Chapter 41 The Warning
DAVID
I was mid-conversation with my assistant when my phone buzzed. I glanced at the screen, and my stomach twisted. Lizzy. Of all people.
Reluctantly, I swiped to answer. "What do you want?"
A laugh crackled through the line. "Well, well, D.D. You actually picked up."
"Didn’t think you had the nerve to call," I shot back, my voice cold.
"Oh, come on, D.D. She’s been pushing my buttons. I just want to show her who’s in charge." Her tone was light, but I could hear the venom lurking beneath.
I clenched the phone tighter. "Listen, Lizzy. Don’t mess with my wife. Don’t even think about it."
"Your wife?" She snorted, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "You don’t seriously mean to call her that, do you?"
"This is your final warning." My words came out sharp, clipped.
Her laughter rang out, dark and unsettling. "D.D., you’re mine. Always have been, always will be. And I’ll make sure she’s gone for good." The line went dead, but her sinister laugh lingered in my ears.
I exhaled slowly, shoving the phone into my pocket. My assistant shifted beside me, his expression calm but alert.
"Do you have it?" I asked.
"Yes, sir." He handed me a thick file, the edges worn from handling. "Mike, Lizzy’s brother, is into human trafficking, drug smuggling, and embezzling from their company."
I flipped through the pages, scanning reports and photographs. "And their father’s business?"
"More dirt," he said, his lips curling into a faint smirk. "He had an affair with Emily a top actress. Big scandal."
My brow arched. "Emily?"
He nodded. "That’s not all. Emily has a secret son with him. Here’s the evidence." He placed another file on the desk, the name Emily scrawled across it in bold letters.
I opened it, revealing photos, birth records, and a list of clandestine meetings. The pieces clicked together, forming a picture so dirty it could topple an empire.
"Well, well," I murmured, a dark grin spreading across my face. "Looks like Lizzy’s family is as rotten as she is. This is perfect."
"What’s the next move, sir?"
I closed the file with a snap. "Leak it. Every last bit. Let’s see how Lizzy handles this."
He bowed slightly before leaving the room.
I turned to Bella, asleep on the couch, her face pale but peaceful. I crouched beside her, brushing a strand of hair from her cheek.
"She thinks she can hurt you," I whispered. "She thinks I’ll stand by and let it happen. But Lizzy doesn’t know who she’s messing with." My jaw tightened. "I’ll make her regret every move she’s made. I promise you, Bella. No one touches what’s mine."
I stood, my determination solidifying. Lizzy wanted a game? Fine. I’d show her what it meant to lose everything.
I clenched the edge of the hospital window, the cold glass fogging slightly as I exhaled. The city lights below blurred into streaks of gold and red, but my mind was fixed elsewhere on her.
“She won’t dare hurt you or your dad again,” I said, my voice low, steady, almost a whisper to myself. My reflection stared back at me, eyes hard, unyielding. "She thinks she knows the game." A bitter laugh escaped my lips. "But I wrote the rules."
I straightened, my jaw tightening as a surge of resolve coursed through me. "I’ll teach her," I muttered, the words tasting like iron. "Teach her what it means to cross me." My fists relaxed, but the cold determination in my chest only grew.