Chapter 58- Schemes
Nora felt smug after she planted a seed of doubt in Aaron’s mind, or so she thought. She was confident that Aaron would end his relationship with Tessa after finding out that she sold his company secrets to his long–time business rival.
David Kingsley’s company often competed with the Wentworth electronics branch. But the Wentworth group always emerged victorious in terms of sales and popularity.
When Nora saw Aaron leaving Tessa in the office, she made a plan to ask Tessa for the file containing confidential information so that she could sell it to Aaron’s rival and frame Tessa for it.
Luckily, Tessa was naive and went ahead to open the safe and gave her the file. She
immediately sought out David and offered him the designs which he gladly paid a lump sum
for.
Nora had a foolproof plan that would get rid of Tessa forever. Aaron was a no–nonsense man and he didn’t tolerate those who stole and lied to him. She was very sure he would get angry and maybe even throw Tessa in prison.
If he could throw Serena in prison, who was Tessa?
These thoughts reeled in Nora’s mind as she waited for Aaron to blow his top. She even decided to add fuel to the fire and said, “You remember, sir? You had left the office for a few minutes. I think that’s when Miss Hilton stole the company’s secrets and sold them to your rival. Perhaps it was revenge for what you did to her in the past. After all, no woman can be happy with being treated as a substitute for another woman.”
Tessa’s breath got trapped in her throat as she stared at Nora in disbelief. She couldn’t believe. a woman would come up with such lies to frame a fellow woman. What happened to building each other and having the other person’s back?
The shareholders frowned and shared looks, not knowing what to say. Aaron had publicly announced Tessa as his woman so they couldn’t interrogate her. So they waited for Aaron’s response and see how he would deal with the situation.
At the same time, Aaron narrowed his eyes at Nora dangerously. His jaws clenched and frostiness flitted through his eyes.
The temperature in the room reduced to a negative and Aaron’s powerful aura swirled around the room. He oozed so much dominance and power, it gave the people in the conference room a certain obligatory force to want to submit to him.
When Nora noticed the change in Aaron’s mood, she smirked and threw Tessa a secret mocking gaze.
‘Just wait and see how the man you thought loved you will deal with you.‘ She said inwardly,
Tessa furrowed her eyebrows but she didn’t say anything. She just chuckled and shook her head before taking a sip of her hot chocolate.
“Do you have proof to back up your accusations?” Aaron finally questioned Nora curtly. His voice was dripping with iciness.
Hearing his question, Nora felt elated thinking, he had bought her lie. She enthusiastically nodded and said, “I believe if we call and ask Mr Kingsley who sold him the company’s secrets, he would say it was Miss Hilton.”
“Ok. Let’s wait for him to finish his interview. I’ll call him,” Aaron nonchalantly agreed.
He then reached his hand forth and grabbed Tessa’s hand, squeezing it in reassurance.
Tessa glanced up at him and smiled, mouthing, “I’m fine.”
Nora noticed this and secretly sneered, ‘Let’s see how long this will last,‘
When the interview was done, Aaron got his phone and dialled David Kinsgley’s number.
David picked up after a few rings.
“This is a surprise! Aaron, the most powerful man in Ashford City is calling me? To what do I owe this privilege?” David’s deep mocking voice could be heard through the phone as Aaron had put his phone on loudspeaker.
“I just watched your interview and I found it very interesting that you claimed to have designed that smart TV. Are you sure you verified your source? You just plagiarised my work and I have proof. If I sued you right now, you would get arrested and your company deregistered. I need to know who sold you the information. Come to my company.”
Aaron cut the call and then called Tony, his friend who was also part of his legal team.
“Come to the office. It’s urgent. Someone stole the company’s confidential documents,” he said the moment Tony answered.
“What? Who would be brave enough to do that?” Tony asked on the phone.
Aaron let out a menacing chuckle. He glanced at Tessa and replied to Tony over the phone while looking at her, “Apparently, Nora has accused Tessa of stealing my confidential files.”
“What? Is she for fucking real? I’m on my way. No one messes with my sister–in–law.”
“Oh, call the police on your way here. I’m going to have the culprit arrested,” Aaron added.
After Aaron cut the call, Nora’s back was covered in a cold sweat. She didn’t expect Aaron to ask David to come over. In her mind, all Aaron had to do was ask for the name of the person who had sold him the designs.
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Nora had said her name was Tessa Hilton when she reached out to David but he wanted to meet the seller so she had no option but to meet him after faking her personal documents. Hence, she was afraid that he was going to recognise her if he went to the
company.
Her heart pounded vigorously and her throat felt dry as she tried to think of a way out of her situation. She glanced at Aaron and suggested anxiously, “Sir… I think you should check the surveillance on the bookshelf. You will see for yourself if Miss Tessa opened your safe or not.”
Aaron remained emotionless and replied, “Don’t worry. We shall check all the surveillance cameras in my office. There are some hidden spots that I had installed cameras and they are usually on when I’m not in the office.”
Nora’s heart dropped to the pits of her stomach and worry crept into her. ‘How come I didn’t know about the hidden cameras in the CEO’s office?‘
She only knew about the camera on the bookshelf because there was a safe and it was supposed to be kept safe. This was why she asked Tessa to open it so that it would serve as evidence.
However, if there were more cameras in the CEO’s office then they would soon find out that she was the one who had asked Tessa for the document.
Her stomach knotted but she couldn’t do anything. If she ran, she would only look guilty. Deep down, she hoped Aaron didn’t switch on the cameras because Tessa was in the office that day.
One of the shareholders couldn’t hold it in any longer. He presented, “Mr Wentworth, this is a serious matter. Even if you get back the design, Royal Electronics was the first to have it. released. We will look like we copied it and used our influence to step on the other company. In my opinion, the one who sold the company’s secrets should be sent to jail. No matter who they are.”
Aaron glanced at the man who spoke and said, “Don’t worry about that. I’ll handle everything. Let’s all patiently wait for David, Tony and the police to come.”
Tessa leaned over and whispered in Aaron’s ears, “Why didn’t you tell me you had cameras in your office? Did you record us doing the did? Do you have a fetish?”
Aaron burst out into laughter and then shook his head. He whispered in Tessa’s ears, “No, love. I switched them off before we made love. I wouldn’t mind us recording ourselves and watching it later though. You moan so beautifully that I want to listen to it over and over again.”
Tessa blushed and cleared her throat. Her eyes fell on Nora who was giving her an evil look
and she frowned.
She didn’t know what she had done to her. Quite alright, they didn’t know each other well. When Nora started working for the Wentworth group, Tessa left a month later.
What Tessa didn’t expect was Nora trying to frame her for something as huge as stealing Aaron’s company’s secrets. Perhaps this was the real Nora. She was a liar and full of schemes
Regardless, Tessa wasn’t worried because she knew she was innocent. And what mattered the most was that Aaron believed and trusted her.
A few minutes later, Enock opened the door for Tony, a few policemen and David Kingsley.
David walked into the room. His eyes fell on Nora and he frowned. At first, he didn’t believe what Aaron said about the smart TV he had just launched being his design He never thought someone was bold enough to steal someone else’s work. He just thought Nora was a good designer who was willing to sell her patent rights to him.
His company wasn’t doing well recently so he was desperate. When he saw the design of the smart TV, he thought it was what he needed to improve his company which had been suppressed by the Wentworth roup for years.
However, the presence of the woman who sold him the design in the room proved that Aaron was telling the truth
Glancing at Aaron and the team of shareholders, he said, “I thought you were just trying to pick a fight. I swear, I didn’t know the design was yours and I’m willing to release a statement to explain this to the public.”
Aaron arched an eyebrow. “Don’t be so quick to surrender, David. I called you here so that you can tell us who sold you the company’s secrets. Is it her?”
Aaron pointed at Tessa who was seated next to him and David frowned, shaking his head.
“I have never seen that woman before in my life,” David responded.
“Oh, but my assistant said Tessa Hilton sold you our trade secrets and this woman next to me is Tessa Hilton,” Aaron said nonchalantly as if he was just talking about the weather.
David narrowed his eyes at Nora and remarked, “No. The one who sold the secrets to me and claimed to be Tessa Hilton is this woman right here.”
Nora immediately began to shed tears and shook her head repeatedly. She glanced at Aaron and denied, “Sir. That’s not true, I only did what Miss Hilton told me to do. She told me to
meet Mr Kinsgley as her. I only did it to help her out, I swear-”
She wanted to say more but Aaron’s thundering voice made her quiver from fear.
“Are you still trying to accuse my woman?!”
David arched an eyebrow at this. His woman? He had been out of the Country for some time so he was behind in terms of gossip about Aaron’s personal life.
He glanced at Tessa and noticed how beautiful and sophisticated she was. She didn’t look scheming or fake. From the way Aaron was defending her, David could tell that he loved her
very much. He had always wanted to know Aaron’s weakness and now he just found out.
He didn’t want to make a false claim on the design to preserve his dignity, but that didn’t mean he still didn’t want to destroy Aaron for suppressing his business. What better way to attack his rival than to snatch his woman?
He stepped closer and looked at Tessa as if he was examining her. He smirked and said, “I don’t think the real Tessa Hilton is capable of such schemes. Aaron, I suggest you have your assistant arrested. She doesn’t have your best interest at heart.”
Aaron glared at David as anger rippled through him. Did he have to say that while looking at his woman as if she was a snack?
“What the hell is he playing at?‘ He said silently.
Looking at the police, Aaron suggested, “You can check the surveillance in my office for evidence that she stole the company’s secrets. Tony, what are the charges Nora is going to face?”
Tony stepped forward and announced, “Impersonation, fraud, theft of trade secrets and defamation of character. She can be asked to pay a fine for defamation of character but theft of trade secrets is a serious criminal offence. She might face a 10 years jail sentence.”
“Good,” Aaron responded.
A few minutes later, the police returned with the footage and played it in front of everyone. They all saw how Nora went into Aaron’s office and asked Tessa for a file.
Nora saw that she was doomed so she screamed, “No! Sir, I’ve been by your side for five years! Forgive me just this once, please! I only did it because I love you and Tessa doesn’t deserve you!”
Aaron ignored her and told the police, “Arrest her and inform the public about her crimes. I want this to serve as a warning for people to stay away from my future wife and children since Serena’s predicament didn’t seem to teach anyone anything.”
