23
Chapter Twenty Three
The video clip Cara sent Amanda had footage of Samuel and Nancy together, a day before Amanda cancelled their engagement.
It was late at night and they were in the break room at work. The video was a mix of them making out and talking about how the wedding day was getting close and they would finally have their hands on the Lemaiyans' wealth.
Cara had stayed late that night too and came across them. They never found out that she took a video. All they knew was that she saw them and ratted them out to Amanda.
A few minutes after Amanda posted the clip online in reply to Nancy's tweet, her office phone rang. Her father was on the other side.
“See me now, Amanda! Right now!”
His voice was stern, and it was obvious he was pissed off. She could deal with an angry father. As long as she had finally put those two in their proper place, she could deal with anything.
“Okay, Dad,” she replied. He hung up before she could get the last word out.
Rising to her feet, she grabbed her phone and clutch. She knew that the moment she walked out of her office, all eyes would be on her. If she hadn’t had that video to prove her innocence, she wouldn’t have been able to bear the attention.
Before she could get to her door, however, there was a knock. Thinking it was Cara, she called out, “Come in.”
The door opened to reveal Lucas. He walked in and shut it behind him.
He took a step forward, reached his hand out, but then stopped midway and stuck it in his pocket. Her heart thudded behind her ribcage. She could see he had wanted to touch her in some way that wasn’t a handshake.
“Going somewhere?” he asked, eyeing her clutch.
She nodded.
“I just saw everything. Wanted to see if you’re okay.”
She gave a small smile. “I’m fine. I have it under control.”
He nodded. “Good.”
Then he just stood there, looking at her.
She gave a pointed look at her wristwatch. “If I don’t leave now, my father is going to burst a vein.”
Lucas chuckled and moved aside, opening the door for her. “He doesn’t approve of your damage control measures, does he?”
“Not one bit.”
They walked out of her office and she stopped at Cara’s desk. “I have to go see my Dad. Push my engagements for this evening to tomorrow morning.”
“Got it. Good luck.”
“Thanks, I’ll need it.”
Lucas walked with her to the elevator. “Can I call you later?”
The elevator doors opened. She didn’t have much time to ruminate over it. “Yeah.”
Even a minute later, as she got into her car at the front of the office building, her heart was thudding from the excitement of that little interaction with him.
How could she ever resist him again?
She was about to get an earful from her father. The internet was buzzing with her private affairs. Yet, here she was, getting giddy over a little interaction with a guy.
Her father was pacing in his office when she got there.
“What were you thinking, Amanda?”
She shrugged and took a seat. “What did you want me to do, Dad? Issue a statement denying her claims and expect people to believe me? I had hard evidence. It was about time I used it.”
“You could get sued!”
“For what? Defending myself when they attempted to defame me?”
“You’re aware that video was taken illegally, and releasing it is enough ground for a defamation suit against you, right?”
“What did you want me to do? Sit around and act nice while they spread lies about me because I’m afraid of a little lawsuit? If they sue, I’ll countersue! I’m not the culprit here, Dad!”
“You’ve barely cleared you name after what happened, and now this!”
“Cleared my name?” Amanda came to her feet, shocked at her father’s words. “Of what? What exactly do I need to clear my name of?”
“I get it, you’re the victim. But did you have to make everything public from the beginning? Look at all the mess it has created!”
“I did not make this public! I’ve told you that before! I broke up with Samuel silently but someone leaked the reason behind our breakup to the press!”
Charles sighed and settled behind his desk.
Amanda hovered on the other side. “Why are you making a big deal of this? Would you rather people talked badly about me, thinking I made up stories to get back at him for cheating?”
“Of course not—”
“Then what’s this? Why are you angry at me? If you’re worried about the company’s reputation, your PR team will assure you that thwarting those rumours the way I did worked miracles for us.”
“Maybe you’re right. But you can’t keep letting your personal life disrupt business.”
Amanda was lost for words. What could she say? Everything her father kept saying seemed to indicate that he was blaming her for everything. As if it was her fault Samuel decided to lie and cheat, as if it was her fault Nancy couldn’t have gone away silently without trying to mess her life further.
Plus, her personal life hadn’t disrupted business in any way!
What he said next struck her even more speechless. “If this keeps happening, I have no idea when I can hand over my shares to you.”
“What?”
“Get your issues together, Amanda. Maybe then, we can talk about you getting the company.”
“When we agreed about everything, I had no idea there were going to be so many conditions determining whether you gave me back my company or not,” she pointed out.
Charles said nothing.
Amanda was done arguing over it. “I’m leaving.”
She was almost at the door when he dropped the bombshell.
“I’m putting Rebecca on the board. I’m busy with other things and I cannot keep worrying about what you’re doing over there. She’ll have total control over my shares.”
