Chapter 68 THE ULTIMATE PLAYER
Chapter 68 THE ULTIMATE PLAYER
Ricky sat in the dimly lit study of his father’s penthouse, the weight of a phone call pressing against his chest like iron chains. His father, Richard Mendez, was calm, almost clinical, but the words he spoke made Ricky’s stomach drop.
“Your little friend,” Richard’s voice hissed through the line, “Camila… she’s in trouble. Your choice is simple: betray Sonia Verma publicly, support Tessa Clarke’s narrative… or she dies.”
Ricky’s hand trembled around the glass of scotch he barely touched. The floor beneath him felt unreal, like it had vanished. Camila. Innocent, naïve, loyal. A girl who had only wanted to see him do the right thing. And now… trapped.
“You’re insane, she is your daughter” Ricky whispered, though his father’s voice carried the same icy precision.
“Insane? No. Strategic. We’re not playing checkers here, son. This is chess. And you? You’re holding the wrong pieces, she is no daughter of mine, she is just a pet we got for you to keep you company.”
Ricky slammed the phone down, heart hammering, mind spinning. His fingers clutched the edge of the mahogany desk, knuckles white. He thought of Sonia. Her eyes—fire and steel—her confidence that had been unshaken even when Tessa released that video. And now he was asked to betray her?
His head leaned back, jaw tight. “How… how could they even… how could I even consider it?” His eyes hardened, he knew what he must
Across town, Sonia was reviewing financial projections and media strategies when her phone buzzed. It was Marcus. His face appeared on the screen, tight-lipped, eyes grave.
“Sonia… we have a problem,” he said immediately. “Camila… she’s been taken. We don’t have all the details yet, but there’s a note. Ricky…”
Sonia’s heart stopped. “Ricky?” she asked, voice sharp, panic threading through it. “What do you mean?”
Marcus hesitated, then said, “It says that if Veritas isn’t betrayed, Camila won’t make it out alive. The note was signed ‘R.M.’”
Sonia felt as if the room tilted. Every plan she had, every carefully constructed shield, felt like it was collapsing. Her eyes went wide, fury and fear combining in a tight, almost suffocating knot. This was Richard finally coming out to play.“
He wouldn’t…
Ricky wouldn’t… I trusted him,” she whispered under her breath.
RICKY’S INTERNAL STRUGGLE
Meanwhile, Ricky paced his father’s study like a caged animal. The ultimatum wasn’t just a moral dilemma—it was torture. Betray Sonia, the woman he had grown fond of, the woman whose brilliance, strength, and fire had pulled him out of a life of complacency, whose rivalry broke him out of the routine montony his life had been, the woman who kept him amused, his prey… or save Camila, who was helplessly caught in a trap he didn’t even know how to stop.
He pressed a hand to his forehead, breathing raggedly. “I can’t lose either of them,” he muttered. “I can’t… I don't want to choose.”
A knock at the door startled him. Ethan entered, face serious. “Sir… it’s about Camila. They’ve made their demands very clear. Time isn’t on our side.”
Ricky’s fists clenched. “Then we find a way.
I won’t
—betray Sonia, and I don't want to lose Camila, she is the one thing that keeps me barely sane. No matter what my father says.”
Ethan’s expression was solemn. “Sir… there’s only one way to play this safely. You have to
pretend to comply. Make them believe you’re cooperating. That’s the only way to buy time for Veritas to act.”
Ricky exhaled sharply, mind already racing through strategies, contingencies, and countermeasures. His heart pounded as he realized the depth of danger—not just for Sonia, but for the people he cared about.
Later that evening, Ricky managed to send Sonia a secure line, his voice low and strained.
“Sonia… it’s Camila. She’s been targeted. My father—he’s…”
Sonia’s eyes narrowed, fingers gripping the edge of her desk. “Ricky… what did he say?”
Ricky swallowed, voice trembling with guilt and fear. “He gave me a choice. Betray you… or Camila dies.”
There was a long pause. Sonia’s mind raced. Fury, fear, frustration—all collided in a storm of emotion. Her first reaction was outrage.
How dare they put him in that position? How dare they endanger her people, her friends… her world?
“You’re not betraying me,” she said finally, voice low, icy. “No. If he wants to play that game, we’ll play it better. But we don’t make it
his victory. Ever.”
Ricky felt a flicker of relief in her words. “How… how do we do this?” he asked.
Sonia’s eyes were cold fire now. “We make them think they control the board. We feed them misinformation, distractions, and while they’re busy celebrating their supposed win, we dismantle them from the inside. Camila stays alive. And your father’s empire—sorry,
Tessa's narrative—crumbles.”
Ricky ran a hand over his face, exhausted, conflicted, but fueled by a new resolve. “I… I trust you. I trust you with everything.”
Sonia allowed herself a brief nod. “Then trust me completely. Do exactly what I tell you, no improvisation, you know a life is at stake—hers, ours, Veritas. And make no mistake… if we fail, they’ll destroy everything.”
The call ended, and Ricky laughed long, and hard, "I almost pity her mum." He said with a smile still on his voice.
Meanwhile, somewhere in the shadows, standing behind Ricky, Helena Mendez watched, smile tight and calculating. She had planted her trap, and the players were moving exactly as she had predicted.
Sonia was a really gullible fool!
"Well done Ricky, you played this to the fullest even I was almost deceived," she said as she turned to give a wicked smile to her son.
"Well, she threatened everything we stood for, " he said, as his gaze hardened, his eyes were cold enough to frighten even the devil.
"The only way was through her emotions, and I enjoyed diving into her sheets while at it..." he smirked wickedly.