My Boss's Hidden Heir (Elara and Marcus) novel Chapter 146

Chapter 146

Penelope’s POV

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Penelope sat in her home office with a glass of wine, watching the security footage for what must have been the twentieth time. Every viewing brought fresh satisfaction.

The video quality was grainy but more than adequate. The fire exit stairwell, dimly lit but clear enough to see faces. Marcus pressing Elara against the wall, her dress hiked up around her waist, his hands everywhere. The desperation in their movements, the way they couldn’t get enough of each other.

It was explicit. It was unmistakable. And it was absolutely perfect.

Penelope took a sip of wine and paused the video at a particularly incriminating moment. Marcus’s face was visible in profile, clearly identifiable. Elara’s head thrown back, mouth open in what was obviously pleasure.

This wasn’t just evidence of a relationship. This was proof of the exact moment their entire house of cards had been built on. December twentieth. The night that had led to the pregnancy, to the rushed wedding, to Marcus’s desperate attempt to satisfy his grandfather’s will.

And now it would be the night that destroyed him.

Penelope’s phone showed 11:47 PM. The twenty-four hour deadline she’d given Elara would expire tomorrow at 2 PM, just hours before the emergency shareholder meeting scheduled for 4 PM.

She hadn’t really expected Marcus to resign. The man was too proud, too stubborn, too convinced of his own righteousness. He’d refuse the ultimatum and then she’d get exactly what she wanted anyway: the satisfaction of destroying him publicly.

Penelope opened a new document on her laptop and started outlining her presentation for the shareholder meeting. She needed to be strategic about the order of revelations, building the case piece by piece until the conclusion was inescapable.

Step One: Present the corporate sabotage evidence that Marcus had already uncovered. Let him think he’d won that battle, let him present Gerald Chen’s testimony and feel vindicated.

Step Two: After Marcus’s moment of triumph, introduce the sex tape. No warning, no preamble. Just play it for the entire board. Let them watch their CEO fucking his assistant in a fire exit like a teenager who couldn’t control himself.

Step Three: While they’re still reeling from the video, present the pregnancy timeline. Show the medical records proving Elara was already pregnant when they married. Let the board do the math themselves.

Step Four: The killing blow. Present the payment receipt from the original contract. Proof that Marcus had literally paid Elara two million dollars to marry him.

By the time she was done, the board wouldn’t just question whether the marriage satisfied the will’s terms. They’d be disgusted by Marcus’s manipulation, by his willingness to treat marriage as a business transaction, by his complete lack of respect for his grandfather’s intentions.

Penelope saved the document and closed her laptop, feeling deeply satisfied. Years of planning, years of

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Chapter 146

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careful positioning, years of waiting for exactly the right moment to strike And now it is finally here

Her phone rang. Eduardo Rodriguez, one of the senior board members and a man Penelope had been cultivating for months.

“Eduardo.” Penelope answered warmly. “Thank you for calling back so late.”

“You said it was urgent. About tomorrow’s shareholder meeting.”

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“It is. I wanted to give you a heads up about some information that’s going to come to light. Information that I believe will be deeply disturbing to you and the other board members.”

“What kind of information?”

“The kind that suggests Marcus has been manipulating all of us from the beginning. That his marriage to Elara Vance was never genuine, but rather a calculated move to satisfy the terms of his grandfather’s will while maintaining absolute control of the company.”

There was a pause on the other end. Eduardo was a traditionalist, a man who believed in proper procedure and ethical business practices. He’d been skeptical of Marcus’s sudden marriage from the start.

“That’s a serious accusation, Penelope. Do you have proof?”

“I have overwhelming proof. Video evidence, medical records, financial documentation. Everything needed to prove that Marcus entered into a contract marriage for the sole purpose of circumventing the spirit of the

will.”

“A contract marriage? Are you saying they signed a legal agreement?”

“I’m saying Marcus paid Elara Vance two million dollars to marry him. I have the receipt.”

Another pause, longer this time. Penelope could practically hear Eduardo’s mind working through the implications.

“If this is true,” Eduardo said carefully, “it would constitute fraud. Marcus would have violated the terms of the inheritance clause. His claim to the seventy percent stake would be invalid.”

“Exactly. Which is why I’m bringing this to the board’s attention. Not because I want to cause trouble for my stepson, I love him but I believe in upholding my husband’s late father’s wishes. The will was very clear about requiring a genuine marriage.”

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