Manley shrugged. “Fine, I’ll check the cameras.”
Merlin didn’t even crack an eye, completely checked out.
Elliana, meanwhile, trailed the Jones family into a private room. Darin, who’d always treated Elliana like she was invisible, suddenly turned into Mr. Hospitality. “Elliana, order whatever you want tonight. It’s on me.”
Elliana found it laughably ironic. For fifteen years, Darin hadn’t given her the time of day, letting Kiara torment and humiliate her while she was stuck in some crumbling shack out back. She could’ve keeled over and rotted for months before anyone noticed. Now, out of the blue, he was playing doting dad? He just wanted to milk her Evans family connection for all it was worth.
Kiara slid a cup of coffee her way with a smile faker than a three-dollar bill. “Elliana, have some coffee.”
Elliana gave a faint smile. Kiara wanted her six feet under, yet here Kiara was, playing sweet stepmom. Did they really think she’d fall for it and drink?
“Thanks.” As Elliana took the cup, she smoothly nudged another one toward Kiara. “You should have some too.”
“Oh, absolutely,” Kiara said, keeping her smile plastered on as she sipped from her cup. “This coffee’s pretty good. Elliana, go on, drink yours.”
Elliana smiled and knocked back the coffee in one fluid gulp.
Paige, watching from the sidelines, was practically vibrating with glee, waiting for the show to start.
Over in the other room, Manley was glued to the surveillance feed. He bolted upright. “Yo, did you see that? Elliana swapped the coffee cups!”
Allan raised an eyebrow, amused. “Slick move.”
Manley spun toward Cole, eyes gleaming. “Cole, your plain Jane might have some brains after all.”
Cole’s lips twitched into a faint smile.
Merlin, finally curious, sat up and shuffled over to the screen for a better look.
Just then, on the feed, Elliana pressed a hand to her forehead. “I’m feeling woozy…” She didn’t even finish before face-planting onto the table.
Kiara and Paige both smirked, smug as cats who’d just had cream. Darin, still in the dark, frowned. “What’d you give her?”
Kiara tilted her chin up, her perfectly made-up face beaming with pride. “Yup, spiked her coffee. We’re about to send her upstairs with a few guys, snap some juicy photos, and splash them all over the internet. That’ll sink her for good!”
Seeing Darin’s frown deepen, Kiara pressed further. “Darin, you can’t seriously think she’s gonna bring us any benefit. She’ll only make the Evans family hate us and drag us through the mud! Our future’s riding on Paige. Only Paige can lock down Cole!”
Hearing this, Darin’s doubts melted away. “Alright. Do it neatly. No loose ends. She’s still Mrs. Evans, after all.”
Kiara’s smile turned cold. “Don’t worry. I’ve got this handled.” Soon enough, Elliana was carted off to a private room
Elliana didn’t move a muscle, playing the part of a sleeping doll. Only after the soft click of the closing door did she allow her eyes to flutter open. Flat on her back in a bed that wasn’t hers, she stared blankly at the ceiling, the cruel laughter echoing in her thoughts-cold, bitter, and all her own.
Whatever lingering hope she’d held for Darin had just been snuffed out. She had wasted years longing for fatherly love that had never existed. Each time they met, it felt like reopening the same wound.
Years ago, Darin had been nothing more than a struggling doctor from a small town, barely making ends meet. Kiara, his first love, hadn’t hesitated to dump him for a man with deeper pockets and a deed to his name.
Later, Darin had taken Rita’s research-her brilliance-and turned it into an empire. The Jones Group rose on the shoulders of her work. And once he’d made it, he discarded both Rita and Elliana and crawled back to Kiara without shame.
Not only had Darin been heartless toward Rita, but now he was offering up Elliana like a pawn to be sacrificed. That was the final crack for her. Whatever bond once existed had snapped. She was done calling him “father.” If he wanted a show, she’d give them one. And when the curtain fell, she’d make sure they were the ones left scorched.
The door creaked open again. A group of lecherous men stepped in, each one recoiling in theatrical disgust at the sight of Elliana on the bed.
“‘This gig’s a joke. We’re supposed to screw her and snap pictures? That’s trauma I’m not getting paid enough for.’”
“‘Shut up. The Jones family’s paying three times the usual. Suck it up and think of the cash.’”
“She’s got a decent body at least. Just close your eyes and pretend it’s someone else.”
While crude jokes bounced around the room, belts loosened, and shirts started hitting the floor.
Meanwhile, in another room, Manley shot up from his seat and jabbed a finger at the computer screen. “‘Cole, are we seriously watching this go down? You’re not going to stop it?’”
Manley waited for a reaction, any reaction-but Cole only reclined in his chair, expression unreadable, fingers pressed together in thought.
With a frown and a glint of amusement, Manley flopped back into his seat. “So this is your plan? Let your wife get dragged through hell just to cut her loose? Thought you cared about your name. When the headlines crown you the king of cuckolds, how about letting me be the first to sit down with you for the full story?”
Cole shot Manley a glare cold enough to freeze him in place. “Say one more word and I’ll make sure it’s your last.”
Before anyone could react, loud crashing erupted from the computer speakers. Heads whipped toward the screen-only to see Elliana explode into motion. In a blur of strikes and counterattacks, she floored every man in the room. Her movements were sharp, fluid, lethal-like watching a trained operative dismantle a dozen fools in seconds.
Manley’s mouth hung open. “What the hell? I thought she was some fragile little flower-does that look fragile to you?”
Allan turned to Cole, realization dawning in his eyes-like he’d just connected a trail of clues that had been in front of him all along.
Merlin’s eyes sharpened as he watched the screen. Every instinct he’d honed as a soldier roared to life-this wasn’t just some ordinary woman.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.