The Billionaire He Threw Away Chapter 09

The Billionaire He Threw Away Chapter 09

Gerald’s forensic team worked through the weekend.

By Wednesday, they had a complete picture-and it was worse than I’d imagined.

In the past six months, Liam had signed fourteen documents related to the Bellworth partnership. Seven of them contained buried clauses that

redirected Wentworth media revenue into shell companies controlled by Richard Hale. The total amount funneled: $8.3 million.

Liam’s signatures were on every page.

But here’s what saved him-barely. The signing pattern matched a specific timeline. Every document was signed between 11 p.m. and 2 a.m., on

nights when Liam’s calendar showed he’d been working sixteen-hour days. The witness signature on each one belonged to Vanessa Price.

She’d waited until he was exhausted. Half-asleep. Trusting. Then she’d handed him the papers.

He was a fool. But he wasn’t a criminal. At least, not intentionally.

I sat in Gerald’s office, staring at the evidence spread across his conference table, and felt something I hadn’t expected-grief.

Not for the marriage. That was already dead. But for the man Liam used to be. The one who stayed up until 3 a.m. building something he believed in. The one who had been so desperate for help, so isolated in his ambition, that when a beautiful woman appeared and offered to carry

his burdens, he didn’t think to ask why.

He’d been targeted. Manipulated. Used.

And he still didn’t know.

“What do you want to do?” Gerald asked.

I had two options. I could hand everything to the authorities and let the investigation run its course. Liam would likely be cleared eventually, but Prism Digital would be destroyed in the process. His reputation, his company, his life’s work-collateral damage.

Or I could handle it myself. Quietly. Surgically.

“Option two,” I said.

Gerald nodded. “I’ll prepare the legal framework. But, Elise-” He hesitated, choosing his words. “At some point, you’ll have to tell him. About all of

“I know,” I said. “But not yet.”

That evening, I did something I hadn’t done in weeks. I went back to the old apartment.

Not to stay. Not to beg. I went because I needed to see Vanessa’s face one more time before I dismantled everything she’d built.

Liam opened the door. He looked terrible-dark circles, wrinkled shirt, two days of stubble. The apartment behind him was a mess. Dishes piled

in the sink. Clothes on the floor.

“Elise,” he breathed. “You came back.”

“I’m not staying,” I said. “I left a box of books in the hall closet. I just need to pick them up.”

His face fell, but he stepped aside to let me in..

Vanessa was on the couch, scrolling through her phone. She looked up at me with that familiar smirk.

“Back so soon? Couldn’t find a better place?”

I didn’t respond. I walked to the closet, retrieved my box, and turned to leave.

But as I passed the kitchen counter, I saw something that stopped me cold.

A document. Half-hidden under a stack of takeout menus. The Prism Digital letterhead was unmistakable.

I tilted my head just enough to read the top line: EMERGENCY BOARD RESOLUTION – TRANSFER OF FOUNDING SHARES.**

Someone was trying to take Liam’s company from him.

And from the way Vanessa’s eyes darted to the document-then quickly away-she knew exactly what it was.

I picked up my box, walked to the door, and looked back at Liam one final time.

He was leaning against the wall, watching me leave with an expression I couldn’t quite read. Lost. Confused. Like a man standing in a house that was quietly burning down around him, unable to smell the smoke.

“Take care of yourself, Liam,” I said.

It was the last kind thing I would say to him for a long time.