Chapter 7 - THE DEAL WALTER MADE WITH BROOKE
Walter admitted the meeting.
He did not apologize for it.
Brooke had approached him after learning she was pregnant.
She said the baby was probably Grant’s.
Probably.
Walter demanded testing.
Brooke refused.
Then she played part of the Harrow Point recording.
Walter understood immediately.
She wanted terms.
What terms?
$25 million in trust protection for the child.
A guaranteed residence.
Grant to separate from Audrey.
No challenge to paternity if Grant voluntarily acknowledged.
Walter refused.
Then Brooke made a different offer.
She would destroy the recordings if Walter paid her $8 million and helped secure a public role inside the Whitaker Foundation.
Walter considered it.
Patricia stared.
“You considered paying her?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To protect the company.”
Of course.
Then Walter did something smarter.
He pretended interest.
Asked for proof of all copies.
Brooke would not provide it.
Deal died.
Then Grant learned Walter had met her and became furious.
Not because of blackmail.
Because Walter treated Brooke like a hostile counterparty instead of future family.
That argument nearly split father and son.
Audrey listened.
Grant had wanted Brooke to be carrying his child badly enough that he defended her against his own father.
Then Maya asked:
“Who sent Audrey the photographs?”
No one knew.
Then the full videos arrived anonymously.
Six files.
Audrey watched with Maya.
File one:
affair.
File two:
Grant and Brooke discussing Audrey.
File three:
Walter and Brooke negotiation.
File four:
Brooke alone after Walter leaves.
She calls someone.
“Walter won’t pay.”
Unknown voice, male:
“Then use Grant.”
Brooke:
“He’s already emotionally attached.”
Male:
“And the baby?”
Brooke looks at the camera.
“He believes what I need him to believe.”
Audrey froze.
Not:
the baby is his.
Something else.
Then file five.
Brooke speaking to same unknown man.
“If Grant acknowledges paternity voluntarily, nobody gets discovery.”
Male:
“And if he asks for a test?”
Brooke smiles.
“He won’t.”
Grant went pale.
Audrey looked at him.
“You never tested.”
“No.”
“Why?”
He could barely speak.
“Because she said asking would prove I didn’t trust her.”
Audrey laughed.
The irony was cruel.
Grant had demanded trust from Audrey while allowing Brooke to use trust as a shield.
Then file six.
The male voice became clearer.
Audrey knew it.
Not personally.
From Whitaker board events.
Nathan Larkin.
Brooke’s older brother.
Corporate attorney.
Not for Whitaker.
For a competing development group.
Walter stood.
“That son of a bitch.”
The affair had become corporate espionage.
Maybe.
May you like
Or something close.
And Brooke’s pregnancy was now the most dangerous unanswered question in the room.
