Chapter 265 Eliminating Him Was My Only Option

Selena's POV

I felt my lips twisting into a snarl. The nerve of that woman! The absolute nerve of both of them!

"Ms. Garcia, is there anything else?" Katherine asked.

I'd forced my voice to sound pleasant, hiding the venom beneath. "Oh, nothing really. I actually envy you two. Have a good time, don't worry about anything here."

"Take care of yourself then. Call if you need anything. Goodbye."

The moment the call ended, I slammed my fist against the hospital bed.

I had just attempted suicide—was still recovering in this sterile white room—and Alexander and Katherine were going on a trip together? Acting like nothing had happened?

What about the photos? My private investigator had sent Alexander clear evidence of Katherine's affair days ago. There should have been a reaction—anger, confrontation, something.

Yet here they were, apparently happy and traveling together?

Something wasn't right...

I grabbed my cell phone and dialed my investigator.

"Did you send those photos to Alexander?" I demanded the moment he answered.

"Boss, I sent them immediately after you told me to," he replied confidently. "I even edited them specially, making them extra provocative. Definitely enough to get a reaction."

My mind raced. If Alexander had seen those photos, there's no way he and Katherine would be traveling together so happily. Unless...

"Find out where they're going," I ordered. "I need to know their destination."

"No problem."

After hanging up, I couldn't understand Alexander's behavior.

After everything I'd done for him—saving his life in that avalanche, supporting his company, loving him unconditionally—he was choosing her over me? A woman who was deceiving him?

My phone rang less than an hour later.

"Boss, I've tracked their flight information. I've sent the details to your phone."

I quickly checked the message and felt my blood run cold. "They're going to Thailand... That's where Scott escaped to!"

The coincidence was too perfect. I immediately pulled up the Hudson Financial Group website from my tablet.

Their public announcement declared that the CEO and his wife were joyously celebrating an anniversary abroad.

But the truth was far from that façade. In reality, they weren't celebrating anything at all.

Instead, they were on a relentless hunt for Scott!

The thought sent a shiver down my spine. They must have unearthed his fake identity and, even worse, the manipulation of the paternity test.

Panic clawed at my insides. If Scott talked, if he so much as breathed a word about my involvement...

My heart was pounding in my chest like a wild drum, and my hands were shaking so violently that I could barely hold my phone.

With fingers that trembled uncontrollably, I finally managed to dial his number. Seconds ticked by like hours before he finally picked up.

"Who the hell is calling me?" Scott's voice was slurred with sleep and alcohol. "Are you fucking kidding me? I was sleeping!"

"You're sleeping?" I hissed. "Do you have any idea people are about to be at your doorstep? Pack your things and get out NOW!"

"Who the fuck are you to talk to me like that?"

"Scott Brown, listen carefully," I stated, each word precise and deadly. "Alexander and Katherine are on their way to Thailand right now. They're on the plane as we speak. They've discovered your fake identity and they're coming for you! If you want to live, grab whatever you can and run as far as possible!"

There was silence on the other end, then a string of curses as reality sank in.

Hours later, my phone rang again. It was Scott.

"You have to find me a place to hide," he demanded without preamble. "I can't get on any planes, can't take trains, and don't even have money for a private car! Hudson's people are everywhere!"

I pinched the bridge of my nose. "I told you to run immediately. Why are you still in the city?"

"I was gambling when you called! It was a crucial round," he whined like a child. "Luckily I won, or I'd be completely broke and couldn't even escape."

"I gave you an opportunity and you wasted it. What do you expect me to do now?"

"Listen, Ms. Garcia," his voice turned threatening, "if you don't help me now, if you don't make sure I'm living comfortably abroad, and if Alexander catches me, I'll tell him everything about you. Then we'll see who suffers more!"

My grip on the phone tightened until my knuckles turned white. "The money I gave you before—was it all wasted?"

"Yes. I'm telling you, cross me and neither of us comes out of this well!"

I closed my eyes, forcing my voice to remain calm. "...Fine. Go to this address. Someone will meet you there." I texted him the location.

"You expect me to just go? I don't trust you, snake woman."

"What do you want then?" I nearly yelled, glancing at the hospital door to make sure no nurse was passing by.

"Send me money first. Let me find a comfortable place to hide. When things get desperate, I'll contact you again."

"Fine," I conceded, my voice deliberately steady. "But stay hidden these next few days. Don't draw attention. Alex is more powerful than you imagine. As his business partner, I might have a chance if you implicate me, but you... you'd have no chance at all."

"Don't worry," he said smugly. "As long as we cooperate, nothing bad will happen. Just send me a few hundred thousand to play with for now."

After hanging up, I hurled my phone against the wall with such force. "That bastard Scott Brown," I muttered, pulling out a spare phone from my purse. "Still wants hundreds of thousands to 'play with'? Does he think I'm his personal bank?"

I transferred three hundred thousand dollars to him—bait to lure him exactly where I wanted. Then I made another call to a different number, one not in my contacts list.

When the call connected, I didn't bother with pleasantries. I gave precise instructions, my voice now ice cold.

The next day, my burner phone rang. It was one of the men I'd hired.

"Ms. Garcia, we've located Scott. He's heading right toward the trap we set."

I smiled thinly. "Keep close watch. Once he arrives, eliminate him. Remember, I want him dead. Clean, no traces."

"Ms. Garcia, there's another group tracking Brown. We've nearly run into them several times. What should we do?"

"I said move fast," I snapped. "Don't worry about anything else. Find Scott, kill him, take his bank cards and phone, nothing else! That place is chaotic enough—it could be blamed on anyone!"

I hung up and leaned back against my hospital pillows. Scott Brown had become a liability.

Eliminating him was my only option.