Jilted Ex-wife Billionaire Heiress

Chapter 28 Like Father, Like

Son

Bianca smiled victoriously. 'Ryan Mendez has more money than brains. I got my bodyguards to track down the paparazzo who took the pictures, put some scare into him, and he spilt the beans.'

Darya nodded.

'You don't look surprised,' Bianca commented.

'Actually, I am. A little bit.'

Darya was expecting Felicia to be the culprit, after getting that call from Bradley.

She knew who Ryan was, of course.

The playboy liked to consider himself Micah's best friend, though Darya failed to see how the two of them could have anything in common.

While Micah was a workaholic like Avery, Ryan made it his life's mission to emulate Hugh Hefner, the original

playboy.

'What does he have against you?' Bianca wondered out loud.

'Nothing personally,' Darya answered coolly.

Ryan, like all of Micah's friends, thought she'd married beyond her station.

She was simply not good enough for a man like Micah Cavanaugh.

Did Micah put Ryan up to this?

Darya shook her head to dismiss that idea.

Micah wasn't the vindictive type, unlike his mother and sister.

But then, maybe she hadn't gotten to know the real him.

'What do you want to do?' Bianca leaned over. 'I've already got the reporter to retract the story.'

'That's not necessary.' Darya returned her attention to the computer screen. 'I'd rather not waste any more time on this.'

She tapped a finger on the desk. 'We've got work to do.'

'But you can't just let Ryan off the hook like that!' Bianca made sure the office door was closed, then she walked back to Darya's desk. 'Look what I found.'

She turned her tablet screen towards Darya, who immediately recognised the document as a confidential

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Chapter 28 Like Father, Like Son

internal memo.

'Where did you get this?'

Bianca waved a hand in the air. "That's not important. What's important is the content.'

Darya scanned the document. "Tax evasion?"

'That's right.' Bianca snapped her fingers. "The loafer Ryan can't make any more waves if he no longer has any

money.'

Darya checked the signature on the memo.

It came from the finance department of Mendez Enterprise, addressed to Eugene Mendez, the CEO and founder.

Who also happened to be Ryan's father.

'What do you think the old man's going to do if he finds out his son is the one who brought trouble to his company?' Bianca said excitedly. 'I've already sent a copy of this to the tax authorities. Mr Eugene Mendez should be getting a visit from the taxman any minute soon.'

Darya stuck out her right thumb. 'You move fast.'

Bianca took a dramatic bow. 'I do what I can.'

Darya had to smile.

She was lucky to have a friend who went out of her

way to help her.

Since Bianca already did most of the work, Darya felt obligated to join the fun. 'Send me the memo.'

'What do you want to do?'

Darya found Bradley Gould's number on her contact list. 'I believe the residents of Hagen have a right to know that Mendez Enterprise has been cooking the books.'

Bianca nodded early and piled on, 'Right, especially the investors. Ooh, I can't wait to see the look on Ryan's face when his family name makes the headline of Hagen Reporter tomorrow!'

As one of the largest companies in Hagen, Mendez Enterprise had its fair share of media exposure.

But its PR department was caught unprepared when the hashtag 'Mendez Tax Evasion' started trending online.

It didn't help matters that someone had taken pictures when the tax authorities visited the company's office building downtown.

Soon, rumours about corporate malfeasance spread.

Eugene Mendez and his team of senior management worked throughout the night to do damage control.

To add more fuel to the fire, Darya posted a comment under the breaking story.

'Like father, like son. I guess now I know where Mr Ryan Mendez gets his underhand tactics from.'

She attached a recording to the comment.

In it, the paparazzo admitted that he was paid by Ryan to take those misleading

photos of Darya, with the sole purpose of smearing her name.

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Chapter 28 Like Father, Like Son

The two incidents-tax evasion and a smear campaign-seemed totally unrelated,

but a shrewd businessman like Eugene Mendez knew better.

He had been racking his brain, trying to identify who targeted his company.

His usual list of suspects included business competitors and personal rivals, but

never did he expect that Ryan was the cause of all the trouble.

Eugene slammed a fist on the mahogany desk in his office after he finished listening to the recording

His nostrils flared. 'Where's Ryan?'

His son held a nominal position at the company but seldom showed up for work.

Eugene dialled Ryan's number, but there was no reply.noveldrama

The culprit had switched off his phone, anticipating the wrath of his father.

He drove to Micah's apartment at Emerald Hill.

When the door opened, he threw himself into Micha's arms. 'You've got to help

me! My old man's going to kill

me!'

Micah peeled Ryan off of him.

He blocked the doorway when Ryan tried to come in. 'Why did you do that?'

'Do what?' Ryan shrugged. 'The photos? I was just trying to teach that woman a lesson.'

He tried to move past Micah. 'Come on, you've got to let me stay here tonight. My old man's probably waiting at home, a baseball bat in hand.'

'I want the truth.' Micah was unmoved. 'Why did you try to ruin Darya's name?'

Ryan sighed when he saw that Micah wasn't going to budge until he had the answer. 'Your sister asked me to."

Micah frowned.

He had warned Felicia to stay away from Darya.

It was clear that his sister had refused to listen.

'I also did it for you,' Ryan added. 'Come on, don't tell me you don't want to get

back at her for the way she ditched you.'

'She didn't ditch me,' Micah said coldly.

'She's the one who walked out on you,' Ryan said heatedly. 'Then she hooked up

with another rich dude. Why should she move on to a better life while you are still pining for her?'

'I'm not pining for her,' Micah retorted.

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