Six men stood there in the middle of the room. Before Arthur stood a man in his early fifties with short height, dark curly hair and a thin mustache on his upper lip. Four more much younger men stood behind him with the same black clothes the guards wore at the VIP entrance.
They obviously worked for this unknown man and Arthur.
“Congratulations, Mr. Valencian,” the man said in a thick Russian accent. His mustache twitched as a smirk tugged at his dark lips.
“Congratulations to us, Ivanov. After all, it’s the result of both of ours hard work.”
I frowned.
Ivanov? Why did this name sound familiar?
My lips parted in shock. Ivanov, one of the partners of the Russian company Ace was going to sign the deal with.
He was with Arthur? Oh God!
What are they congratulating each other about?
That Russian shook his head. “Nah, I just helped you for the sake of my friendship with Antonio and the promise you gave me. All the planning was yours. And finally, that nephew of yours signed the contract. I was starting to doubt your plan but seems like your nephew trusts his uncle blindly.”
A silent gasp slipped past my lips. With my hand over my mouth, I stood there, shocked.
Ace signed the contract? But how? I sent Carter to stop him. Didn’t get my message?
Shit!
This shouldn’t have happened. Why did Ace sign it? He should’ve waited for me.
Or was I already late? Maybe he signed even before I arrived here?
Failure and disappointment ran through me.
I was right. It was a part of Arthur’s master plan. But the sad part was, I couldn’t stop it from happening even if I was aware of it.
Ivanov being connected to Antonio didn’t surprise me at all. Even when Antonio went down, he left his friend behind to help Arthur with his plan to destroy us.
But what promise did Arthur make to Ivanov that he agreed with his plan?
Whatever it was, it wasn’t too late. If I tell Ace everything about them and the deal, he will find a way to deal with it.
Arthur let out a joyous chuckle. “Honestly, even I had a little bit of doubt that he’d agree to sign such a risky contract. One mistake and it can cost his company half a billion. Even though half a billion isn’t a big thing for him, but for my plan, I needed him to sign it. He wouldn’t have gone for it if he was the same Achilles a few months ago. To escape his haunted past and in the absence of the love of his life he threw himself deep into work. He concentrated on his business. But now that his Rosebud is in his life again, he turned into a total fool from a shrewd businessman.” He snorted. “All he can think about is fucking that annoying bitch to give attention to his business.”
My fists clenched. Rage boiled through my veins. He was calling Ace a fool because he trusted him?
This bastard!
“But I think it came in handy for our plan. With just a request of mine, he accepted your offer to work with you and made me the head of the contract.”
“Ah, that beautiful young lady—” the Russian twirled the end of his mustache “—I cannot blame your nephew to be so smitten by her. I’ve seen her pictures in newspapers posing beside him. A beauty, I must say.” While I wanted to throw up, he cocked his head, giving Arthur a look of wonder. “Wasn’t she becoming a hindrance in your way? How did you take that wild, sexy cat off your back?”
Arthur’s mouth twisted with disgust. Walking to the small bar across the room, he popped open a bottle and poured some drink in a glass.
“She was. That bitch was all set to expose me before Achilles. She even sent her ex-boyfriend’s detective cousin after me to collect evidence against me.”
Taking a sip of his drink, he turned back to the Russian. A smirk tugged at his lips.
“I threatened her about destroying her precious Ace using his past if she tried to open her mouth. And like I said, fools in love, she believed my fake threats and backed out. She knew about my illegal businesses, even suspiciously went to meet Sierra after she saw me with her, unfortunately. Then she went to meet Liza in the jail. Even though I knew those girls wouldn’t open their mouths, I was pretty sure that bitch found out more than she needed to. And I couldn’t let that happen.”
As much as I wanted to slap that smirk off his face, he was right. I was a fool to believe him. I thought he really had evidence against Ace. I couldn’t take any chances. But the truth was, he didn’t have shit against Ace. If he did, he would’ve given it to Antonio way before Ace grabbed Raymond’s neck.
“So that’s why you sped up your plans and took action?” Ivanov inquired, raising an amused brow at him. His men stood behind him silently, with their arms crossed over their chests.
Arthur nodded, passing a glass to Ivanov. And he took it gladly.
“Yes. Even if I kept her mouth shut with my fake threat, which I wish was real because I’ve been trying to get evidence of Achilles accidentally killing my moron brother but got nothing in my hand, I knew she wouldn’t keep quiet for long,” he said, pursing his lips. “I knew sooner or later, my threats wouldn’t affect her and she’d spit out everything to Achilles. So, I sped up my plan and brought you into the picture. Antonio was in no shape to help me in any way.”
Ivanov chuckled. “Achilles Valencian isn’t that foolish. He wouldn’t leave any evidence behind which can harm his reputation in the future. Obviously, you didn’t find anything just like Antonio except knowing what happened to your beloved brother.”
“Antonio was another fool. I thought he could help me ruin Achilles, but he couldn’t do shit except framing Caleb in that drug case. And see where he is now. Suffering on a fucking hospital bed and then will rot behind the bars.”
“Yeah, that poor friend of mine. He took Achilles too lightly.” Ivanov shook his head. “Anyway, now that Achilles signed the contract, what’s next?”
Arthur shrugged nonchalantly before casting Ivanov a sinister look.
“He dies.”
I froze. My blood ran cold in my veins as my heart stopped. As the words slowly set in my mind, parting my lips I let out a shaky breath, stumbling a step back from the door.
T-they are planning to k-kill Ace?
No! No, no. I won’t let that happen. I won’t let him do any harm to my Ace. Over my dead body!
My hands shook at my sides with fear and uncontrollable rage. Fear of losing my love and rage to destroy my enemy. My heart pounded down my chest, eyes burnt with tears, but my feet were glued to the ground even if my mind was screaming to go in and kill him or run away and tell Ace everything.
“That I know. But how? You didn’t tell me how you were going to pull it off.” Ivanov quirked a brow.
That bastard gulped the remaining drink in one go and placed it on the bar counter. “Simple. He gets into his car for his new home that’s a little far from the city and an accident happens in the middle of the road.”
The more I heard, the more I felt my breathing getting heavy. I felt suffocated. Clutching the phone in a death grip in my fist, I listened.
“Ah, an accident would be a nice cover for your heartless strategy,” Ivanov mused. “But I don’t understand one thing, even after Achilles dies, how will you get the company? I mean, after him, as your brother’s adoptive son, your other nephew, Caleb, gets everything. Even before that, Achilles made his girlfriend an equal owner of everything he owned. So obviously, Emerald Hutton would be the sole owner of everything after Achilles’s death.”
Arthur smirked, fixing the collar of his shirt. “Caleb wouldn’t be a problem. He’s just a puppet under Achilles’s hand. He doesn’t know shit about how to run a company successfully. So of course, after Achilles’s unfortunate, sudden demise, the company would face a disaster. The board members would want another Valencian to take his place. So, once I prove everyone Caleb’s worthlessness, the throne would automatically become mine.”
Getting out his phone from his pocket, he typed something before putting it back.
“The thing that will work in my favor is the contract. And right now, it’s the biggest project they’re going to handle. So, to avoid any chances of loss after the owner’s death, as I’m the head of the project and know everything from A-Z about the company, the board members are going to want me to take the responsibility. Which I will take gladly. And about Emerald Hutton,” he paused, cocking his head. “They’re like love birds. If one dies, the other follows. Achilles is the Alpha here, once he’s gone, it won’t be much of a hassle to get rid of his bitch.”
So, this was running in his head all the time? And again, I was right. He wanted the company, everything Ace owned. That leech!
But he was right about one thing. Without my Ace, I wouldn’t be able to live. Without him, I’d die even before he would try to do the work himself to get rid of me.
My heart clenched painfully at the thought of him not being in my life.
But I wouldn’t let that happen. I’ll fail his conspiracy.
“That’s why, before getting rid of him, I needed this contract in my hand. Besides, you’ll also support me taking Achilles’s place before the world. As you’re an important client to the Valencian Corp, everyone will respect your wish,” he added.
“And when would I get my share of the pie?” Ivanov asked.
“Right after I take everything as mine, which is my birthright.” The backstabber’s face turned cold, hatred laced in his voice. “The right my brother took away from me because he thought I wasn’t good enough to be able to run the company beside him, because he thought I’d tarnish the Valencian name due to my reckless, illegal businesses.” Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and looked at Ivanov again. “But I’ll get my right back now. And as promised, you’ll get 45% of the shares of the company.”
That’s what he promised him?
Ivanov flashed a slimy smile. “Now that’s what I wanted to hear. I can’t wait to watch the news of the famous business tycoon’s sudden death all over the news channels.”
I gritted my teeth.
This dream of yours will never come true, you bastard!
I have to tell Ace. I have to stop him before he leaves the hotel.
Wiping the tear that rolled down my cheek, I turned around and ran.
But as if the whole universe was against me, my feet came in contact with a small flower base that was lying on the floor in the darkness, making an unfortunate noise throughout the empty hallway.
Their conversation stopped immediately. As did my heart.
