Dominic was fuming.
Abby went to stand beside Dominic, despite the glare he gave her. He leaned down with the pretense of thanking her, but the words he whispered in her ear were harsh. "What exactly does that paper say?"
Abby kept her face calm even though the fury in his voice sent tremors down her back, "You offered five percent of your company's profit annually to fund a national scholarship for rural women."
His hand bit into her arm. "Why the hell would I do that?"
Her eyes filled with tears. "To save your company. You were going to lose everything today."
"Don't lie to me. The final outcome was never in question. What did you get out of this?" His voice was thick with accusation.
The lawyer brought the packet before Dominic. "All that is needed is your signature and a press conference afterwards to announce the agreement. This last amendment will take the world by surprise and make you somewhat of a hero, I'd think."
Dominic released Abby to read over the packet which was both in English and Mandarin. It did indeed promise exactly what Abby had said. What he didn't yet understand was how she benefited from the deal.
She slipped out of the room while he finished signing the papers.
Zhang met her in the foyer just outside the meeting room. "You did it!"
"What exactly did you do?" Jake Walton's voice echoed from behind them.
Abby met his cold stare over Zhang's shoulder.
A nervous acid churned in her empty stomach. Yes, the Minister had signed the contract. Yes, the provisions would benefit women around China, but what if Dominic had been correct and none of it had been necessary? Zhang might have orchestrated the entire thing to promote the Women's Foundation agenda.
Was Abby a hero or a pawn?
Zhang turned, blocking Jake's advance with her own formidable presence. Despite the sophistication of her pants suit, her stance held all the aggression of one who was not afraid of a good battle. "She did what we asked you to do months ago. Corisi Enterprises is now a generous Chinese supporter."
Jake's look held revulsion for both of them, but settled on Abby. "What is your connection with Zhang? Who are you?"
His condemnation was absolute and tore at Abby's confidence. "Don't look at me like that! I did this for Dominic."
"I highly doubt that," Jake retorted with abundant skepticism.
"You question my loyalty?" Abby spat. "I'm not the one paying Dominic's own bodyguards to spy on him."
Jakes looked past her and stumbled like a man who'd just received a kidney punch. "Dominic…"
Time seemed to stall for the excruciating seconds it took Abby to realize that Dominic was in the doorway behind her and had heard her. She clasped her hands together and closed her eyes briefly, afraid to see how he had taken the news.
There was nowhere to hide. Abby pivoted slowly on her heel, looking first at the well polished leather of his shoes and then forcing herself to meet his eyes. The only visible sign of his fury was the telltale clench of his jaw.
His voice held a deceptively calm tone that sent uncomfortable shivers down Abby's spine. "Luckily, I have very little faith in humanity or this would be a sad day for me all around."
With guilt laden steps, Abby approached Dominic. She mentally kicked herself for not telling him everything the night before. She couldn't imagine a worse way for him to find out any of it. Would he listen to her now? "Dominic, it's not like it looks."
Dominic focused his ferocity on his second in command. "Weren't you supposed to be protecting Abby's sister? Wait, does she even have a sister? How deep do the lies go?" He motioned for a member of his personal security detail to approach and issued instructions for him alone to hear. The man nodded, moved several feet away and began organizing his team via a communication device on his ear.
Jake looked visibly shaken. His said urgently, "Dominic, you've got this all wrong. Yes, I asked Scott to keep me apprised of your actions, but it was because you weren't acting like yourself…"
Dominic wasn't listening to Jake's excuses. His face tightened as he finally addressed Abby, his words barely audible through his clenched teeth. "What I can't understand is what you got out of this. Was it money?" He looked across to Zhang, the only unrepentant participant to the event. He half bowed his head in a mockery of deference. "I underestimated your creative problem solving, Zhang. Bravo. I certainly didn't see this one coming. Whatever you paid Abby, if that's even her name … she earned every penny of it."
Abby's eyes filled with tears, but she didn't look away. He was hurting and it was her fault. None of this would have happened if she had been less selfish the night before. If she had been willing to deny herself that last fantasy interlude, she could have spared him this humiliation. She deserved his condemnation, even if not for the reason he thought. "Dominic, I wanted to tell you this morning, but you had gone. I should have told you last night…"#p#分页标题#e#