Part 2A Two Hundred Million Dollar Mistake

Tyler stopped short when he saw me standing in the middle of the room.

“What’s going on?”

My father pointed at him. “The contracts for the deal. You have them, right?”

Tyler blinked, then grinned. “The contracts? Yeah, of course. They’re under control.”

My father’s shoulders relaxed, and the look he gave me turned icy. Tyler walked over and clapped our father on the back.

“Don’t worry about it, Dad. I hired the best in the business to draft the final terms. You’ve heard of Vesper, right? She’s a legend in corporate law. The contracts are perfect. We sign tomorrow.”

“Tyler,” I said, my voice cutting through his bravado. “I am Vesper.”

The room went silent.

“The contracts you begged me to help you with? Every detail, every core data point, every legal safeguard—they were on my laptop. The laptop your mother just had wiped.”

Silence stretched for two long seconds. Then Tyler burst into a loud, mocking laugh.

“Sis, are you feeling okay?” He tapped his temple. “Vesper is based in London and New York. Everyone in the industry knows that. You think because you take a few business trips to the states you can just claim her identity? Vesper is a world-class consultant. You’re a mid-level manager at a firm your dad owns. That’s a hell of a hallucination.”

Pamela stopped dabbing her eyes and let a smirk slip. “Oh, Cassie. I know you’re jealous of Tyler, but this is sad. You’re making things up just to tear your brother down.”

My father stepped toward me, his face darkening.

“Enough,” he growled. “First you blame Pamela for deleting 'photos,' then you claim you have the contracts, and now you’re claiming to be some international expert. What is your endgame here?”

I looked at them. It was always like this.

I was eight when Pamela smashed my mother’s heirloom vase right in front of me. When I told my father, she told him I’d done it myself to frame her. He didn’t ask a single question; he whipped me with his belt until I couldn't stand.

Pamela had stood by, "pleading" for him to stop because I was "just a child," while her eyes danced with triumph. My father had spent the rest of the night comforting her, telling me, "Don't you ever upset your mother again."

Tyler sighed, putting on a show of sibling concern. “Cassie, I know you hate us. But do you realize the state the company is in? If this deal falls through, we’re done. Can you stop the drama for one night?”

Pamela started crying again. “Robert, I’ve been in this family for twenty years and she still treats us like enemies...”

My father’s patience snapped.

“Last chance,” he said, his finger back in my face. “Apologize.”

I said nothing.

“Fine!” He turned to Tyler. “Call this expert. Right now. Put her on speaker. Let’s hear what 'Vesper' has to say about being in this room.”

Tyler pulled out his phone, found the number, and hit speaker.

“Hello, this is Vesper’s office,” a woman’s voice answered.

Tyler shot me a smug look. “Hi, I’m looking for Vesper. I wanted to check in on the status of the Wainwright contracts.”

“Vesper is currently in meetings,” the assistant said. “But I can confirm the contracts are finalized and ready for tomorrow’s signing.”

The living room went quiet.