Chapter 113\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 113\u00a0<\/p>\n
Craig\u00a0<\/p>\n
After talking with Bella, I stared at my phone long after the screen went black. She was finally getting married to Scott. It shouldn\u2019t have mattered, but jealousy was making rounds in\u00a0<\/p>\n
my head i\u00a0<\/p>\n
loop. I was going to teach her a lesson so hard that she would never be able to recover. This was just the beginning.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When Maya had come to me with her plan, at first, I thought it was ridiculous to take over a man like Scott. But then with Jos\u00e9 funding us in every way, I couldn\u2019t resist it. Jos\u00e9 wa\u00a0<\/p>\n
a mysterious man. We didn\u2019t know much about him. But he had given us hundred thousand dollars to do things discreetly. And on instinct we knew that he wanted Bella gone as much as we wanted.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Once we got our money, we were all going to disappear. But I would still ruin Bella\u2019s reputation by revealing that video.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I hated Scott. He didn\u2019t see me as a rival. He\u00a0<\/p>\n
even\u00a0<\/p>\n
acknowledge me as a problem. That was the insult.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I poured myself another drink and swallowed it in one go. It\u00a0<\/p>\n
a new place with a new name. No one would find me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I myself that soon this would all be behind me. I\u2019d relocate to\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fifty million dollars wasn\u2019t a joke. It would be divided between the three of us:\u00a0<\/p>\n
That number kept me steady.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scott would pay. I was sure of it now.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At first, I expected him to panic openly. I expected calls, demands, maybe even threats. None of that came. There was just silence. Three days passed. Instead, information reached me in pieces. Small things started reaching me, always through other people. Jos\u00e9\u2019s people\u2013who we had hired and kept a close watch on Scott and his activities.\u00a0<\/p>\n
One of them mentioned that Scott was trying to resolve a private issue discreetly, without involving authorities and making noise. It wasn\u2019t much, but it was enough to confirm what I already believed: Scott was worried, and he was trying to contain the damage quietly. He was scared. Not of me physically, but of what I could do. Men like Scott cared about reputation, image and control. I had nothing left to lose, which made me dangerous.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And he knew it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I heard whispers about liquid assets being moved. Of temporary accounts being made. Enough \u2018detail to sound real. No man moved money like that unless he planned to use it. Scott wasn\u2019t bluffing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I heard about the movement of money, about funds being shifted, accounts being prepared, and resources being freed up. If he was moving that kind of cash, it meant he was preparing to pay me. I smiled when I heard that. He might act calm on the surface, but underneath it all, he was reacting to pressure, and that pressure came from me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Yes, I was controlling Scott\u2013the most powerful CEO in the country.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bella was the real key, though. Scott underestimated that part. I knew Bella. I knew her well enough to understand that she would be terrified of scandal, and of anything that could ruin what she had built. She would tear herself apart to protect the people she loved. Scott was acting quietly, which meant he was keeping it a secret from her. Were they also fighting?\u00a0<\/p>\n
That image pleased me more than the money. However, the problem was that Scott hadn\u2019t contacted me. There was no mention of how and where he would send the money. Jos\u00e9 was also impatient. He demanded an update this time. And so I had to threaten Bella and then send Maya to meet her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Maya was playing her part well. She was playing the victim, and was ready with fake tears every fucking time. She called me that morning. When I answered, her voice was tense. \u201cI went there, but he has some conditions,\u201d she told me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bastard. \u201cOf course he does.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
19:54 Thu, Dec 25 ( 3\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 113\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t care,\u201d I replied. \u201cWhat about the money? When is he paying?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
After a pause, she said, \u201cHe said the money will be released once he stands at the altar. An hour before the wedding.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I sat up straight. What was he up to? But wasn\u2019t that perfect? Scott was tying the payment to the wedding. That meant desperation. That meant he thought the ceremony would protect him. A man about to get married didn\u2019t want blood or scandal near him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I smiled to myself. This would be a great opportunity for me as well. Once he paid me the money, I would fucking release the video on Internet and ruin them permanently.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSo he wants me close,\u201d I said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYes,\u201d Maya replied. \u201cHe wants confirmation.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cTell him I agree,\u201d I told her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She hesitated. \u201cCraig\u2026 this is dangerous.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s dangerous?\u201d I snapped. \u201cJust do it!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I hung up before she could say anything else. The timing was Scott\u2019s mistake. He thought the wedding would shield him. But he didn\u2019t know the closer it got to the wedding, the more leverage I had.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I opened the file again and watched a few seconds of it. It was explicit and clear with Bella\u2019s face. It was impossible to deny.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Over the next hours, I planned carefully. I called Jos\u00e9 and he came over in less than ten minutes. Who was this guy? It\u00a0<\/p>\n
away. seemed like he was always around even though his house was several miles\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou should change your location,\u201d he said as soon as I told him about this.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d I asked lazily. \u201cI think I\u2019m perfectly perched in my place.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou called Bella. Scott won\u2019t sit on his ass and not trace your number!\u201d he snapped. \u201cBesides, you already have enough money to change your place. What\u2019s the problem?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I clenched my jaw. In a way, he was right. \u201cI\u2019ve already destroyed the SIM of the phone.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t talk like a fool!\u201d he growled. \u201cYour last talking location can easily be found out by the tower. Scott is the kind of a man who has so many contacts that he can easily find you just by your phone call,\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Damn it. \u201cOkay,\u201d I breathed. It was better to take precaution than to do anything stupid. Jos\u00e9 took me to a new apartment in a shady neighborhood saying that I\u2019d be safe here.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That night, as I lay down in my new apartment, I felt confident. Scott was walking straight into my trap.\u00a0<\/p>\n
C\u00a0<\/p>\n
AD\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland\u2019s breathtaking cold.<\/p>\n
When Midnight Winds Carry Secrets Toward Worlds Yet Unknown 113 Chapter 113\u00a0 Chapter 113\u00a0 Craig\u00a0 After talking with Bella, I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23078","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-new-world-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23078","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23078"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23078\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}