Chapter 101 Pierced by a Single Glance
Chapter 101 Pierced by a Single Glance
Violet's POV
Aurora had shaken Clifford yesterday by dredging up the filth from years past. And now, less than a day later, the so-called key witness walks through my door unannounced. Anyone who thought that was a coincidence was a fool.
"Let her in."
The butler stepped aside, ushering her into the room.
She dropped to her knees without warning, the sound sharp in the silence. Her voice came fast, urgent. "Madam... is Clifford here? I need to see him."
"What for?" My tone could have frozen the air. I held her in my gaze. "You disappeared without a trace for years... and now you show up. Did Aurora send you?"
Leah didn't answer, but the flicker in her eyes gave her away.
A low laugh escaped me. Aurora was as stupid as I thought.
"Let me guess... you didn't come alone. There's a reporter outside, or maybe you're wearing a wire. Planning to record this little visit and drag the past back into the headlines?"
She stayed silent, but her stillness was confirmation enough.
"Seems I was right." I held out my hand. "Give it to me."
She didn't move. I nodded to my men. They closed in, searching her thoroughly. It didn't take long to find the micro-camera.
I crushed it under my heel, the brittle snap of plastic cutting through the air. A surge of heat rose in me. "Leah... you were a victim back then too. And now you twist the truth, pinning a crime on the man who saved you. Doesn't your conscience scream at you?"
"You're insane. It was Clifford. He dragged me into the equipment room. Aurora and the others saw it themselves. I'm here for one thing—five million dollars. Or I go straight to the media."
"Oh? The media?"
The voice came from the side hall, low and dangerous.
Clifford was there—silent, unreadable, his hands buried in the pockets of his tailored trousers. His eyes locked on Leah, cold as steel.
"Tell me... how exactly were you planning to reach the media? With this?"
He gestured toward the doorway. One of his men stepped in, dragging a man by the collar. He flung him onto the carpet like trash.
The man clutched a miniature recorder in one hand and a phone in the other.
"So Aurora came prepared. She even brought her own media friend—ready to witness the scene and publish instantly. Hoping to catch my wife panicking, trying to buy off a victim... or maybe me losing my temper and threatening one. Was that the plan?"
Leah's eyes darted to the journalist, who was already pale and shaking. She opened her mouth but no sound came out.
"You think a cheap, worn-out trick like this can drag me back into the pit? Does Aurora really believe that after all these years, I'm still that boy they could frame and destroy without a fight?"
He raised his hand. The gunshot cracked through the air like lightning.
The reporter's scream was raw, animal, echoing off the walls. "Ah! My hand!"
Blood spread across the carpet, vivid and obscene, his palm torn through by the bullet.
Clifford's face didn't change. Slowly, he turned the smoking barrel toward Leah.
"Back then... my only regret was not ending you when I had the chance. If I had, you wouldn't be standing here thinking you could defy me."
The terror shattered her. She crumpled in on herself.
"No! Please... please give me another chance! It was Aurora—she forced me to come. She said if I didn't, she'd kill my parents!
"And back then... I was forced too. Her family threatened to wipe mine out if I didn't accuse you. I wanted to tell the truth, but I was terrified. I just... I just wanted to live..."
Clifford listened without a flicker of emotion.
He holstered the gun and turned to Clinton, his voice calm, almost bored. "Send our journalist friend where he belongs. Make sure he's... properly taken care of. As for Leah..."
"If she's finally realized her mistake, then we'll give her a chance to set the record straight. Get the cameras ready. Call our lawyer. And invite our friends from the press."
He walked toward me, his tone shifting. "Some things... are long overdue."