Chapter 15 Jonathan Strikes Again
Annabel hung up, a cold smirk on her lips. They moved quick, she thought to herself.
Her car pulled up to the White family villa. She stepped inside, her face blank.
Lillian’s soft, sweet voice greeted her. “Charles, don’t be upset. When Annabel gets. back, she’ll apologize to that artist at the hospital, make some press statements, and it‘ Il all blow over.”
“That bitch’s driving me crazy…” Victor grumbled, his voice sharp. Seeing Charles’s grim face, he switched to groveling. “Charles, have some water–she’ll be here any
minute.”
Annabel walked in, her voice calm. “Then what?”
Lillian, who’d already seen her shadow, put on a kind smile. “Annabel, you’re finally back. You hurt someone with a dagger and stayed out all night–we were so worried.”
Then she even blinked, trying to fake a few tears.
“You jerk, get over here and apologize to Charles!” Victor yelled, his face red. “Do you. know our stocks are tanking because of you?”
He looked ready to swing but, finding nothing to grab, settled for a nasty glare.
Beatrice jumped in, her voice sugary. “She’s home now–let’s talk it out.”
Charles, feeling bold because he had the pendant, stared at Annabel, his face dark
with bitterness.
He’d vowed she’d pay for embarrassing him.
“Annabel, got nothing to say?” he asked, his tone biting.
Annabel’s face didn’t change. “Nope,” she said, turning to leave.
Victor’s voice boomed. “You’re walking away like that? Get back here and apologize!”
Annabel paused, her eyes landing on Charles. “Someone needs to apologize. Your employee insulted my mom. You show up with nothing–not exactly screaming ‘sorry‘
to me.”
Charles squinted, his voice cold. “You think you’re above the law, twisting what’s right and wrong? This is a world of rules–not a place where your family name lets you push people around.”
Lillian piped up, her voice sweet. “Annabel, you stabbed someone–go apologize publicly to Stella before they press
sharone”
Successfully unlocked!
Her concern hid a cruel hope–tha……. White family inheritance.
…..d Stella, kicking her out of the
Chapter 15 Jonathan Strikes Again.
Charles saw Annabel’s silence and reached for her arm. “You’re coming with me to the hospital–apologize to Stella in front of the press.”
Annabel dodged, her voice icy. “You sure you want me there? You sure you know the truth?”
She glanced at Lillian, barely hiding her smugness, and went on, her tone flat. “I’m your girlfriend, not some nobody.”
Charles hesitated, thrown off.
Annabel was right. She was his girlfriend; her shame would drag him down too.
Lillian, seeing Annabel’s smooth talk, jumped in. “But if you don’t apologize, people will think we’re bullying others. Charles, I’ve seen posts calling your family accomplices to
a criminal.”
Charles frowned, his voice sharp. “You will apologize, or I’ll have to reconsider our
engage…”
Annabel raised a brow. “Our engagement? Works for me.”
She headed upstairs, ignoring Victor’s yells and the desperate pleas he threw at Charles, which only made her despise him more.
Annabel wasn’t finished.
She skipped the mall’s staff, hacking directly into their system to grab the clothing. store’s surveillance footage.
In minutes, she’d edited a clip to post online, but X was already buzzing with a hashtag: [Stella Hughes’s Assault Truth.]
Annabel thought it was Mason’s doing.
Meanwhile, Jonathan, the real quiet helper, turned to his assistant. “Is it done?”
The assistant nodded. “Yes, sir.”
Jonathan’s fingers tapped the desk, his voice low. “Ban Luma Media from all Turner properties–hotels, malls, everything.”
The assistant blinked, shocked. “Sir, that’s…”
Jonathan’s eyes flicked up. The assistant lowered his head.
“Right away, sir,” he said, rushing to follow through.
He was still confused, wondering, ‘Jonathan Turner, always distant and untouchable, doing this for the White family heiress? Weird.‘
Then he smiled. A wedding might be coming.”
Annabel hadn’t contacted Mason yet when his message popped up.
Mason: [Annabel, you’re trending on X–someone’s got your back!]
Chapter 15 Jonathan Strikes Again…
Annabel frowned. ‘Not Mason, then–who?”
She opened the APP. The Luxe Vogue brand’s official account had posted a video- Stella’s bullying of Sophie, Annabel’s response, all clear, no spin.
Her lips curved. That store wasn’t known for being kind, so someone was helping her from behind the scenes.
Annabel’s fingers moved, ready to track her helper, when a knock broke her focus.
“Annabel, I know you’re scared,” Beatrice’s voice purred through the door. “Don’t worry -I’ll go with you to the hospital to apologize.”
וויו-
Annabel turned up her music app, cranking the volume to the max.
It still couldn’t block Beatrice’s voice sneaking through the door. “We’ll apologize and head back–no damage to your thing with Charles. He’s mad, Annabel. You hearing me?
Annabel got up, opened the door, and faced a surprised Beatrice.
“Beatrice, didn’t you see? Stella already apologized to me online,” she said, her voice flat.
She slammed the door shut.
Beatrice, steaming, turned to see Lillian coming up, her face dark, phone in hand.
“Mom, check this out…” Lillian yelled.
Annabel spent some time digging, only to find the Turner family behind the video. She had no connection to them–pretty strange.
Downstairs had gone quiet. She headed to the kitchen for water.
On the stairs, she saw Charles still in the living room, Victor next to him. Beatrice and Lillian, for once, weren’t hanging around.
“You’re still here?” Annabel asked, her tone sharp.
Charles swallowed his annoyance, keeping his voice steady. “Annabel, I saw the news online. I’ll handle Stella–make sure she doesn’t lie about anything again.”
Annabel’s eyes flashed with irritation. “That’s it?”
Victor slammed his teacup on the table, glaring. “Charles is being fair–what more do you want?”
with Charles
Annabel ignored him, locking eyes “Have Stella kneel and apologize to my mom soon, or she’ll regret it.”
Charles’s face tightened. Before he could answer, Annabel added, “Found the pendant yet?”
Charles, jumping at the chance, pulled a pendant from his pocket. “Took some work, but here.”
Chapter 15 Jonathan Strikes Again
Annabel examined it closely, her face blank.
She tossed it back. “This isn’t my pendant.”
Charles’s heart skipped. He’d had it made overnight, sure it was exactly the same as the real one.
“No way. Look again. It’s yours,” he said, his voice tense.
Annabel frowned. “It’s not. My pendant has a ‘W‘ carved in the bottom right–for White.”
“A “W“?” Charles let slip, his cool breaking. “You’re sure?”
Annabel’s eyes narrowed. “You think I’d make this up?”
Charles met her suspicious stare, his guilt buried under anger.
He knew the real pendant had no “W.”
Now he wondered if his people had screwed him over, messing with it..
“Mr. White, I got to go,” Charles said, his voice urgent, desperate to check the pendant‘ s authenticity.
At the door, he paused, looking at Annabel. “I’ll be back soon.
Annabel nodded, her face cold.
In his car, Charles pulled out the pendant, checking it.
There no “W” on it.
He threw it aside and called someone, “Is this the pendant you stole that day? Where’s the real one?”
His voice turned icy as he asked, “Where’s the real one?”
Upstairs, Annabel stood by the window, watching Charles’s car speed off. She called
Mason.
“When Stella’s out of the hospital, bring her to Building 11, Magnolia Heights. No one can know.”
Mason laughed. “Chill, I got this, clean and quiet.”
That night, Stella snuck out of the hospital, avoiding reporters. Halfway down a quiet street, someone knocked her out and took her away.
When she came to, her eyes were blindfolded, her wrists and ankles tied tight, no give.
Panic hit her hard. “Who are you? Let me go!” she screamed, her voice high but shaky.
Subsented
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’s breathtaking cold.