Chapter 103: DO I LOOK LIKE I CARE?

“What!” they all screamed in shock.

MINUTES LATER

“What do you mean she’s alive? Didn’t she, like, kill herself?” Nelly asked.

Sapphire laughed, almost mockingly. "I thought so too, but shes one sneaky bitch."

Everyone exchanged worried looks.

“So where is she? What is she doing, hiding like some coward?” Henry asked.

Sapphire’s eyes dimmed.

“She’s not being a coward. She has been orchestrating her revenge for years!” Sapphire replied.

Nelly scoffed.

“We only did one thing to her. We just leaked a sex tape. Why does she have to be so cruel?” she complained, running her hands through her hair.

“So where is she?” Cash asked.

“I don’t know. All I know is that a family saved her and trained her. Her whereabouts are unknown to me,” Sapphire replied.

She reached into her bag and pulled out a photograph, placing it on the table.

The moment they got a clear view of it, they gasped.

“Carter is dead. She killed him,” Sapphire said.

Everyone trembled.

“We have to get her! Let’s get rid of her!” Nelly shouted, her eyes already shimmering with fear.

“Get rid of a shadow? Can you hear yourself? You really are dumb,” Sapphire said, mockery dripping from her voice.

Nelly immediately went silent, her cheeks reddened with embarrassment.

“Leave it to me. I will get rid of Erica,” Sapphire said.

Their eyes shimmered with excitement, all except Cash, who was staring down at the photograph.

Cash knew Carter had escaped from whoever held him captive, but the fact he was dead and killed by Celina didn't add up.

She looked up at Sapphire, searching her eyes, and couldn’t help but twitch her lips.

Sapphire killed Carter.

She had figured it out, and when Sapphire caught her staring, Cash’s lips parted.

“And us? Where do we hide?” she paused.

"What do you mean?" Sapphire asked playing dumb.

“If Celina is alive, lurking like a ghost and hunting us down, how will we be safe?” Cash asked.

The smug looks on Henry and Nelly’s faces disappeared.

“She’s right,” Nelly muttered. She bit down on her fingernails, nervously chewing them.

Sapphire’s eyes dimmed.

“So, do you mean I can’t take her down?” she asked, her tone dripping with authority.

Cash sighed.

“She managed to ruin their lives already. She knows about us. But you…” She hesitated. “She doesn’t even know you’re our boss. If we lay low and she kills us all, you’ll walk away scot-free.”

Cash was hinting that Sapphire would escape the consequences while they paid the price.

Sapphire stood up, glaring at Cash.

“So, to you, I’m at the mercy of someone who doesn’t even know I planned her demise ten years ago?” she asked, her eyes darkening.

Cash’s eyes narrowed, especially when she heard heavy boots moving toward her from behind.

If she said one wrong word, she would die.

She sucked in her bottom lip. "You don’t understand me,”

Sapphire laughed.

“Make me.”

Cash slammed her hands onto the table.

“You will be able to kill Celina, but when you do that, will we still be alive? That’s what I mean! I know you can do it. I’m just scared for our safety. We have no bodyguards, no money, no assets to keep us alive in the meantime while you hunt her!”

The others immediately sided with Cash.

“She’s right,” Nelly said. “Celina didn’t hunt us down first because we would be too easy to kill, and that wouldn't be fun...she targeted the others because it was fun, now they are out of the way....what will be our end?"

Nelly grabbed onto Sapphire.

“We need your bodyguards! Your men! To protect us while you search for her. If you don’t protect us, we will all die!” she screamed, but the look Sapphire gave her made Nelly immediately shrink back and let go of her hand.

“I should give you my bodyguards?” Sapphire asked.

They actually nodded.

That only made her laugh out loud.

“Why should I? If you want to survive, you should depend on yourselves, not others.”

She folded her arms beneath her breasts.

“I don’t care about anyone’s safety. I’m the boss here. I have only one goal, and that is to end Celina like I did ten years ago.”

Henry suddenly slammed his hands onto the table, attracting her attention.

“But you! You were the very one who called each and every one of us, saying you wanted to ruin Celina. You should be the one protecting us!” he screamed.

Sapphire burst into a maniacal laugh.

“Well, it’s not my fault. The three of you never succeeded in life. If you had, you wouldn't be begging such petty things,"

Her words felt like a blow to each and every one of them.

They stared at the person who had praised them and whom they had followed all their lives.

Now, she was stabbing them in the back.

“I did well enough by telling you she’s alive. What happens to you after that isn’t any of my concern,” she said bitterly.

Henry slumped back into his chair, defeated.

“Then we will betray you! We will take Celina to you and tell her you caused all this if you don’t protect us!” Nelly screamed, jabbing her finger at Sapphire.

Sapphire laughed.

“Okay, but I should warn you—Celina will never believe you.”

She reached for her bag. “It all depends on whether you’re willing to survive, while I hunt her down."

She waved her hand dismissively and walked away.

Nelly scoffed, running a hand through her hair.

Meanwhile, Cash slid her hand across the table and squeezed the photograph of dead Carter. She pulled her hand back and slipped the crumpled photograph into her pocket while the other two cursed Sapphire bitterly.

As soon as Sapphire got into her car, she reached for her iPad.

“What’s Erica’s routine today?” she asked.

Her PA, sitting in the front seat, pulled out a folder filled with photographs of Erica.

“She’s busy getting her actors and actresses ready for Love and Pleasure. She’s also meeting with brands that partnered with the series’ production,” her PA said.

Sapphire went through the folder.

“Find a way for me to meet her accidentally,” she ordered.

Her PA nodded, understanding exactly what she meant.

The car drove away, but outside, Cash had taken a photo of Sapphire while Henry and Nelly stood behind her.

“Now we have to find Celina and turn things back on her,” Nelly said.

She stared at the departing car. “Let’s see who has the last laugh, bitch.”