Chapter 57 The Secret
Jack's Pov
I went straight to my room and shut the door harder than I meant to.
I dragged my hand through my hair and pulled out my phone again.
I scrolled through my contacts until I stopped at the sight of Conrad's name.
Then I hit dial.
It rang several times...
“Pick up,” I muttered under my breath, pacing restlessly across the room. “Pick up, damn it.”
But it went straight to voicemail. I hung up immediately and called again severally. By the seventh call, I could feel my temper slipping.
Finally, on my last attempt, the line clicked.
“You’re persistent,” Conrad’s voice drawled, smooth and infuriatingly calm.
“Cut the crap,” I snapped. “Did you talk to her?”
A beat passed.
“Good evening to you too, Jack.”
“I asked a question, did you talk to Elena?" I pressed.
“I have no reason to.”
I started pacing again, my free hand clenched at my side. “She knows something.”
“About?”
“About the deal.”
A low chuckle came through the line and It made my stomach twist.
“She’s perceptive,” Conrad said lightly. “I warned you about that.”
My jaw tightened. “This isn’t a game.”
“It was never a game.” Conrad said smoothly.
“Then answer the damn question.” I said and I could almost see him leaning back in his chair, steepling his fingers like he always did when he thought he was the smartest man in the room.
“I didn’t leak anything,” he said finally. “If she suspects something, that’s on you.”
His words hit harder than they should have.
“She asked me directly,” I said, lowering my voice. “About secrets, about a deal.”
“And what did you say?”
“I didn’t confirm anything.”
“Good.”
I stopped pacing. “Good?” I repeated incredulously.
“Yes,” Conrad replied smoothly. “Because if you had, this would be much messier.”
I let out a sharp breath through my nose.
“Don’t pretend this isn’t already messy.”
Then there was a shift in his tone. “You should have stayed true to our agreement from the beginning.”
My stomach sank. “Excuse me?”
“You had the chance,” Conrad continued calmly. “You were close enough to her and Instead of eliminating the obstacle, you chose to support her little rebellion.”
My grip on the phone tightened. “Watch your words.” I growled.
“No,” he went on, ignoring me. “You married her. A contract, yes—but a marriage nonetheless. You tied yourself to her publicly. That was strategically reckless of you to do to begin with.”
“I didn't know the pawn you were referring to was your own daughter, so I did what was necessary,” I shot back.
A soft, almost amused exhale came through the line. “You did what you wanted.”
I felt heat crawl up my spine. “All I wanted from you back then,” I snapped, my voice rising despite myself, “was to tell me how to find my father. I take care of the pawn in exchange for information, that was the deal. Not—” I swallowed hard.
“Not what?” Conrad prompted, almost lazily.
“Not telling me to kill your daughter in exchange!” I slammed my fist against the wall.
The word kill hung in the air between us but Conrad didn’t react.
“You’re dramatic,” he said flatly.
“I’m being realistic.”
“She was a liability.” He countered.
“She’s your daughter!” I shot back.
After a moment, Conrad sighed softly. “She was standing in the way of Vale Corp’s stability. You should have killed her when you had the chance.”
The words hit me like a physical blow. I couldn’t even speak for a moment.
The idea of harming Elena—was so far removed from where I stand now that it almost felt like he was talking about someone else. How could he be so cruel to his own daughter?
“You’re out of your mind,” I said finally.
“Am I?” Conrad countered. “Look at the situation now. She’s emboldened, and thinks she can rule Vale Corp without understanding the cost.”
I scoffed, unable to stop myself. “Elena doesn’t need you.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, Jack. She does.”
“No,” I said, pacing again. “You’re wrong. She’s been carrying that company on her shoulders while you sat back and manipulated from the shadows.”
“Careful, Jack.”
“Careful?” I laughed harshly. “You’re telling me I should’ve killed her and you want me to be careful?”
“You’re letting emotion cloud your judgment, Jack Roman.”
“And you’re letting ego cloud yours!" I hissed.
The line went quiet for a moment.
When Conrad spoke again, his voice was colder.
“She’s not ready to rule Vale Corp, and she never will be.”
“She’s decisive and principled in all of this, which makes her more ready than you think.” I gripped my phone tighter.
“That will only get her destroyed.” He said casually.
“That’s what you want, isn’t it?” I shot back. “For her to fail so you can step back in as the savior.”
“You misunderstand me.”
“No,” I said flatly. “I understand you perfectly.”
My chest felt tight, like I’d been holding something in for months and it was finally spilling out. “You wanted me to remove her,” I continued. “Because she wouldn’t bend to your tune.”
“That’s business.”
The silence stretched again.
Then Conrad spoke, his tone hard as steel.
“But made your choice, Jack. You chose her over strategy and over our deal.”
“No, I chose not to be your executioner.”
“No, you chose to entangle yourself with a problem!” Conrad snapped obviously irritated.
“She’s not a problem!" I countered again.
“Well, she is now.”
I stopped pacing. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means,” Conrad said evenly, “that if she’s sniffing around the pact, she’ll dig. And when she digs, she won’t like what she finds.”
A chill ran down my spine.
“If you go near her,” I said quietly, “I swear to God—”
“Don’t threaten me,” he interrupted sharply. “You forget who came to whom.”
I clenched my jaw so hard that it hurt.
“I came to you for information about my father,” I said through my teeth. “Not to sign up for a blood contract.”
“And yet,” he replied smoothly, “here we are.”
My mind was racing.
If she finds out Conrad wanted her dead, If she finds out I even entertained a conversation that included that possibility—
I wasn’t sure if she’ll ever look at me the same way again.
“You should have acted when you had the advantage,” Conrad said one last time. “Now she believes she can run Vale Corp without proper guidance. Her confidence irritates me.”
“She doesn’t need you,” I said bluntly.
“And you?” he asked softly. “Does she even need you?”
I didn’t answer because I wasn't so sure anymore.
My phone was still warm in my hand when he started laughing and the sound of his laughter made my skin crawl.
It never ends.
“From the start, I already knew she would rebel,” Conrad said, his voice smooth, almost bored. “Elena was never going to marry Richard Harrow. She never does what she’s told. That’s precisely why I contracted you in the first place.”
I began pacing across my room again.
“You contracted me to kill her, let’s not dress it up like it was anything else.”
“You make it sound so crude,” he replied dryly.
“Because it is crude.”
There was a pause on the line, yet I could almost picture him leaning back in that oversized leather chair in his study, swirling a glass of expensive scotch like this was just another business conversation.
“We shouldn't even be having this conversation right now, but remember you accepted the deal,” he continued, “because you desperately wanted information about your father.”
“And you promised it to me before he died after mysteriously popping out of nowhere,” I snapped. “All I wanted from you from the beginning was a location or a lead—just something real and not an ultimatum to murder your own daughter.”
“Spare me the morality lecture, Jack.”
I dragged a hand through my hair, exhaling sharply. My heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was in my ears.
I shook my head. “She doesn’t deserve the way you treat her,” I said, the words coming out before I could stop them.
He chuckled like it was funny. “Oh is that so?”
“Yes,” I said firmly. “She’s not your enemy, she's your daughter.”
He laughed. “It’s funny,” Conrad murmured. “You didn’t think that way when you signed the contract.”
“I signed it,” I said carefully, “because I was desperate, not because I wanted her dead.”
“But you were willing, no?”
I instantly wished that I could punch the shit out of him because he wasn’t wrong.
I had been willing, at least I thought I was until I met her that day at the bar.
I clasped my eyes shut at the memory.
“I was willing, yes.” I admitted quietly. “But things changed.”
“Oh?” His tone sharpened slightly. “How sentimental of you.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “I fell in love with her.”
There was no point denying it now.
Then Conrad hissed, “You blind fool.”
I clenched my jaw waiting for his attack.
“You weren’t supposed to fall in love with her in the first place!” he snapped, the calm veneer finally cracking. “That was not part of the arrangement.”
“You don’t get to control that,” I shot back.
“I control everything,” he barked.
“Well, obviously not this!” I sighed, I wasn't comfortable about how deep I'd gotten in all of this.
Conrad's breathing grew heavier through the speaker. “And now,” he continued coldly, “even Layla has paid the price for your stupidity.”
My stomach dropped. “What?” I froze mid-step. “What happened to Layla?”
He didn’t respond.
“What did you do to her?” I demanded, my voice rising despite myself.
He exhaled like I’d just asked him something trivial. “You ask too many questions.”
“Answer me!” I roared, the control I prided myself on slipping through my fingers.
He clicked his tongue. “Relax, Jack. No need to sound so distressed.”
“If you touched her—”
“You’re in no position to threaten me.” He cut me off.
My free hand curled into a fist so tight my knuckles burned. “Where is she? Did you hurt her?”
He laughed again. “That’s not important right now.”
"What do you mean it's not important, do you even know how she is with Elena?” My chest felt like it was being crushed." Layla’s like a mother Elena never had!”
“And you should have thought about that before you complicated things.”
“What does that even mean?” I pressed. “Conrad—”
He cut me off. “You’ve created unnecessary complications,” he said coldly. “Elena is getting too bold, she thinks she can rule Vale Corp without me.”
I scoffed despite the anxiety clawing at my insides. It's quite unfortunate how all he cares about is fame and wealth.
“She doesn’t want to rule without you,” I shot back. “She just wants transparency and accountability.”
“Don’t romanticize her rebellion, Jack Roman."
“She’s not rebelling,” I growled. “She’s standing up for herself and for the company and you're obviously threatened by her,” I said abruptly.
That struck a nerve.
“You forget who built Vale Corp,” he snapped.
“And you forget who’s capable of sustaining it,” I countered. “She’s smarter than you give her credit for.”
“Let me make something very clear to you, Jack.”
I felt the dangerous edge in his voice.
“I will not find it difficult,” he said slowly, deliberately, “to erase my own daughter from existence if she continues to stand between me and Vale Corp.”
I wasn’t surprised he'd say that but I challenged him regardless.
“You wouldn’t,” I said.
“You’re forgetting who you’re speaking to.”
Then my mind flashed with possibilities I didn’t want to imagine.
“You’re her father,” I said through clenched teeth.
“I am a businessman first.”
The coldness in that sentence chilled me to the bone.
“If you want her alive, and if you really want to protect her,” he continued, “you will have to remove her from the board completely.”
“Remove her?” I repeated.
“Yes, convince her to step down, discredit her if you must. I don’t care how.”
“You’re insane,” I muttered.
“And in exchange,” he went on as if I hadn’t spoken, “you will become Vale Corp’s partner.”
I blinked. “What?”
“Good thing your father's dead and you have nothing to lose. But you must get rid of Elena from the board if you want her to live." He paused deliberately. "I want to trust that you're capable of doing the right thing.”
I felt sick to my stomach. "You're a monster." I cursed under my breath.
"I'm a businessman Jack. I've heard worse." He said casually. “Think carefully,” he added. “You don’t have much time.”
“Conrad—”
The line went dead and I only just realized my hands were trembling all along.
I cursed under my breath and punched the wall in frustration.