Chapter 4

At nine that night, I stood promptly outside the penthouse suite door.

The door opened. Anhel was wearing a black silk robe, her long hair slightly damp, less sharp than during the day, but with a more subdued, pervasive sense of authority.

She offered me a glass of wine; I didn’t take it.

“Ms. Anhel, what do you need me to do for you to help me?”

“What makes you think I would help you?”

“Chris has tampered with Thompson Group’s money. She embezzled subsidiary project funds to create those three billion dollars in fake accounts.”

“Ms. Anhel needs a legitimate excuse to clean house.”

A flicker of appreciation crossed Anhel’s eyes, then she took a step closer.

She was slightly shorter than me, but her presence completely enveloped the entire space.

“I have a hundred ways to clean house. Why would I choose the most troublesome one to cooperate with you?”

“Because of Leonardo.” I looked her directly in the eye. “His father embezzled company assets, and you personally put him behind bars.”

“He’s been trading on the Thompson name for profit these past few years. You despise him.”

Anhel’s eyes instantly turned cold.

“Chris plans to announce her succession as CEO at the subsidiary’s anniversary gala next month, and simultaneously, her engagement to Leonardo.”

“If they are publicly disgraced in front of all the city’s elite, Leonardo will also be utterly humiliated.”

She looked at me, and after a long moment, she suddenly smiled.

The smile was cold, yet carried a deadly allure.

“Carter, it seems you want them utterly ruined, never to recover.”

She walked to the desk, picked up a document, and tossed it in front of me.

It contained all the evidence of Chris’s embezzlement, fabricated debts, and the purchase of a private island for Leonardo.

Every transaction was clearly detailed.

“This is just the down payment,” Anhel’s voice whispered in my ear. “If you want more crucial leverage, you’ll have to pay a price.”

“What price?”

“Be my man.”

My pupils constricted: “Ms. Anhel, you must be kidding.”

“I never joke.” She took a step closer, trapping me against the floor-to-ceiling window.

“If you want to crush Chris, you need a patron who stands higher and more firmly than her. And I am the only choice.”

She looked up at me slightly, her eyes as deep as the ocean.

“What, still have feelings for her?”

“No. I wish she were dead.”

“Then prove it to me.” She curved her lips, her voice brushing against my ear.

“Go back and continue playing the role of the devoted ex-husband. When the time is right, I will personally pull you out of the game.”

I leaned against the glass, my heart pounding like thunder.

As long as I could send those two to hell, I would accept this devil’s bargain.