Chapter 9 - The Message from the Ground
Adam’s phone vibrated on the tray table.
He grabbed it too quickly.
Dakota saw the sender’s initial.
M.
Adam turned the screen downward.
Trinity stood across the aisle.
“Is that Melissa?”
“No.”
“Show me.”
“You have no right.”
Trinity laughed bitterly.
“You used my identity to move company money. I think I have several rights.”
Adam shoved the phone into his jacket.
Dakota noticed the corner of a printed itinerary inside the same pocket.
He had carried a paper schedule despite claiming all business plans were digital.
“Sir,” Dakota said, “please remove the document from your jacket before it falls into the aisle.”
Adam pressed his hand over it.
“It’s secure.”
A small movement of the aircraft shifted him sideways.
The paper slipped free.
Dakota caught it before it hit the floor.
Adam reached for it.
She stepped behind the beverage cart.
The heading read:
PRIVATE VENDOR MEETING—PARIS
Beneath it were three names.
Adam Hale.
Melissa Grant.
Trinity Vaughn.
Trinity stared at the page.
“I have no meeting.”
Adam’s face hardened.
“It was a surprise.”
“For what?”
“A future investment.”
Dakota looked at the address.
It was not a corporate office.
It belonged to a private bank.
The investigator had warned her about an overseas account suspected of receiving stolen funds.
Adam had not brought Trinity to Paris for romance.
He had planned to place assets under her name.
Her pregnancy made her easier to manipulate. She believed they were building a future together.
Adam’s phone vibrated again.
This time Trinity moved faster.
She snatched it from his jacket pocket.
Adam shot out of his seat.
The purser blocked him firmly.
Trinity read the preview aloud.
“Delete the vendor files before landing. Make sure T signs everything.”
Her hand moved protectively over her belly.
“T means me.”
Adam lowered his voice.
“I can explain.”
Trinity looked at him with disgust.
May you like
“You were going to make me sign criminal documents.”
👉 Adam claimed Melissa had forced him into the scheme—but Dakota’s recording held proof that he had designed it himself.
