Chapter 147
The security guards didn't hesitate for even a second. They grabbed the still-screaming Chloe by each arm and dragged her out like a sack of trash.
"Charlotte! You bitch! Just you wait! I'm never going to let this go..."
As the cursing faded into the distance, Charlotte's eyes slowly closed, and she sank back into her chair.
Recalling everything Chloe had said, Charlotte's anxiety and worry didn't diminish in the slightest—instead, they grew heavier.
Outside, Chloe had been dumped unceremoniously onto the ground.
She sat slumped on the pavement, her carefully applied makeup now smeared beyond recognition, her hair a tangled mess.
She glared at the closed door through gritted teeth, forcing out a few words between clenched jaws.
"Charlotte, just you wait!"
With that, she climbed into her car.
When she caught sight of her swollen, reddened face in the rearview mirror, her anger flared even hotter, gradually morphing into pure resentment.
Damn it! In her entire life, she'd never been humiliated like this!
She took several deep breaths, pulled out her phone, and dialed a number.
A moment later, a woman's composed voice came through the line.
"Well? Did you see Charlotte looking completely lost and miserable? Is she totally falling apart right now?"
"Nora!" Chloe couldn't contain her fury any longer and shouted at the person on the other end. "What kind of stupid plan was that?!"
"I went after Charlotte just like you told me to—do you know what she did to me?"
"She hit me! And threatened me!"
"Nora, my face is swollen! You have to take responsibility for this!"
After hearing her out, the woman on the other end fell silent for a moment before speaking.
"Calm down."
"The fact that she hit you proves my plan is working, doesn't it?"
Chloe's brow furrowed. "Working? How is this working?"
"Think about it—why would she lash out physically?" Nora spoke unhurriedly, her voice smooth and soothing, carrying an almost hypnotic quality. "Because her mother's disappearance has already thrown her completely off balance. That's why she's snapping at everyone like a rabid dog!"
"It also proves that right now, she doesn't have the mental bandwidth to think clearly about any of this, let alone the ability to track down her mother's whereabouts."
After listening to Nora's explanation, Chloe's anger cooled slightly.
Actually, when she thought about it carefully, that did make sense.
"Your job is to keep provoking her, to keep her in this volatile, explosive state," Nora continued, her words taking on a subtly seductive quality. "The more you needle her, the less time she has to deal with what actually matters."
"As long as we can successfully stall her for the next few days, once things are settled on that end, we'll get to sit back and watch the show, won't we?"
"Are you sure this plan will really..." Chloe still sounded uncertain. "Charlotte isn't simple. I'm worried that..."
"Relax." Nora's voice brimmed with confidence and a barely perceptible viciousness. "Those criminals aren't amateurs."
"Once they've got their sights set on someone, forget Charlotte—even if Alexander himself stepped in, he might not be able to handle it!"
"Besides, she's nothing but a wild girl. What's she going to do, turn the world upside down?"
That's right. As long as she could successfully marry Benjamin, she'd be able to grind Charlotte completely under her heel!
Maybe Charlotte could lord it over her now, but once she became Benjamin's wife, what would Charlotte amount to then?
"Fine. Got it."
Chloe ended the call and stared at the villa in her rearview mirror, a cold smile curling at the corners of her mouth.
Charlotte, we'll see about this!
...
Over the next two days, Charlotte didn't see Alexander even once. He'd vanished completely, as if he'd never existed.
Charlotte understood that the words she'd spoken that day had truly wounded him, carving a deep chasm between them.
Occasionally, when Charlotte sat in the first-floor living room of the villa, she'd find herself replaying the image of his dejected silhouette and those dimmed eyes.
Every time she thought of it, a fine, sharp pain rippled through her chest.
When the emotions overwhelmed her, she'd think about sending Alexander a message.
But in the end, she always put her phone down.
She couldn't fall short at this critical moment!
So she forced herself to calm down again, compelling herself to focus all her attention on the task at hand.
To play this role convincingly, Charlotte spent hours every day in the basement, sitting in front of the monitored computer, making various futile attempts.
She'd log onto major banks' websites to check the requirements for large unsecured loans, or post anonymously on financial forums asking about short-term financing channels.
In short, she packaged herself completely as someone desperate for money with nowhere left to turn.
Of course, behind the scenes, she was also analyzing maps of Imperial City, trying to narrow down locations that might fit where Richard was holding Victoria.
While Charlotte was busy with all of this, at Imperial City's Nightside Bar, Benjamin sat in a corner booth drowning his sorrows.
He knocked back glass after glass of high-proof whiskey. The burning liquor scorched his throat and stomach, but it couldn't ease the restlessness gnawing at his heart.
Next week, he was supposed to marry Chloe.
The news wasn't good tidings for him—it was a sentence.
He didn't want to marry that vain, stupid woman.
During this time, he'd brought it up with Edward repeatedly, wanting to break off the engagement, but Edward's attitude had been unyieldingly firm, leaving no room for refusal.
"Why... why does it have to be her..." Benjamin muttered to himself, his eyes full of unwillingness and regret.
At this moment, the face filling his mind was a cool, proud one—Charlotte's.
They were supposed to be the couple everyone envied.
But unfortunately, seduced by Chloe, he'd betrayed Charlotte and ended up with Chloe instead.
Thinking about it, Benjamin found it laughable.
He'd thrown away a brilliant diamond and chosen fool's gold instead!
Benjamin gritted his teeth and drained his glass in one gulp.
As if by drinking himself into oblivion, he could escape his troubles.
Maybe if he got drunk enough, he'd stop worrying about any of it.