CHAPTER 185: EMOTIONAL BLACKMAIL
James sat in his home office, watching the scene unfurl with a slight smile tugging at his lips. He was going to deal with them, one after the other. He made a silent promise to himself.
He picked up his phone and dialed Jared.
"Jared, where are we on your father's sisters?"
"By tomorrow, Roberta's business will be the first to fall. You'll see it on the headlines."
"What about her shares in HH Petroleum and Oil Refinery?"
"We already have her 7% shares. She signed them over to our agent after he offered her a deal she couldn't refuse. What she doesn't know is that the document she signed is fake. By tomorrow, when she realizes her mistake, she'll be broke... and left with absolutely nothing to her name."
"Good job, Jared. Thanks for not disappointing me."
"Well, I learned from the best," Jared boasted over the phone.
James smiled faintly and ended the call.
Then he placed another call, this time to Antonio.
"Antonio, I've missed you here. When do you conclude your business, and how far have you come?"
James went straight to business, skipping any form of pleasantries. Antonio sighed, familiar with his boss's personality, but chose not to comment.
At least the man missed him. That was something.
"I found four more people like us, Sir. They're willing to be loyal to our cause. The rest were… very much unwilling, no matter what I threw at them."
"When you say 'the rest,' how many more are we talking about?"
"Ten more of us out there, Sir, who aren't with us."
"Someone seems to be doing a lot of experimenting these days," James commented drily, then continued, "And our allies?"
"They're still with us, Sir. They re-swore their oath to you—swore their loyalty and allegiance to your cause."
"Good. I'll follow up on the remaining super soldiers myself. You need to come back home."
"Just one more thing to do, Sir," Antonio replied.
"Which is?" James asked, growing impatient.
"I'm following a lead on Timothy Hutchins, Sir."
"What!" James flared. "Antonio, that was not your mission! What if something had happened to you? How can you explain this devilry and foolishness to me?"
"Boss, I know. But I couldn't help it. I got an incentive… and followed up on it. I promise to be careful. After all, you can always track me. You've been trying to find out who the man is for a while now, and it's not been productive."
James exhaled, jaw tight with concern.
"I promise I'll be careful," Antonio added. "If in the next 24 hours you don't hear from me… you'll know I'm in serious trouble."
"You have less than 24 hours, Antonio. If I don't hear from you in 15, I will come find you."
With that, James ended the call abruptly, his jaw clenched and mind racing.
Immediately he ended the call, there was a slight knock on the door. When he didn't respond, the person walked in anyway.
He found his wife standing there at the doorway in one of those sexy nightwears he had gotten her. God, didn't she look so breathtaking just standing there and staring at him?
He swallowed hard and forced himself to look away so he didn't ogle her from head to toe. Besides, he was still mad. When he had come back earlier today, she wasn't there to welcome him after everything he had gone through for her. He didn't even bother waiting—just stalked straight into his study. He wasn't expecting her to come find him. But then again, he was putting on an act of not forgiving her yet. He couldn't forget that.
"What do you want, Diana?" His voice was a little sharp.
Diana flinched, biting her lips. She didn't even have the courage to walk up to him.
"I prepared dinner for you," she murmured.
A normal person wouldn't have heard her, but James did, clearly. Still, why was she so scared of him? Then it hit him: the aura he was releasing was probably terrifying right now.
He consciously toned it down a notch and squarely turned to face her.
"What do you want, Diana? Speak clearly."
Diana bit her lip again. What did she have to lose?
She boldly walked further into the room and stood in front of him.
"I said I made dinner," she said more clearly this time, without fear. "And I'm asking you to come eat."
"Well, I already ate out."
"That is a very big lie, James," Diana quickly retorted. "You don't eat out. You never do."
"If you don't want to eat my food, fine. But you don't have a choice. You'll have to force yourself to eat it."
James looked at the woman as if she had lost her mind. Was this how she was supposed to behave so he could forgive her quickly? Wasn't she supposed to act all sweet and demure? He chuckled inwardly at his own weird thoughts and clenched his jaw.
He picked up his jacket from behind the chair and stood up.
"Diana, I said no and that's final."
Diana quickly moved to stand in front of him, refusing to budge. James grabbed her hand, wanting to push her out of the way, when she suddenly started crying.
"What now, James? Do you want to hurt me because you can't eat my food? You forget I'm also carrying your children, right?"
Damn the woman. Could she be any more infuriating right now?
He brought his hand back down.
"Diana, please leave my way."
"Not until you eat my food," she fired back stubbornly.
"Fine," James snapped, brushing past her as he stormed downstairs.
Diana allowed herself a little smile at her small victory.
Emotional blackmail was the go-to.