The billionaire became a cook to test the woman his mother chose, and what she did when nobody important was watching ended everything

Vanessa’s face went completely pale. "I... I meant it must be in his possession!"

"Sheriff," Teresa's voice rang out from the hallway. "If I may?"

Teresa walked in holding a silver tray. On it was Vanessa's missing diamond watch.

"Where did you find that?!" Vanessa gasped.

"In the pocket of your own silk robe, Miss Hale," Teresa said with a serene smile. "It seems you tucked it into your sash pocket before going downstairs and forgot about it. I found it when I went to collect the laundry."

Sheriff Miller looked at Vanessa with deep disapproval. "Ma'am, filing a false police report is a serious criminal offense."

"It was an honest mistake!" Vanessa cried out, backing away. "I forgot! I was stressed!"

Evelyn stepped into the hallway, her face solemn. "Sheriff Miller, thank you for your time. My apologies for the inconvenience. We will handle this domestic matter internally."

After the police left, Vanessa locked herself in the sunroom.

Adrian slipped outside onto the terrace, walking quietly along the outer glass wall. He pulled out a small listening device attached to his phone—connected to a hidden microphone he had placed near the sunroom couch two days prior.

Through his earpiece, he heard Vanessa speaking frantically.

"Dad! The bank just issued a final notice on the Downtown Tower project!" Vanessa was weeping furiously. "If we don't post ten million dollars in collateral by tomorrow morning, they're seizing our family assets! The entire firm is going under!"

A man's voice crackled on the other end of the line. "Did you secure the Mercer proposal?"

"No! Evelyn is playing hard to get, and that damn cook is making my life a living nightmare!" Vanessa hissed. "I'm going to force the issue tonight. Evelyn promised to show me the family estate jewelry tonight during dinner. I'll fake a medical emergency, blame it on the food, and threaten to sue the estate unless Evelyn agrees to bail out our firm!"