Chapter 85 The Apartment
Ben’s apartment felt smaller. The high ceilings, the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the city, the sleek black furniture, everything that usually made him feel powerful now felt like a cage. He paced the open living area in socked feet, the muted television still frozen on the news channel replaying Alexander’s press conference on loop. Every few seconds the ticker updated: BLACKWOOD ENTERPRISES SHARES +2.3% POST-STATEMENT.
Two-point-three percent, in under an hour.
He stopped in front of the screen, hands clenched at his sides. “Lying bastard,” he muttered. “You already knew her. You knew her before we got married. How the fuck does a man like you even cross paths with a lowlife like Maddie?”
Jace, sprawled on the sectional with a beer in one hand and his phone in the other, didn’t look up from whatever he was scrolling. “You’re really asking that question?”
Ben spun toward him. “Yes, I’m asking. Because it’s bullshit. Complete fucking bullshit.”
Jace finally lifted his gaze. “You met her in school. Same way he must have met her or in the club like he mentioned. You noticed her the day you screamed at that girl in front of their whole class, the one who wouldn’t stop telling everyone you were dating her when all she was, was a fuck buddy who got clingy. Maddie was watching just like every other person. We noticed her because of her beauty. That’s all it took.”
Ben dragged both hands through his hair. “That’s not the point. The point is Alexander sitting there telling the world he was already in a relationship with her before me, before the contract. He’s rewriting history on live television and they’re eating it up.”
Jace took a slow pull from the bottle. “He owned it, turned your leak into his tragic love story. People love that shit, CEO billionaire fighting for true love. Meanwhile you look like the controlling asshole who forced a fake marriage.”
Ben kicked the leg of the glass coffee table. The whole thing wobbled violently; an empty beer bottle toppled and rolled across the floor.
“He painted me as the villain,” he hissed. “The guy who didn’t care who his wife slept with. The guy who used her for a board seat. And they bought it. The board bought it. The market bought it. 2.3% in under hour, Jace. 2.3% fucking percent.”
Jace set the bottle down. “Numbers don’t lie, his statement worked.”
Ben dropped onto the opposite end of the sectional, elbows on knees, head in hands. “I need something bigger, something they can’t spin.”
Jace watched him for a long moment. “You still got that footage from the estate? The garden. The night you saw Alexander and Rafe… change.”
Ben’s head snapped up. “I’ve got the raw file. Encrypted. But no one’s going to believe it. I could barely believe it, and I was there. They’ll call it Deepfake, some fever dreams, it’s useless.”
Jace leaned forward, elbows on thighs. “Then give them context.”
Ben frowned. “What?”
“Make a video. You look straight to camera, no theatrics. Just… broken, hurt, betrayed. Tell them Alexander lied, tell them he took your wife because he’s richer, more powerful, more connected. Make it personal, let people feel sorry for you. Then, when the sympathy is high, drop the wolf footage, side by side. Let them see what you saw.”
Ben stared at him scared, Rafe’s warning echoing in his head.
Jace spread his hands. “Nobody believes monsters without a reason to care first. Give them the reason, then show them the monster.”
For almost ten full seconds the only sound was the faint city hum outside the windows.
Then Ben exhaled hard through his nose. “I need to confront her first, face to face, give her one last chance to walk away clean. Sign the divorce papers quietly. If she refuses…” His jaw worked. “I’ll reveal her name, her face, everything.”
Jace nodded slowly. “Smart, but you can’t just show up at the estate. Alexander’s security will have you removed before you reach the gate.”
“I’ll call her,” Ben said. “Tell her we need to end this amicably. Say I want her to come sign in person. She’ll come, she’s soft like that, she trusts people too much.”
Jace raised an eyebrow. “And if Alexander answers?”
“I hang up. Try again later. Or call one of the maids to give her phone when she’s alone, someone who still owes me favors from when I lived there.”
Jace considered that, casually: “Or… skip the confrontation.”
Ben looked at him.
“Kidnap her,” Jace said simply. “keep her somewhere quiet, use her as leverage. Alexander will pay anything to get her back, you walk away rich.”
Ben went very still.
Jace watched his face. “Think about it, no more playing nice, no more hoping the board turns, no more waiting for public opinion, you take what’s yours.”
Ben stood slowly, walked to the window, stared down at the glittering city.
Then he turned back.
Jace was still watching him, expression calm.
Ben crossed the room in three strides and pulled Jace into a hard, brief hug.
“Start looking for a place,” he said against Jace’s shoulder. “Somewhere remote and not easily traceable, soundproof, secure, no neighbors, no cameras.”
Jace hugged back, then pulled away with a small grin. “Already got a couple ideas. Old warehouse in district, one of them has a basement.”
Ben nodded once. “Good.”
He grabbed his phone, scrolled to Maddie’s number, thumb hovering.
“But first,” he said, “I’ll call her. Give her the chance to do this the easy way.”
Jace stood, stretching. “And if she says no?”
Ben’s smile was thin. Cold.
“Then we do it the hard way.”
He pressed the call button.
The line rang once, twice. Ben’s heart hammered, not fear, but anticipation.
He was done losing, this time, he was taking everything.