Chapter 10 What A Sleazy Move
Blair glanced down at Belinda, his voice rough and low. “Belinda, I figured Dina would come around eventually and accept the baby. That was my mistake. I never should have forced it on her like that.”
“Katie, get Ms. Hobbs to the hospital.” With that, Blair spun on his heel and marched into the venue without a backward glance.
“Blair…” Belinda stared after him, her mask of fragile suffering cracking into raw hatred and rage.
Since getting pregnant, Blair had always put her and the baby first. This was the first time he’d ever… abandoned them for Dina. She thought, ‘Dina! It is all that wretched woman’s fault!‘
“You think you’re the only one who can pull the pity card? In your dreams if you think you can snatch Blair from me.” A chilling venom gleamed in Belinda’s eyes.
Inside the venue, Dina was locked in discussion with a rep from a potential collaborator when a shadow abruptly fell over them.
Blair wedged himself squarely between her and the other guy, his posture all aggression and zero courtesy. “Dina, we need to talk.”
Dina’s eyes turned to ice. “I’ve got nothing to say to you.”
“If you want to air our three years of marriage right here in public, fine by me.”
The word “marriage” had the nearby execs perking up, their eyes sparkling with juicy gossip.
Dina was speechless, thinking, ‘What a sleazy move.’
She stalked off to an empty corner of the hall, her voice laced with raw irritation. Out with it, whatever you’ve got to say, make it snappy.”
“You never talked to me like that before…” A flash of hurt crossed Blair’s chiseled features. He reached for her hand. “Dina, I screwed up. I had no clue about the fever that day, or the back injury… I’m sorry.
“I should’ve been there when you needed me. Does it still hurt?”
Dina jerked her hand free with a grimace, sarcasm dripping from her words. “How kind of you to care now. Why not hold off until I’m six feet under before you bother asking?”
Blair’s brows knit together tightly. “I’m sorry. It was all on me. But if it hurt that bad, why didn’t you just tell me? You know I‘ d have-”
“Blair.” Dina interrupted, exasperation boiling over. “Do you hear the nonsense coming out of your mouth? Back in the day, you’d spot even the slightest sniffle or headache from a mile away. That day, I was pale as a ghost, burning up, did you honestly miss all of it?
“Even Katie noticed my back was wrecked. How could you be so oblivious?”
She closed the gap, her piercing stare cutting right through his pretense. “If your feelings have changed, just admit it. Don’t fake this undying love routine. It just comes off as desperate and nauseating.”
“My feelings haven’t changed.” Blair bristled like he’d been slapped, firing back desperately. “I love you. I always have, I still do, and I always will! I just… slipped up. You can’t erase everything we’ve built over one mistake, Dina.”
“Wow.” Dina gave a mocking slow clap, disgust plain on her face. “What a unique brand of love, truly groundbreaking. Too bad I can’t handle it. Save that profound devotion for Belinda and the bun in her oven.”
“Dina!” Blair’s temper finally shattered, fury and regret surging as he glared at her. “I’ve swallowed my pride and apologized. What else do you want from me? Cut it out already! Push this any further, and you’ll destroy us for good.”
“Us?” Dina laughed as if she’d just heard the most ridiculous joke imaginable, her lips twisting into a sharply sarcastic smirk. “You have the gall to talk about feelings now? After all the repulsive things you’ve done, you’re only worried about hurting them at this point? What were you doing earlier?
“Mr. Woodward, I’m busy. I don’t have time to stand here chatting about this nonsense. Move aside, please!”
She stepped around him and walked away with determined strides.
Blair’s face darkened to a stormy gray, his word Successfully unlocked! teeth. “You’re really going to hand this deal
over to outsiders? Dina, even a tantrum has its badly
Dina didn’t even glance back, heading straight for Tom and the chosen partner reps who were waiting. The group
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Chapter 10 What A Sleazy Move
completely ignored Blair’s scowling face and exited the venue together.
Blair’s assistant looked ashen, his voice shaky. “Mr. Woodward… Wonder Group just signed with the Gonzales Group. What
now?”
Fighters Group had poured three whole years of blood, sweat, and tears into landing this contract.
The entire company knew how much Blair had riding on this deal, and now Dina had tossed it away so casually just to get back at him… They’d been so close before. Blair wondered, ‘How have things escalated like this out of nowhere?‘
Blair’s expression was so grim it could squeeze out rain. He stared intently toward where Dina had disappeared, his eyes swirling with deep regret and a gnawing, unspoken anxiety.
He clenched his jaw and barked, “Tail her. Don’t let her out of your sight!”
Inside the Wonder Group’s car, the scenery outside whipped by in a blur.
Dina settled into the back seat and called Joseph. “Joseph, any updates?”
When she’d been dragged into the stairwell, Dina had feigned weakness, then turned the tables the instant Clyde Arias dropped his guard, overpowering and restraining him.
Interrogation wasn’t her forte, so she’d reached out to Joseph to take care of it.
- Joseph’s voice came through, as warm and steady as ever. “Mrs. Woodward, apologies, this guy’s holding out tough. We haven’t broken him yet, but it won’t be long.”
Bang–A heavy thud suddenly rang out over the line, like something solid hitting the floor.
Dina blinked in surprise. “What was that?”
Joseph paused for a couple of seconds, his tone still perfectly composed. “Oh, nothing. Just a pesky rat tipping over a
chair.”
Dina was speechless. She thought, ‘What kind of rat packs that much punch?‘
She got the hint, though, and didn’t push it. “If you can’t get him to talk, switch tactics. Dig into his ties with Belinda.”
No one else but Belinda would try to keep her from the summit.
The whole point of grilling Clyde and extracting a confession was to gather ironclad evidence to bury her for good.
If she had the nerve to come after her, she’d have to pay the price.
Joseph chuckled softly. “Of course, Mrs. Woodward. I assure you, we’ll have answers soon.”
The call ended.
Joseph slipped his phone away and pushed open the basement door, starting to step inside, only to pull back when he spotted the blood seeping across the floor.
The basement looked like a scene from hell itself.
Clyde slumped in a puddle of his own blood, barely resembling a person anymore, his skin split open, flesh mangled, face bloated and caked in grime, several teeth scattered around. All he could muster were slurred, gut–wrenching moans of
agony.
“Han… Hank… Mercy, please spare me… I’ve told you everything. It was Belinda. She put me up to it… The phone… You took it, all the proof’s in there. Just recover the data and you’ll see… Why… Why keep beating me… Ah…”
“Why?” In the shadows, Hank’s voice ernerged, low and chilling like a verdict from the depths of hell. He gracefully lifted a bottle of vivid red chili oil and, with unhurried precision, drizzled it over Clyde’s raw, gaping wounds.
He said, “You hurt her. This meager payback, how could it ever be enough?”
“Ah!” A shriek ten times more harrowing than before ripped through the basement’s eerie silence, lingering in endless
echoes.
