Chapter 86 NOT LATE!
Giselle slammed her fist into the desk so hard the wood groaned. A bitter, mocking laugh tore out of her throat.
“What do you mean you can’t find that bastard?” she snarled, glaring down at the tracker she’d hired like he was the one who’d betrayed her.
“Really, Miss, he never left the country. Everything was tracked down to the last detail!” he muttered, shrinking back.
Giselle’s hands flew to her hair, gripping tight enough to hurt. Her eyes blazed, pure fury.
“That bastard,” she screamed again—this time launching out of her chair. It crashed backward, skidding across the floor. She dragged in a sharp, ragged breath, licking her lips like she could taste blood already.
Her phone pinged for the third time. She looked down. Her eyes blew wide.
$1.3 million debited.
The name attached to the withdrawal hit like a slap: Carter.
He had left her, drained her. How fucking dare he.
All her money every dirty, desperate cent she had clawed together were gone. Every day the debug alerts screamed at her, yet she still couldn’t pin the bastard down. Worse, it was a joint account. Her name right there next to his.
She pressed her lips into a thin, trembling line. One finger shot to her mouth; she bit down hard on the nail until she tasted copper. If she didn’t move fast, she would be broke. Dead broke. Since the scandal, half her projects had been shelved or ghosted.
The only thing still breathing was Spy X Romance, and tomorrow was the first episode shoot. She hadn’t even scrabbled the script.
Then it hit her.
She dropped back into the chair, slow. A smile crawled across her face as she stared at the tracker.
“I need a hacker,” she said, her voice low and sweet.
He paused, then he smiled back. “For what?”
“Hack into a bank account. Transfer the funds to a new one I control.” Her smile stretched wider, sharper. “I’ll pay you one million.”
His grin turned greedy. “One-point-five.”
Her eyes darkened to black pits. “I could find someone else in ten minutes if you don’t want the job.”
He laughed softly. “Deal.”
He stood. “Money transfers tomorrow. Just send the account details.”
Giselle let out a dark chuckle that didn’t reach her eyes. “If you take my money and run… I’ll hunt you down.”
Her voice stayed soft, almost gentle. But the threat hung there, cold and final. He felt it.
“I wouldn’t,” he said quietly, then walked out.
Giselle exhaled hard and glanced down at her arm. The scar was still angry red, raised, and impossible to hide completely. That night replayed behind her eyes, every second of it. The dark felt thicker now, heavier, like it was watching her back.
She yanked her sleeve down fast, covering the marks. Tomorrow cameras would be rolling. No one could see how scratched and ruined she was. Thank God for her uncle’s lotion; the real batch, not the fake shit he had tried to pawn off.
The lotion actually worked.
She licked her lips again, heaved a sigh. Everything was unraveling too fast. Why the hell was it all collapsing at once?
The darker her thoughts turned, the blacker her gaze became.
Carter actually dared do this to her. Forced her back to that nightmare house. Her lips twitched into something ugly.
“Bastard,” she whispered. “I’ll break every bone in your body when you finally show your face.”
Then she froze.
Cash!
She was walking past:, huge backpack, cap pulled low, movements quick and slippery, like she didn’t want eyes on her.
Giselle shot to her feet. “Ca-”
She cut herself off. No, it was better to follow.
She slipped after Cash, keeping her distance, watching the girl duck into a massive building. A high-end restaurant. What the hell was she doing here?
Giselle tightened her grip on her purse and strode toward the entrance.
“Sorry, invitation card only,” the doorman said, blocking her.
“Invitation?” Giselle echoed, lips parting in disbelief.
She glanced past him, Cash was already disappearing deeper inside.
She reached for her purse, fumbling for a card she didn’t have—
“Giselle!”
A fan’s shriek sliced through the air. Giselle froze, her hands shook.
Shit.
She shoved on her sunglasses fast. “Please, let me in,” she hissed at the doorman.
“No card, no entry, Miss.”
Cash vanished into the elevator.
“Please-”
The fan girl rushed forward. “Oh my God, it’s Giselle!”
“Shhh, don’t shout,” Giselle muttered, her voice low and tight.
But the girl kept screaming and more heads turned, they even pulled out their phone.
“Giselle!”
“It’s really her!”
“I need a photo!”
The crowd surged forward, Giselle stumbled backward, her heart slamming.
“Shit,” she hissed, ducking to the side.
They followed, screaming, shoving, footsteps pounding behind her.
“Fuck, fuck!”
More joined.
She broke into a run, her cap yanked low, bolting straight into an alley. She spotted a fire escape ladder, scrambled up, and threw herself through an open window.
She slammed it shut behind her, chest raising and falling, sweat stinging her eyes.
Then a scream erupted from behind her.
Giselle whipped around.
A teenage girl, maybe sixteen stood frozen, her hands flying to her chest. “Oh my God… it’s you… how-what!”
“Mum!” the girl shrieked.
Giselle lunged, clamping a hand over her mouth.
“Yes?” A voice responded from the stairs.
Giselle shook her head frantically at the girl. Pleading.
“N-nothing, Mum!” the girl called back, her voice wobbly.
The footsteps retreated.
Giselle slowly released her and forced a smile.
“I’m sorry. The crowd… they were chasing me. I just needed somewhere to hide.”
The girl stared, eyes huge, then grinned like she had won the lottery.
“You’re my bias. Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone you’re here.” She bowed low.
Giselle’s heart kicked, her perfect time to play nice. She rested gentle hands on the girl’s shoulders and lifted her up.
“No need to bow. We’re equal, okay?”
The girl’s smile split wider.
“What’s your name?” Giselle asked.
“Tia,” she breathed, eyes shining like she was staring at a goddess.
Giselle smiled soft, practiced and brushed a hand lightly through the girl’s hair. “Nice name.”
Tia’s expression melted into pure awe.
“Please, sit on my bed!”
Giselle collapsed onto it, legs shaking, still panting.
“What do you want me to sign?”
Tia darted to her desk, rummaging through textbooks and a phone case.
“I watch every one of your movies and series. I love all your roles: the soft female lead, everything. And your romance scenes with the male leads? Top-tier. So cute!”
Giselle hummed. Her smile stayed plastered on.
Inside, she hissed low: quiet enough the girl didn’t hear.
Fans.
Always the same. Annoying. Clingy and Suffocating.
Tia hurried back, clutching textbooks and her phone case for signatures.
Giselle’s fake-sweet smile stretched wider.
Meanwhile…
Cash let out a shaky breath the second the elevator doors closed.
She wasn’t supposed to be here.
But when she’d spotted Giselle tailing her, she had no choice, but to duck in fast, slip past the doormen when they weren’t looking.
She leaned against the wall, eyes fixed on the floor, but a little girl beside her kept staring.
Cash glanced over. A faint smile tugged at her mouth, she remembered her little sister staring at the girl.
Then the child burst into tears.
Cash froze.
The mother yanked her daughter close and shot Cash a venomous look.
“Freak,” she muttered, stepping out as the doors opened.
Cash stared after them, disbelief still burning in her chest.
She to the stairs instead. Cap pulled lower, moving fast.
Her phone buzzed.
\[You have ten minutes.\]
She swallowed hard. Picked up her speed.
Finally, the back door. She shoved it open, slipped through, and shut it behind her.
Too far down, plus the stairs would kill her time.
So she jumped.
She hit the ground hard, rolled once, sprang up and froze.
“I’m not late,” Cash said quietly.
Nine flashed a slow, creepy smile.
“I know.”
Two hulking men stepped out from the shadows behind Cash.
Before she could turn, a sack dropped over her head.
Blackness swallowed everything.