Chapter 67 Betrayed
Caleb
“Mr. Lancaster, are you even listening?"
Ms. Chen’s voice finally cut through the heavy cloud of confusion that had settled over my brain. It was her quiet, professional way of saying, Wake up and focus.
I blinked hard, pulling myself back to the huge, dark wood desk in my office. The afternoon sun was pouring in, making the room look bright and honest, which was the most ridiculous lie of all.
"Yes, Ms. Chen," I mumbled, clearing my throat. "Just... thinking through the strategy for the Nevada deal. It's complicated."
She didn't look convinced. She stood there, holding her tablet, her face perfectly still. "I was just asking how we should argue this Lithium Acquisition case. Do we try to blame the other company for lying about their assets, or do we use the excuse that this crazy disaster happened, so we can get out of the contract without paying?"
I heard her, but the dry legal words felt like they were coming from a long distance away. All my focus was glued to the small, old photograph I had quickly hidden under the leather desk pad. It was faded and a bit blurry, but the face was burned into my memory, and it was the only thing that mattered.
I had been staring at that picture for what felt like an hour, trying to fit two completely separate worlds together—the past and the terrifying present.
The girl in the picture was Clarita. She was the reason I woke up every single night in a cold sweat, haunted by the memory of the past. She was one of the girls I foolishly tried to set free seven years ago. She was the one who got shot by my father's men on that dark, lonely street. And she was the innocent victim Aiden believed he had killed with his bike. We let him think that to protect the whole, ugly, illegal business.
I slowly traced the edge of the photo with my thumb. The shape of her jaw, the way her chin was set, the sharp, serious look in her eyes—it was exactly like Elsie. It was too similar to be a coincidence.
My mind raced back to the quick, quiet court hearing my father organized to bury the whole incident. There was a young kid present, sitting all by himself. The kid was small, dressed in baggy, oversized clothes, and kept his head down, but his eyes were full of pure, cold hate.
Everyone, the lawyers, the people watching, even me, assumed the dead girl's younger sibling was a little boy because of the way they were dressed—a quiet tomboy, hidden in simple, rough clothes, probably to avoid being noticed.
But it wasn't a boy.
It was Elsie.
The truth slammed into me at once, hard and brutal, like being hit by a wave. She wasn't a random maid who needed saving. She was Clarita’s younger sister. She was the one who had been watching us, waiting patiently for the right moment.
The note that was left in Aiden’s bedroom, has to be hers.
The sickness hit me deep in my gut. I had thought I was the smart one, the secret fighter trying to tear down the criminal empire from the inside. But I was the biggest fool. She had been playing me all along. Every time I thought we had a real connection, a moment of trust—it was all a brilliantly planned act designed to get her closer to the truth, for the sake of revenge.
Worse, I had actually started to fall in love with the woman who was planning to destroy my family and everything I stood for.
The betrayal was a cold, sharp pain right through my heart. Nothing about our connection was real.
"Mr. Lancaster?" Ms. Chen asked again, her concern finally breaking through her professional manner. "Are you ill? You look pale."
I quickly shoved the photograph back under the blotter, hiding the painful truth I had just uncovered.
"I'm fine, Ms. Chen," I said, forcing myself to sound strong. "Listen, we need to keep the Nevada deal simple. Don't waste time trying to blame the other company. Just use the 'disaster' excuse—the force majeure. It's cleaner. We need the deal closed fast and quiet."
She nodded, clearly relieved I was focusing again. "Understood. The simpler legal path. I'll get the final papers drafted for the judge immediately."
"Do it," I ordered, grabbing my suit jacket. My brain was working fast now, but the shock was still buzzing underneath the surface.
If Elsie were Clarita's sister, she wasn't just exposing the crime; she was trying to destroy the entire family. And she was already gone.
Elsie wasn't a revenge seeker anymore. She was a liability that the family needed to take off.
I strode toward the door. "Cancel everything on my schedule, Ms. Chen," I commanded, my voice tight and urgent. "I have a family problem that is more important than the entire firm right now.”
I paused, thinking about the abduction, about the trucks, and about the one place where they always moved the cargo.
I slammed the door behind me. I had been betrayed by the woman I loved, but now I had to save her life, to destroy her.