A Very Exclusive Engagement

“I don’t know what you’re insinuating,” she said slowly, although the tone of her voice said otherwise. It was cold and flat, issuing a silent warning to Hayden.

It made Liam wonder what they were really talking about. He’d heard that Lucy and Angelica hadn’t gotten along, but Lucy had left ANS to work with Hayden before he took over. He certainly didn’t know anything about Angelica’s past or her family. Why did Lucy’s relationship with Graham make Angelica so angry?

Hayden really seemed to know how to push her buttons. Was he rattling her cage for amusement or was he trying to get her to make a mistake? Liam turned to his left and spied the wedding videographer, a field cameraman from ANS. Perfect. He waived the man over.

“I want you to very quietly, subtly, record their conversation. She can’t know you’re taping them.”

The camera man worked on ANS investigations and undercover stings, so he was likely more comfortable doing this than taping greetings for the bride and groom. He eased into the crowd, coming up from behind Angelica, partially hidden by the towering wedding cake beside them.

Liam watched Hayden’s gaze fall on the video camera for an instant, then back to Angelica. They both knew this was their chance to catch her at something when she didn’t expect it.

“Admit it, Angelica. All this hacking business had nothing to do with presidential scandals or career-launching headlines. It was just a high-profile distraction to get what you were really after. The truth is that you were trying to ruin him. Getting your revenge, at last.”

Liam held his breath, waiting to see where this conversation might go when she thought no one else was watching.

“That’s a ridiculous, unfounded accusation. Graham was a lousy boss with questionable ethics, but he was hardly a blip on my radar. I’ve got better things to do with my time than try to ruin someone like him. In time, they always ruin themselves.”

“It’s interesting you would say that. But I’ve got a stack of pictures that say otherwise. Pictures of you modified to remove your fancy hairdo and contact lenses. It made me think of something Rowena Tate told me. She mentioned that you reminded her of a troubled, unstable girl at her private school. The girl had always gloated about her rich father, but he never showed up for parent weekends. He just mailed a check.”

“I didn’t go to private school,” Angelica said, her jaw clenched tighter with every word he said.

“I did a little research and found old school records showing her tuition was paid for by Graham Boyle. Isn’t that odd? He’s always told people he didn’t have any children of his own. It must’ve been hard growing up knowing your father didn’t want anything to do with you. That you were just a mistake that could be fixed with enough money. If it were me, I’d want revenge, too.”

“Shut up, Hayden.”

“He didn’t even recognize you when you came to work at ANS, did he? Sure, you looked different, but a father should be able to recognize his own daughter, right? Then you had to sit back and watch him fawn over Lucy, a child that wasn’t even his.”

“I don’t have to listen to your wild stories. You’re obviously grasping at straws.” She shook her head, turning to walk away from their discussion.

“The sad thing is that you went to all this trouble, ruined so many lives, and in the end, you failed.”

Angelica stopped dead in her tracks. She swung back to him, her eyes wide and furious. “Oh, really? What makes you think this isn’t exactly the way I planned it? Those fools they arrested, Brandon and Troy, will take the fall for the wiretaps. All the evidence shows that Marnie Salloway orchestrated it. Graham Boyle is going to rot in prison and his precious network will be destroyed before too long. It sounds pretty perfect to me. My only regret is that in the end, I couldn’t find a way to get Lucy’s hands dirty enough to send her to jail with dear old dad.”

“But he didn’t go to jail because he loved you and wanted to protect you. It was pure guilt.”

“I don’t need his love,” she snapped. “I’ve gotten this far in life without it. What I did need was to see that bastard brought to his knees. And I got that.”

Hayden smiled wide and turned toward the cameraman. “You get that, Tom?”

The videographer pulled away from his lens and nodded. “Every single word.”

Angelica’s jaw dropped open, her skin flushing crimson in anger. “You bastard!” she shrieked. “You deliberately set me up. If you think I’m going to let you ruin my career with no physical proof of my involvement with the hacking, you’ve got another think coming. Even with that tape, no one will believe you.”