Shonee's POV

The next day...

"Are you sure he said dada?" Jordin queried.

"Yeah, maybe the mimosas did a number on you," James added and I let out a rugged groan.

"For the last freaking time, I wasn't drunk!" I ran both hands over my face. "I only had four glasses, and the last one I couldn't even finish because my brain was completely fried after witnessing the whole thing!" My hands fell onto the table with a loud 'thump!' "You guys have to believe me. I saw him point at Michael's picture with my two own eyes! Heard him say 'Dada' with my two own ears!"

My best friends shared another look of skepticism and I released another loud groan.

It was currently a warm Sunday afternoon, and Jordin, James and I occupied one of the picnic tables in the park. Not far off, Mirasol was playing with a bunch of kids on the merry-go-round.

After everything that happened yesterday, my brain had gone haywire. Seriously, I couldn't even sleep last night. All I could think about was how Nancy had managed to convince everyone that Ben was Vincent's son when he wasn't!

"Ok, Shon, calm down," James urged. "Look, as your best friends, we believe you, a thousand percent. But you've gotta admit, anyone who hears this... 'dada theory' will find it a bit implausible."

"Not a bit. Very implausible," Jordin interjected.

"But it's the truth!" I countered. "I mean, why else would an innocent kid like Ben see a picture of Michael and call him dada if he wasn't actually his dada?"

"Maybe he was just confused," Jordin said with a shrug before slurping her smoothie.

"Really?" I remarked. "Confused or not, I think Ben should be able to recognize his dad when he sees him." Leaning back in my seat, I sighed and crossed my arms. "I think I need to tell Vincent about this."

"What? No." James vehemently shook his head. "That's a terrible idea, you can't tell him!"

I immediately frowned. "Why not? He has to know, it's his family for carrying out loud."

"Yeah, but think about it, Shon." James leaned closer as if someone could hear us. "If you tell Vincent that Ben is the son of the man who not only blackmailed him for months but was also shagging his ex-fiancée behind his back, he's gonna go nuts! Plus, it'll drive an even bigger wedge between him and Nancy because it will imply that somehow during their marriage, Nancy was unfaithful, and that revelation alone is enough to open another ugly can of worms."

"James is right, Shonee," Jordin added. "Telling Vincent will only make things worse. We understand that you care about him, but if you want his life to remain drama-free, you can't let him know about this."

I sighed, leaning back into my seat again. I really, really didn't want to keep this a secret from Vincent, and Jordin must've picked up on it because she reached for my hand on the table, giving it a comforting squeeze.

"Look, if it makes you feel any better, James and I will look into it, see if we can dig up some dirt on Nancy's past."

"Yeah, whatever we find, we'll let you know. But until then shhhh." James brought his finger to my lips and I playfully swatted it away.

"Ok, fine," I laughed. "I won't tell him."

******

Later that night...

After tucking Mirasol in bed, I walked out of her room, heading straight for Vincent's office. He'd been holed up in there the entire day, and I was a bit worried. Gerta said the only time he came out was when he had to dash down to the company office to pick up some documents.

I rapped my knuckles against the door, and let myself in. "Vincent?"

He stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows with his phone plastered to his ear. When noticed me, he brought a finger to his lips, instructing me to be quiet and I nodded.

"Yeah, yeah, I've been reviewing the documents since I got them," he said to the other person on the line. "I mean, it's...it's a lot to take in. I can't believe he was doing all that..." Vincent sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Ok, I'll let you know if I spot anything else. Thanks for all your effort in this. Yeah, bye." Bringing the phone down, he turned to me.

"Hey, you ok? You missed dinner today." I moved towards him, intending to give him a hug, but Vincent just walked over to his desk as if he didn't notice my outstretched hands.

"Yeah, I know. I'm sorry, It's just..." He let out another dejected sigh, showing how distressed he was. "Something has come up."

My curiosity was immediately piqued. "Really, what is it?" I drew closer to his desk.

Vincent sat down and handed me some clipped papers. "These are records of funds that were embezzled from Beckham Incorporated almost a year ago."

"What? By who?" I took the papers.

"Michael."

My eyes widened to the size of saucers. "What?"

"He was my personal assistant. I hired him to help me with the company because, back then, my family hadn't fully recovered from Nancy's supposed death. I trusted him. Needed him. And the douchebag took advantage of my absence to embezzle funds from the company."

My brows furrowed as I scanned through the detailed transactions. Large sums of money had been funnelled out of the company for several months.

"This...this is insane," I murmured. "How did this even happen?"

"He had help from finance." Vincent leaned back in his chair, scrubbing a hand over his face. "Remember Greg?"

"Greg? Wait, Greg Hughes?" I repeated in disbelief. "The guy who gave that glowing tribute of Michael at the funeral? He helped him?"

Vincent nodded grimly. "Yeah. The police suspected the two of them were in cahoots. That's why they were at the funeral yesterday. Turns out they were keeping an eye on Greg. This morning, they brought him in for questioning."

"And?"

"They got enough out of him to cement his involvement. He was arrested a few hours ago."

I plopped down on the armchair in front of his desk, just shocked by the overwhelming amount of information he had just released. It was almost funny how the police, in their quest to discover Michael's killer, were unleashing all these shady and deceitful deeds he'd kept buried for God knows how long.

"How much did they steal?" I asked, almost afraid of the answer.

"Close to three million dollars," Vincent replied in a tone laced with anger. "They thought they'd covered up their tracks, but everything was exposed the moment we linked Michael to the Sam Reynolds alias."

Silence reigned for a moment, then I swallowed as a realization dawned on me. "This is why Beckham Incorporated almost went bankrupt, isn't it?"

"Yep." Vincent's jaw tightened. "And it's also why I had to sign that contract with the Paynes and agree to marry Avril. I had no choice. The company was bleeding, and I needed their investment to keep it afloat."

This whole thing was unbelievable. The entire chain of events—Vincent's marriage to Avril, and his endless sacrifices for the company—had all been triggered by Michael's greed and selfishness.

"And do you know the funny thing?" Vincent continued. "The person who caused all this was actually sleeping with the other person who was basically involved in solving all this. Michael was busy fucking Avril while I was trying to clean up his mess."

I stared at him, unable to form words.

"Michael..." He just shook his head. "Honestly, if there's one thing I regret in my entire life right now, it's hiring that asshole." With that, Vincent grabbed the whiskey bottle on the cart near his desk and didn't even bother pouring the content in a glass. He just drank straight from the bottle. "He deserves to rot in hell."

As his words drifted in the air, heavy with anger and frustration, my mind floated back to the conversation I had with Jordin and James this afternoon. They did warn me not to say anything, but looking at the trajectory of things, Vincent needed to know. He deserved to know. Because if the incident I had witnessed yesterday held even a tiny, molecule of truth, then it would mean Vincent was just living with another Michael-induced time bomb, waiting to explode in his face just like this embezzlement scandal. Plus, if Ben truly was Michael's son, it wouldn't be fair for Vincent to continue spending his money and energy on the offspring of the man who had turned his world upside down.

I swallowed hard, putting his papers back on his desk. "Vincent," I began cautiously, "there's something I think you need to know... I was planning to keep it to myself but..." I shook my head. "I don't think it's fair to you."

He stopped drinking, eyes narrowing on me in curiosity, and I scooted closer. I told him everything, how Ben had pointed at Michael's picture and called him dada, and also included the theories my friends and I had raised. By the time I was done, Vincent was up from his chair, pacing back and forth and shaking his head. "No, it's not possible."

My eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean it's not possible?"

"Nancy and Michael," he replied. "There's no way they knew each other. I hired Michael a whole year after Nancy's death."

"But now we know that Nancy wasn't actually dead," I countered. "She'd just lost her memory of who she was before. What if they met each other when Nancy was living as someone else?"

The question rendered Vincent speechless for a minute. He took a swig from his whiskey bottle to hide his reticence, then his eyebrows dipped low. "What are you up to?" He turned.

"Excuse me?" I sat up, genuinely confused.

"You don't like Nancy," he stated, shaking a finger at me. "So how can I be sure that this isn't some elaborate scheme to get me to kick her out of the house again?"

"Ah." My mouth just dropped open. "You think I'm making this up? Why the heck would I make this up?"

"I don't know, Shonee!" Vincent snapped. "But you've gotta admit that the timing is just too convenient! First, you fight with Nancy, and now you're telling me my son might not even be mine? It's absurd!"

"Absurd?" I shot back, standing up from my seat. "Vincent, when have I ever lied to you? When?"

He began pacing back and forth again with the whiskey bottle, running his hand through his hair.

"I wouldn't have told you this if I didn't believe it was true," I continued. "Even your mother said it some time ago that Nancy isn't who she was before. She's manipulating you, Vincent. How can you not see that? She's sold you this lie that Ben is—"

"Enough!" Vincent slammed the whiskey bottle so hard onto the desk that it startled me. "Ben is my son! He's already spent two fucking years without his father, and this is my chance to fix it, to fix my relationship with him." His eyes narrowed on me. "I won't let you or anyone else drag him into whatever vendetta you have against Nancy."

I stared at him, stunned by the raw anger in his voice. "This isn't a vendetta, Vincent. I'm trying to protect you." I stressed those last two words. "But if you won't take my word for it, then at least do a DNA test on Ben. That way, we'll know for sure."

Vincent leaned against his desk, his hands gripping the edge as he exhaled slowly. His gaze met mine, and for a moment, I thought he might agree. But then he shook his head.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled. "But I won't do it."

"What?" I stared at him, utterly dumbfounded.

"This whole thing is just another distraction. I need to focus on fixing what Michael destroyed, not chasing conspiracy theories."

I blinked, struggling to find something to say in response to his refusal, but my brain wasn't even attempting to function.

Then loud music blared from downstairs, snapping us both out of the tense moment.

"What the hell is that?" he muttered, already heading for the door, and I quickly followed after him.

******
Happy New Year, dear readers! First update in 2025. What do you think about the new developments? Do you think Shonee is right in suspecting that Ben isn't Vincent's son? Or she's just being paranoid/dramatic about it?

Please share your thoughts in the comments section. I'd really love to hear from you cuz you never know...your ideas might inspire the next plot twist😁

Also, a quick reminder that I'm still dedicating chapters to active readers. So if you want your username at the top of a brand new chapter, please show some love by voting and/or commenting. Remember, this is for genuine readers only! No spammers, please!

That's it for the week! Wanna see what's happening downstairs in the Beckham Mansion? Tune in same time next week to find out! Have an awesome second week of 2025. Love you all♥️♥️♥️