says. "I'm surprised you showed up."
"This is my family's company," I say. "Where else would I be?"
"Soon it won't be your family's company anymore," Victoria says with a smile. "After today's vote, you'll have no connection to Morgan Media. Or the Morgan family."
"Is that a threat?" Michael asks, his voice dangerous.
"That's a promise," Victoria says. She looks at me with disgust. "You made your choices, Jennifer. Now you live with the consequences."
The elevator doors open. My mother and Victoria step inside.
I move to follow, but my mother holds up her hand.
"This elevator is for board members only," she says. "You're not a board member anymore."
The doors close in my face.
I stand there, humiliated, while reporters capture every second.
"Ignore her," Daniel says quietly. "We'll take the next one."
But when the next elevator comes, Richard is inside it.
With Amanda.
And five people I don't recognize.
"Jennifer!" Richard's smile is poisonous. "So glad you could make it. I want you to meet some friends of mine. These are the psychiatrists who've been reviewing your case."
My heart stops. "What case?"
"Your mental health evaluation," one of the men says. He's older, gray-haired, holding a briefcase. "Mr. Morgan petitioned the court for an emergency evaluation. We've reviewed all the evidence—the threats, the erratic behavior, the violent tendencies. We're prepared to testify today that you're a danger to yourself and others."
"That's a lie!" I say. "I never—"
"The documents don't lie, Ms. Morgan," another psychiatrist says. "Your own medical records show a history of instability."
"Those records are fake!" I'm shouting now. "Richard forged them!"
"See?" Richard says to the psychiatrists. "The paranoia. The delusions. Exactly what I told you about."
The elevator doors close.
I'm shaking so hard I can barely stand.
"He brought fake psychiatrists," I whisper. "He's going to have me declared insane in front of the whole board."
"They're not getting anywhere near you," Michael says, his voice like ice.
We take the stairs.
By the time we reach the boardroom floor, I'm out of breath and my heart is racing.
The boardroom doors are closed. I can hear voices inside—loud, arguing.
James is already there, working on his laptop. "Livestream is set up. We're broadcasting in thirty seconds."
"Wait," I say. "Maybe this is a bad idea. If it goes wrong—"
"It won't," Michael says firmly.
The boardroom doors open.
Marcus Thompson stands there. "They're ready for you, Jennifer."
I take a deep breath and walk inside.
The boardroom is packed. Twenty board members sit around a massive table. My mother is there. Victoria. Richard. Amanda. The fake psychiatrists.
And at the head of the table, in my dead grandmother's chair, sits someone I never expected to see.
Someone I thought was dead.
My father.
Who supposedly died in a car accident five years ago.
But he's sitting right there, alive, smiling at me like this is all a game.
"Hello, Jennifer," he says. "Surprise."
The room spins. My legs give out.
Michael catches me before I hit the floor.
"What..." I can't form words. "You're dead. You died. We had a funeral—"
"I know," my father says calmly. "Sorry about that. But I had my reasons for disappearing."
"What reasons?" I'm crying now, I think. Or maybe I'm screaming. I can't tell.
My father stands up. "I needed to see what kind of person you'd become. Whether you were worthy of the Morgan legacy. And honestly, Jennifer? You've been a disappointment."
The words are a knife in my chest.
"That's why I'm voting with Richard today," my father continues. "To remove you from the board. To transfer your shares to someone more deserving. You've proven you're weak. Emotional. Unfit to carry the Morgan name."
I stare at him. At this stranger wearing my dead father's face.
"This isn't real," I whisper. "This can't be real."
"Oh, it's very real," Victoria says with satisfaction. "Your father and Richard have been working together for years. Planning this moment. When you finally get what you deserve."
Michael's arms tighten around me. "Jennifer, look at me. Look at me."
I do.
"That's not your father," Michael says urgently. "It can't be. This is another one of Richard's tricks."
"Trick?" My father—or whoever he is—laughs. "No trick. Just a father disappointed in his daughter."
"Prove it," James says suddenly. "Prove you're Jennifer's father."
"I don't have to prove anything," the man says.
"Then you're a fraud," Daniel says.
The man's smile fades. "You dare question me?"
"We dare question everyone," Michael says coldly. "Especially people who rise from the dead."
The boardroom erupts into chaos. People shouting. Cameras flashing—because yes, James's livestream is running. Millions of people are watching this.
And in the middle of it all, I'm standing there, staring at a ghost, wondering if I've finally lost my mind.
My phone buzzes.
The anonymous number. One last message:
Look at his left hand. Your father had a scar from a childhood accident. Ask him about it. Watch him panic.
I look at the man's left hand.
No scar.
"You're not my father," I say slowly. Understanding dawning. "Richard hired an actor. Someone who looks like him. But you're not him."
The man's face flickers. Just for a second.
That's when the real bomb drops.
The boardroom doors burst open.
Police officers pour in. Led by a woman I've never seen before.
"Richard Morgan," she says, holding up a badge. "You're under arrest for fraud, forgery, attempted kidnapping, and conspiracy."
Richard's face goes white. "What? No! This is a mistake!"
"No mistake," the detective says. She looks at me. "Ms. Morgan, I'm Detective Sarah Chen. We've been investigating your ex-husband for six months. We have everything we need to put him away for twenty years."
"Six months?" I whisper.
"Someone's been feeding us evidence," Detective Chen says. "Someone who wanted to make sure Richard paid for every crime he's ever committed."
Richard is being handcuffed. He's screaming, fighting.
Victoria is backing away, horrified.
Amanda is crying.
The fake father is trying to run but more officers block his path.
And I'm standing there, watching my nightmare end, wondering who saved me.
Detective Chen hands me a folder. "This is everything we have on Richard. You'll want to read it. Especially the part about who's been helping us build the case."
I open the folder with shaking hands.
The first page is a photo.
A photo of someone I know. Someone I never suspected.
Someone who's been watching over me this whole time.
My hands start trembling so hard I drop the folder.
"No," I whisper. "It can't be."
But it is.
And everything I thought I knew about my life, my family, my past—all of it is a lie.