Echoes of Vengeance: The Sweet Wife's Perfect Revenge-Chapter 103: The End Game
Chapter 103: The End Game
The clock ticked, the sun dipped, but Damien had no solution. He had drunk several glasses of whiskey, but no intoxication was helping him.
Convincing Aveline?
Aveline would ask him hundreds of questions about changing the chairman, and begin doubting him and his actions. He couldn’t let that happen.
Transferring all the shell companies to Charlie Harmon?
Charlie would take all the blame, but how safe was that? What if Charlie had concrete proof against him?
If not, Damien would lose all the money.
Finding a scapegoat?
Even if he chose somebody to throw under the bus, how was he going to prove Charlie’s innocence? Charlie wouldn’t stop until he involved them.
Thus, the last option, divorcing Aveline?
No, he couldn’t give up so easily. The Crown, the twin towers, could only be a sensation if it were built in the city, and that prime location would be a chef’s kiss for his project.
How could he lose her?
However, if he divorced her, he could have the Ashford Holdings shares back.
But he was planning an accident after the Crown project launched. Then he could have the land, shares, and sympathy.
Damien smashed the third glass on the floor. If he had a chance to speak with Charlie, he could have asked him to stay quiet for a month or two, until he got rid of Aveline.
Then he would have the project on track, all the money would be safe, and everything would return to as it was.
As if he wasn’t distracted enough by other issues, his mobile started ringing from an unknown number. His hands shook, panic clawing his chest, but he answered the call.
[Hello, Director Ashford!]
The voice so familiar yet strange, Damien used up all his sane mind to guess the man’s voice. "Daniel Anderson!?" His voice pitched high by the end.
[That’s me.]
"You f**ker, how dare you run away with my money?" Damien roared. "The minute I get my hands on you, you’re dead." His voice turned deadly cold. "You think you can steal from me and just disappear? I’ll hunt you down like the rat you are. Every contact I have, every resource at my disposal, I’ll use them all to make you pay. You have no idea what you’ve unleashed."
[So much anger.] Daniel mused. [Director Damien, I recently learned you’re married to Aveline Laurent and you’re plotting against the Laurents. Very bad, Damien Ashford, very bad.]
His tone obviously carried sarcasm to taunt Damien. He continued, [Alright, alright, I didn’t call you to congratulate you. I’ll come to the point. You’re hunting me, and Henry Laurent is also looking for me. And I need to escape from you both. And I’ve spent all the money you gave me. So you have two options.]
Damien hissed, "I’m not giving you a penny."
Daniel laughed at the other end of the call. [Damien Ashford, hear me out first. Option one: Give me a hundred million, and I’ll disappear from the face of the earth. Option two: I’ll just go to Henry Laurent and reveal everything to him.]
Damien’s blood ran cold. Another problem, another knife at his throat. As if Charlie and Vivienne weren’t enough, now Daniel was back to finish him. His carefully constructed world was crumbling faster than he could patch it up.
[Instead of dying of hunger or dying at your hands, let me take you to the ground with me.]
"Daniel!"
Daniel ignored the rage in Damien’s voice and continued, [I’m a very kind person, so I’ll give you lots of time. Sharp at this time, I’ll call you tomorrow. Decide and prepare the money. Or be prepared to face the wrath of the Laurents.]
With that, the call ended.
The silence in the room was more explosive than Daniel’s words. Damien couldn’t believe everything had to be solved by tomorrow, and not to mention everything had risen at the same time.
And each one was ending with him at the mercy of the Laurents.
Charlie, Daniel, and Vivienne.
Before he could grab another glass to down whiskey, he heard it. The precise and hard bootsteps approached him. His heart began racing against time. He knew who was coming, but he began hoping it shouldn’t be him.
Yet, he stared at the door, holding his breath, and it opened. Damien’s eyes widened at the sight of the man, the criminal, the danger.
Simon Cladwell, clad in a three-piece business suit and paired with a circular hat, tilted his head at the sight of Damien. His face looked nothing different from a middle-aged businessman, but when he smiled, even Damien felt a chill run down his spine.
There are people and universities to teach business, but how could Damien know about the illegal business?
When Damien was desperate to gather funds, make Ashford Holdings belong to him, Simon appeared at the right time. He taught Damien, then assisted Damien in covering up the darker business dealings.
Before Damien could realize that Simon could be dangerous to him, it was too late. Though Damien stopped working through Simon, the links were hard to break.
Yet, Damien swallowed down the fear gripping his throat. He would never show fear of becoming prey to this man.
"Damien... It’s been a long time." The heavy voice filled the room as Simon covered the distance between him and Damien.
Damien could smell the cigarette smoke from Simon. A sign that Simon wasn’t as cool as he was appearing to be. But he was still the most dangerous person.
"Indeed," Damien said as he glanced at the man who closed the door.
Victor Hale, a tall, dark, and ruggedly handsome man in his late thirties. He was the chief security officer of Ashford Holdings.
When Damien hired Victor, he purely thought Victor was just a former military officer. But his delusion cracked when Simon had entered the company building without screening or an appointment.
Thus, though Victor worked for him, he was loyal to Simon. A man planted by Simon.
Victor ignored Damien’s gaze, and Simon sat down after glancing at the mess around the room. "Damien Ashford, do you know why all this happened?"
"Linette Rowe." Damien plainly responded.
However, Simon shook his head in disagreement. "Women just clean up the mess wherever they see it." He pointed at Damien as he added, "Your incapability." freeweɓnøvel~com
Damien glared at the man but said nothing. He would rather stab a knife through Simon’s neck to stop him from hanging the sword above his neck.
"How are you going to deal with it?" Simon finally asked what he had come for.
Damien had no solution, so how was he going to respond? So he stayed quiet.
Simon had already spoken with Clara, and he was completely aware of Damien’s hesitation. So he spoke, "I would have chosen to get rid of you, but you need to save that CFO. So I will help you."
Damien’s brow raised sharply. He knew Simon’s help wasn’t going to be helpful for him.
Simon announced, "I’ll kill your wife."
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