The carved door to the Imperial Group's boardroom slammed open, and the sound of the sandalwood cane hitting the floor was like a hammer on every heart. The real Grayson Cole stood under the doorway, his silver-gray tailored suit framing his broad shoulders and narrow waist, his dark gray eyes the same as the impostor's but filled with ice -- except that on the middle finger of his left hand he wore a dove's blood ruby ring, the Cole family crest.
"It seems I've returned at just the right time." His voice was deeper than the impostor's, raspy with the rasp of a long illness, and he paused for three seconds on Sienna's face as his gaze swept across the conference table, "Ms. Monroe, or should I call you ... the newest owner of the Imperial Group?"
Sienna lifted the glass of water in front of her and took a light sip, her fingertips leaving crescent-shaped indentations on the glass walls. She could feel Nate's breath catch suddenly beside her; the veins at the back of his neck were now jutting from the man who had always been characterized by a cold hardness." Mr. Cole is joking," she set down her glass of water, the bottom of the glass clinking against the tabletop with a crisp sound, "I wouldn't dare overstep my bounds in the presence of a true master."
The real Grayson walked over to the main table on his crutches, his diamond cufflinks reflecting coldly in the light." Overstep your bounds?" He tugged at the corner of his mouth, revealing an arc that seemed like a smile, "When I 'accidentally' crashed into the sea three years ago, the Imperial Group's market capitalization evaporated by twenty billion dollars, and a certain 'good samaritan' not only took over my position, but also put my fiancée on a flight to Paris in the process." His gaze scraped across Nate's face like a knife, "Nate Walker, would you call that overstepping your bounds?"
Nate-the long-forgotten name ran like an electric current down the impostor's spine. Subconsciously, he touched the scar on his left tiger's mouth, cut by coral from a dive in the Aegean Sea three years ago, while the real Grayson had a burned crescent-shaped mark in the same spot." Looks like you've been awake a long time." Nate's voice took on a metallic cold hardness, "How does it feel to be hiding out in a Swiss sanatorium sipping champagne and watching me clean up your mess?"
"At least it's better than being used as a pawn." The real Grayson knocked on the desk and the lawyer behind him immediately presented a document, "Here's my medical appraisal and DNA report, as well as ..." He paused, his gaze sweeping over Sienna, "a prenuptial agreement signed twenty years ago."
The conference room erupted with the sound of cold gasps, Sienna felt as if her heart had been pierced by an ice pick, she held up the agreement with a sense of composure, the yellowed pages were signed by her mother, Caroline Monroe, and the man's signature read - Grayson Cole Sr. Grayson Cole Sr.
"No way!" Sienna's fingertips trembled slightly, "Grayson Sr. had been dead for five years when my mother died!"
"That's why this agreement is interesting." The real Grayson pulled a flash drive from the inside pocket of his suit, "It contains a recording of the agent who was in charge of the investigation of your parents' plane crash back in the day, and he said he found traces of tampering in the black box data."
Nate jerked his head toward Sienna and realized she was as pale as paper. The woman who had always been in control of the situation had a flash of panic in her eyes." You already knew?" He asked in a low voice, his tone tinged with disbelief.
Sienna didn't answer, just stared at her mother's signature on the agreement. How could her mother have signed a prenuptial agreement with Grayson Sr. twenty years ago, during one of the most tumultuous times for the Empire Group? Was Father's death really no accident?
"Enough!" Nate suddenly slammed the table, cedar scent mixed with suppressed anger exploded in the air, "Grayson, did you come back to take back the Empire Group, or to find out the truth of what happened back then?"
"The two are not in conflict." The real Grayson leaned back in his chair, his cane gently tapping the ground, "But right now it seems the biggest variables are you, Nate. and you, Miss Monroe." He looked to Sienna, "If I remember correctly, there was a rider in your mother's will--if you marry before the age of twenty-five, your spouse will automatically receive a ten percent vote on the shares in your name."
Sienna's heart sank. The clause had been added on her mother's deathbed, and she'd always thought of it as a check on Lawrence, but she hadn't realized that it had become the biggest trap of the moment." What do you want?"
"Simple." The real Grayson smiled with the smugness of a hunter catching his prey, "Recognize the validity of our engagement, give me the ten percent vote, and I'll tell you the truth about the plane crash."
"You're dreaming!" Nate subconsciously stepped in front of Sienna, a maneuver that froze him in his own tracks. He looked at the real Grayson and suddenly realized a terrible possibility -- the yacht accident three years ago, his parents' car accident, might all be connected to the man in front of him.
"Whether it was a dream or not depends on Miss Monroe's choice." The real Grayson looks at Sienna with a sense of imperative oppression in his eyes, "Oh yes, and I forgot to tell you who has the original share certificate that your mother hid back then."
Sienna's pupils suddenly contracted. That certificate was the last card left to her by her mother, hidden in a secret safe in midtown Manhattan, no one knew the location except her.
"It seems we need to talk alone." The real Grayson stood up, his cane clicking the ground with a "duh-duh" sound, "Nate, you go out first."
"Why should I listen to you?" Nate's fists clenched, his nails almost embedded in his palms.
"Because Emma's apartment in London," the real Grayson pulls out his cell phone with a picture of Nate's sister at the conservatory on the screen, 'She's got a recital next week that I've 'canceled' for her."
Nate's face instantly turns white. He looked at the undisguised threat in the real Grayson's eyes and for the first time felt so powerless. Not only did this man know who he was, but he had pinpointed his only weakness.
"Grayson," Sienna spoke suddenly, her voice terrifyingly calm, "give me three days. In three days, I'll give you an answer."
The real Grayson raised his eyebrows, "Three days? What do you want?"
"What I want to do is not for you to bother with." Sienna stood up and straightened her suit jacket, "But may I remind you of one thing -- while you're busy trying to take back the Empire Group, you'd better find out who the person who orchestrated the yacht accident back in the day, really was."
After she finished speaking, she turned around and walked towards the door, the sound of her high heels hitting the ground firm and sharp.Nate looked at her back, hesitated for a moment, but still followed her.
"Wait!" The real Grayson called out to them, "Nate, as of today, you're fired."
Nate lurched from foot to foot, but didn't turn around. He knew that from the moment the real Grayson showed up, his role as "Grayson Cole" was dead.
In the elevator, Sienna leaned against the mirrored wall, her eyes closed, and Nate stood beside her, smelling the faint scent of gardenias mixed with an imperceptible shiver." Are you okay?" He couldn't help but ask.
Sienna opened her eyes, her hazel pupils devoid of any emotion, "Mr. Cole, our contract seems to have lapsed."
"My name is Nate." He corrected, "And it's up to you whether or not the pact lapses."
The elevator doors opened to the lavish lobby of the Empire Group and Sienna stepped out of the elevator, the sunlight streaming through the glass walls couldn't dispel the haze on her brow." Nate," she stopped abruptly, "do you want to know the truth?"
Nate looked at her, his heart racing uncontrollably." What truth?"
"About the yacht accident three years ago, about your parents' deaths," Sienna turned and looked him straight in the eye, "and ... about my mother's agreement with Grayson Sr."
Nate's breath hitched. All these years he'd tracked down the truth like a fly on the wall, but he'd never been able to find the key clues. Did the woman in front of him know everything?
"Why are you telling me?" He asked warily.
"Because we have a common enemy." The corner of Sienna's mouth curved in an icy curve, "The real Grayson Cole is far more formidable than you realize."
Just then, Nate's cell phone rang, it was a message from Liam, "Boss, I found it! The person who planned the yacht accident three years ago is Edward Thompson's nephew, and now he's on a private island in the Caribbean!"
Nate looked at the message, then at Sienna, and suddenly realized something." You knew about this, didn't you?"
Sienna didn't answer, she just took out her cell phone and dialed a number, "It's me, get the plane ready, we're going to the Caribbean."
Nate watched her hang up with mixed feelings. This woman was always like this, always one step ahead of him." What the hell do you want?"
"What do I want?" Sienna looked up at him, the sun glinting in her eyes, "I want the real Grayson Cole, to taste what it's like to fall from the clouds. Like he did to me three years ago."
Nate froze. Three years ago? What had happened between her and the real Grayson?
"Come on, Nate Walker," Sienna turned and walked toward the parking lot, "Our game, it's just beginning."
Nate stood still, watching her back disappear into traffic. The phone vibrated again, and Liam sent a photo -- the real Grayson was in close conversation with Lawrence's lawyer.
He took a deep breath and quickly chased after her. No matter how many secrets Sienna was hiding, at least now, they had a common goal. And he has a feeling that this game of chasing the truth will eventually reveal a secret that will shock everyone.
As the private jet shoots up into the New York sky, Sienna looks out the window at the shrinking Empire State Building and pulls a tiny recorder from her handbag. Inside was recorded the conversation between the real Grayson and the lawyer: "... As long as we get Sienna's vote, the Monroe family trust fund will be all ours ... What Caroline hid back then must be found before her birthday ...". We have to find it before her birthday.
Nate looked at the tape recorder in her hand and finally realized her plan. Not only did this woman want to take back Empire Group, but she also wanted to avenge her parents. And he, Nate Walker, the impostor Grayson Cole, is destined to play the most crucial piece in this revenge chess game.
As the plane flew into the stratosphere, Sienna closed her eyes, and the image of her mother on her deathbed came to mind." Sienna, remember, don't trust anyone but yourself."
She opened her eyes and looked over at Nate, who had his eyes closed beside her. the sun shone through the porthole on the side of his angular face, his long eyelashes casting shadows under his eyelids. the man who had been her enemy, the man who had been her enemy, the man who had been her enemy, the man who had been her enemy. This man had been her enemy, a pawn in her plans, but why, at this moment, did she feel a twinge of inexplicable trust in him?
"Thinking about what?" Nate suddenly opened his eyes and met her gaze.
"Wondering," Sienna let out a soft chuckle, "if it's time for us to draw up a new contract, Mr. Nate."
Nate watched the sly glint in her eyes, and a hard place in his heart suddenly loosened." Sure," he raised an eyebrow, "I'll set the terms this time."
The plane continued to fly through the clouds, carrying two people, each with their own secrets, into the unknown Caribbean. And right now in New York City, the real Grayson Cole is standing on the top floor of Empire Group, watching the private jet disappear into the sky, an icy smile curling up at the corners of his mouth.
"Want to run?" He picked up the encrypted phone on his desk, "Keep an eye on them for me, especially what Sienna has in her possession. If necessary ..." He paused, a hint of ruthlessness flashed in his eyes, "Any means can be used."
A respectful response came from the other end of the line. The real Grayson put the phone down and walked over to the huge floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Manhattan at his feet. After three years of hibernation, it was finally time to close the net. No matter how much Sienna and Nate struggled, they couldn't escape him.
But he didn't know that while he was laying the net, Sienna and Nate were also weaving a bigger net, and at the center of the net, there was a truth that was enough to turn everything upside down. This twin mystery has just begun its most exciting sequence of events.