Chapter 13 - THE MAN VALE WANTED TO REPLACE
Vale’s final plan was simple.
Simple plans are often the most dangerous.
Expose Northstar.
Make Paige look like hidden financial operator.
Connect her to Gabriel through internal access logs and executive attention.
Then leak evidence suggesting Gabriel protected her because she moved money for him.
Board panic.
Bank covenants triggered.
Federal scrutiny.
Gabriel temporarily steps aside.
A forged resignation appears.
Martin Vale becomes interim financial controller during crisis.
Then disappears with millions.
Paige stared at the timeline.
“One accidental word ruined it.”
Gabriel looked at her.
“What?”
“If I hadn’t called you honey…”
Everyone in the bullpen would not have noticed.
Gabriel might not have looked at her nameplate.
Might not have checked personnel file.
Might not have noticed the burner calls.
Vale’s plan could have continued.
Gabriel considered.
“So your exhaustion saved the company.”
“That is not the HR lesson I want you taking from this.”
He smiled.
Then Moretti Logistics’ legitimate board met.
Independent lawyers.
Auditors.
Bank representatives.
Natalia flew in.
For the first time, Paige saw Gabriel in a room where he did not control every vote.
Interesting.
The board retained outside forensic accountants.
Implemented new access controls.
Suspended several executives.
No violent purge.
No disappearing employees.
The company would survive.
Smaller.
More regulated.
Gabriel agreed.
That surprised his own people.
Later, Natalia cornered Paige.
“My brother likes you.”
Paige nearly choked on coffee.
“Subtle family.”
“He has never been subtle emotionally. Only operationally.”
“I’m not joining your family crime drama.”
“Excellent.”
Natalia smiled.
“That’s why I like you too.”
Friday dinner happened in a tiny Thai restaurant.
Paige chose it because Gabriel had probably never eaten somewhere with laminated menus.
She was right.
He looked suspicious of the table.
“It’s sticky.”
“Survive.”
He did.
They talked.
Not Vale.
Not Kevin.
Not money.
Paige told him about graphic design.
Why she loved typography.
Why she quit.
Gabriel told her almost nothing at first.
Then, slowly:
His father.
The company.
Being eighteen and learning fear made negotiations faster.
Paige listened.
Did not excuse.
Then he said:
“I am restructuring.”
“What?”
“My involvement in certain businesses.”
She understood what he meant.
Criminal operations.
“Because of Vale?”
“Partly.”
“Because of me?”
“No.”
Good.
“Because I discovered a company where everyone feared telling me the truth is very easy to rob.”
That was almost funny.
Almost.
“I built a system where loyalty meant silence.”
He looked at her.
“I’m correcting it.”
“Can you?”
“I don’t know.”
Best answer.
Then:
“I may face investigations too.”
Paige nodded.
“Probably.”
He looked surprised.
“You’re not supposed to agree.”
“I worked in your building.”
Fair.
Their first date ended with no kiss.
Gabriel asked.
“Can I?”
Paige stared.
He had actually asked.
“No.”
His expression did not change.
“Okay.”
That answer mattered more than a kiss would have.
Then she smiled.
“Maybe next time.”
Now his expression changed.
He looked almost pleased.
“Next time.”
Three weeks later, Paige officially launched her design studio.
WINSLOW CREATIVE.
One desk.
One rented room.
Three clients.
Buster slept beneath the desk and snored during video calls.
Perfect.
Her fourth client surprised her.
Moretti Logistics.
Paige rejected it immediately.
Gabriel called.
“You didn’t read the scope.”
“I’m not taking your money.”
“It’s an open competitive bid.”
“No.”
“You complain about our branding.”
“It’s terrible.”
“Then fix it.”
She hesitated.
Only after confirming the procurement process was independent did she submit a proposal.
She did not win.
Another agency scored higher.
Gabriel called laughing.
“You lost.”
“I know.”
“You sound angry.”
“I am.”
“This is healthy.”
She hung up on him.
Two months later, a different Moretti subsidiary ran another open bid.
Paige won honestly.
That felt better than any gift.
Then Kevin’s sentencing arrived.
He received prison time.
Not enormous.
Not nothing.
He cooperated.
Before surrendering, he sent Paige one letter.
She opened it.
One sentence mattered:
I spent years taking shortcuts because I thought consequences belonged to people less clever than me.
Paige folded it.
Maybe he finally understood.
Then Gabriel received his own legal news.
Investigators were reviewing the criminal side of his empire.
May you like
Charges possible.
And for the first time, the future between Paige and Gabriel became uncertain for reasons neither could control.
