Chapter 140
Penelope’s POV
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Penelope was pouring herself a celebratory glass of champagne when her phone rang with calls from three different board members. She let them all go to voicemail, smiling as she imagined the chaos unfolding at Thorne Dynamics headquarters.
The investor meeting had been a disaster. Exactly as planned.
She’d already gotten texts from Gerald confirming that Marcus had stumbled through the presentation, that investors had questioned the discrepancies, that the whole thing had dissolved into accusations and demands for investigation.
Perfect. Absolutely perfect.
Penelope took a long sip of champagne and walked to her window, looking down at the city below. Somewhere out there, Marcus was scrambling to save his reputation, trying to prove he hadn’t committed fraud, desperately searching for evidence of sabotage.
He’d find it eventually. Gerald had been careful but not perfect. There would be traces, digital fingerprints that could be followed if someone looked hard enough.
But by the time Marcus figured out what had happened and who was responsible, it would be too late. The damage was done. The board had seen him fumble, had heard the accusations, had watched their confident CEO turn into a stammering mess trying to explain numbers that didn’t add up.
Even when he proved it was sabotage, the stain would remain. Questions about his competence, his ability to protect the company, his fitness to lead.
Penelope’s phone rang again. This time it was Aurora.
“Well, this is a pleasant surprise,” Penelope answered. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“I have information,” Aurora said, her voice buzzing with excitement. “About Elara. About the marriage. Penelope, I think I found something even better than that contract you had.”
Penelope set down her champagne glass and sat down. “I’m listening.”
“Elara’s in the hospital. Manhattan Presbyterian, maternity ward. Marcus raced out of here like the building was on fire and I followed him.”
“The maternity ward? Is she in labor?”
“No, it’s some kind of complication with the pregnancy. But here’s the thing, Penelope. She’s not just pregnant. She’s pregnant with twins. And from what I overheard the doctors saying, she’s about twenty weeks along.”
Penelope felt her pulse quicken. “Twenty weeks. That’s five months.”
“Exactly. And when did Marcus and Elara get married?”
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“Early January. The wedding was…” Penelope pulled up her calendar, scrolling back. “January eighth. I remember because it was so sudden, so rushed. Marcus barely gave anyone notice.”
“So if Elara is twenty weeks pregnant now in early April, that means she got pregnant…” Aurora paused, clearly doing the math. “Late November, early December. A full month before they got married.”
Penelope stood up and started pacing, her mind racing through the implications. “She was already pregnant at the wedding.”
“She had to be. The timeline doesn’t work any other way.”
“Which means the marriage wasn’t about love or romance or any of that bullshit Marcus tried to sell everyone. It was about the baby. He needed to be married before his thirtieth birthday for the will, and conveniently his assistant turns up pregnant.”
“It’s a shotgun wedding,” Aurora said. “Dressed up to look like something else.”
Penelope laughed, the sound sharp and triumphant. “This is brilliant. This is better than the contract because we don’t need physical evidence. We just need the timeline. Medical records showing when Elara got pregnant versus when they got married. It’s all there in black and white.”
“Do you think the board would care? I mean, so what if she was pregnant before the wedding? People get pregnant out of wedlock all the time.”
“The board might not care about that specifically. But they’ll absolutely care that Marcus entered into a marriage primarily to satisfy the terms of his grandfather’s will. That he chose a bride based on convenience and necessity rather than genuine relationship.”
Penelope walked back to her desk and pulled up a copy of the will on her computer. She’d studied it so many times she practically had it memorized, but she wanted to see the exact wording.
“Here it is,” she said, reading aloud. “Marcus must be married before his thirtieth birthday. The marriage must be entered into with genuine intent to build a life partnership, not as a business arrangement or matter of convenience.”
“And a marriage that happens because of an unplanned pregnancy…”
“Could absolutely be argued as a matter of convenience rather than genuine intent. Especially given how quickly it happened. No long courtship, no public relationship, just suddenly they’re engaged and married within weeks.”
Aurora was quiet for a moment. “So what do we do with this information?”
Penelope sat back down and picked up her champagne glass. “We wait. Marcus is already dealing with the fallout from the investor meeting. He’s got enough on his plate. We let him squirm for a bit, let him think that’s the only crisis he’s facing.”
“And then?”
“Then we hit him with this. But we need to be smart about how we use it. We need medical records, dates, proof that can’t be disputed.”
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Chapter 140
“How do we get medical records? Those are confidential.”
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“Everything has a price, Aurora. Someone at that hospital has access to Elara’s files. Someone who might be willing to share information for the right incentive.”
“That’s illegal.”
“So is corporate sabotage, but that didn’t stop me this morning.” Penelope took another sip of champagne. “Besides, we don’t necessarily need the actual records. We just need enough information to raise questions. To make the board wonder about the timeline. Once doubt is planted, they’ll demand answers.”
“And if Marcus admits Elara was pregnant before the wedding?”
“Then he’s admitting the marriage was based on necessity, not genuine intent. Which violates the will. Which means his claim to those shares becomes questionable.”
Penelope could hear Aurora breathing on the other end, could practically hear her thinking through all the angles.
“You’re really going to do this,” Aurora said. “You’re really going to take everything from him.”
“He took from me first. Him and his father both. They brought me into this family, made me play second fiddle, treated me like I was just some woman who got lucky marrying rich. Well, I’m done playing that role.”
“What do you need me to do?”
“Keep your eyes and ears open. If you hear anything else about the pregnancy, about Elara’s condition, about their marriage, I want to know. And see if you can find out the exact date of their wedding. We need to be precise with the timeline.”
“I can do that.”
“Good. And Aurora?” Penelope paused. “Thank you. This information is invaluable. When this is all over and I control Thorne Dynamics, you’ll be well compensated.”
“I don’t want money. I want Marcus.”
“And you’ll have him. Once Elara is out of the picture and his world is falling apart, who do you think he’ll turn to? The wife who’s making his life complicated? Or the ex-girlfriend who’s been there supporting him through everything?”
Aurora made a small sound of agreement. “I should go. I’m still at the hospital and I don’t want to risk Marcus seeing me lurking.”
“Be careful. And keep me updated.”
After Aurora hung up, Penelope sat in her office staring at the will on her computer screen. The words seemed to glow with possibility.
She’d thought the contract was her ace, her guaranteed way to prove the marriage was fake. But this… this was better. Medical records couldn’t be stolen back. Dates couldn’t be altered after the fact. The timeline existed
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Chapter 140
independently of any document Marcus could destroy.
Penelope opened a new document on her computer and started typing out everything she knew
Marcus Thorne and Elara Vance: Timeline Analysis
Wedding date: January 8, 2026
Current pregnancy status: Approximately 20 weeks (5 months)
Estimated conception date: Late November / Early December 2025
Conclusion: Elara was pregnant before the marriage took place
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Implication: Marriage may have been entered into as matter of convenience to satisfy terms of will, rather than genuine intent to build life partnership
Penelope saved the document and leaned back in her chair, a satisfied smile on her face.
The investor meeting sabotage had been about destroying Marcus’s reputation, making him look incompetent or criminal. But this… this was about destroying the very foundation of his claim to the
company.
No shares. No control. No power.
Everything Penelope had been working toward for years was finally within reach.
She raised her champagne glass to the empty room.
“We don’t need the contract,” Penelope said softly. “We have something better. We have the timeline.”
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