The Dark Secret of the CEO by Sofia de Orellana

Chapter 16

He remains quiet for a long while, simply staring at me. As always, his thoughts remain a complete mystery to me behind those icy eyes of his. I can barely keep looking him in the eye, and I’m well aware that’s only because he tolerates it. I can feel the stares of the others, Benedict and Swithin behind me, Cata and Bart on the doorstep.

“…Alright.”

Alright? That’s it? I don’t know what I expected, but certainly not for him to agree to my madness so casually. I feel like a child with her parent agreeing to her tantrum. As usual, he’s not displaying any emotion that could cue me in either. I exchange a quick glance with Bart and Cata behind him, but they seem just as confused.Daily Latest update www.noveljar.com

“You can get your revenge,” he resumes. “I have no compassion for those who harmed my daughter. My only request is that you do not go back overseas.”

I can’t fly back to the US? How am I supposed to rip that bastard’s throat out with my bare hands then? I want to protest, but before I open my mouth, Swithin subtly clears his throat.

“If you do want to investigate this,” he says. “You will need to do it under your new identity, Hera Heartgraves. No one can know what you are, of course, nor that you once were June Starr. I’m already working on building your new identity, you will have all your papers ready within the week. The essential ones, I mean.”

“You mean official documents?”

“Of course. Passport, birth certificate and so on. It’s our usual procedure. If you’re going to live as Hera Heartgraves, especially in this day and age and if you’re planning to go after your ex, you’ll need to have a rock-solid new identity. I can provide anything else you’ll need if you let me know.”Daily Latest update www.noveljar.com

Wow, they can even give me fake identity papers? Or are they real ones, somehow? I can’t imagine that vampires get arrested while traveling for possessing fake papers, so I do want to believe him on the rock-solid part…

“She still can’t just go ahead like that,” frowns Bart. “We just saw the bastard’s still in the US, and Hera can’t go. How do we get to him, then?”

A smirk appears on Swithin’s lips.

“Her non-existent will. Technically, June Starr is a British citizen, she was born on this continent. I can pull a few strings and make sure they think she had more assets here. If he’s in this for the money, it should be enough to have him come here and see what’s to win. Since she didn’t leave a will, and she was quite wealthy, her inheritance will take a little while for the lawyers and all to get it sorted anyway.”

“So we can lure him with the money, then what?” Frowns Bart. “Hera, what’s your goal?”

My goal?

I take a second to think about it. If they do manage to bring Charles here, what could I do? Of course, there’s the easy solution. Isolate him in some deserted alley, and rip him apart. For sure, that would bring me some satisfaction. Just thinking about it, my thirst for blood sparks up like a flame in the dark. However, it would be far too easy, far too lenient for that bastard. I want to make him pay for all of it. Just a second of pain before a quick death will not make up for the weeks, the months of torture he put me through. I want more.

So, what would hurt him like he hurt me? I don’t care about that chick he brought with him to my funeral. Even if he slept around with her, he probably doesn’t care anymore about her than he did about me anyway. That’s of no good to me…

“…Let’s start with his company,” I mutter.Daily Latest update www.noveljar.com

“His company?” Benedict frowns.

I nod.

“Charles’ very proud of it. He came from a humble background, and he worked hard until he became his own CEO. He never fails to mention how working hard under my father was such a huge opportunity for him, but now he’s branched out and he owns a wealthy enterprise.”

Benedict frowns, and grabs the tablet from Swithin’s hands to pull up a quick search. After a few seconds, he raises his eyebrows.

“…Indeed. If he started like you said he did, he got surprisingly successful at it.”

“A bit too successful, even,” I nod. “He convinced me to break my contract with my former agency, and opened his own to manage me and a handful of other upcoming actors and actresses.”

“That’s not all,” Swithin frowns. “Seems like he got his management agency to represent all sorts of celebrities. Actors, Models, Athletes, Musicians and Singers, Entertainers, all sorts of them. He used your and your father’s name to make a name for himself, and then they all ran to him…”

“I know,” I sigh. “I hate to admit it now, but I helped him promote his agency when he launched it. My… previous agency went down in flames after that.”

“No wonder, this guy has an impressive army of lawyers. With just the size of his company and your father’s name, it’s easy to get rid of pretty much any small upcoming rival… How do you want to take him down, then?”

It only takes me a few seconds to think about it, but if I’m going to do this, I want to do it myself. I don’t want to use Richard’s money, or my other new vampire siblings to do this for me.Daily Latest update www.noveljar.com

“…From the inside,” I mutter. “I want to uncover all of his misdeeds. I’m sure there’s a lot more, my death is only the tip of the iceberg. I had… heard things, while I was still under his agency. He kept a lot from me but I know there were some things going on that just can’t be normal. I want to expose him. If we just try to crush him from the outside, he’ll put on a show again and just start over. I want to dig up every single bit of dirt I can find and throw it out there. I want the whole world to see what he’s done to me, how horrible of a human being he is, so there’s nowhere for him to run. I want him to lose everything. …I want to make it so he is the one trapped, the one who can’t take a single step outside.”

“What if there isn’t that much though?” Sighs Bart, crossing his arms. “You seem pretty unaware of all that was going on, perhaps there won’t be that much dirt to dig, Baby Vamp.”

“Actually,” says Benedict. “I think Hera might be holding something there. The business model just doesn’t match the numbers year after year. There are far too many benefits for someone who began with a handful of actors to represent, and none of them more successful than June was. His company grew really fast, even while receiving some external support, there’s something fishy in there. If I were to guess, I’d think there’s been some dirty money going around.”

“From her Father?” Bart asks.

“Who knows?”

Benedict glances at me, but I genuinely don’t care. My father never cared enough that I would be bothered to spare him. Even if his empire crumbled tomorrow, I wouldn’t care a single bit. In fact, if there’s even the slightest chance he could have taken any part in my death, I do want it to crumble.

“…Are you sure, Baby?” Cata asks, visibly worried for me. “…What if you’re wrong about your fiancé? What if this is all a mistake, he wasn’t the one who… did this to you?”Daily Latest update www.noveljar.com

To be fair, it took a while to get to me too, but now, I have little doubt left. I try to replay the scenes in my mind, but the more I think about it, the more obvious it is to me that Charles was the one responsible for my death. I don’t know how to answer her, though. How do I get definite proof? I glance back at Benedict and Swithin, hoping either one of them could have an answer for me.

After a second, Swithin sighs, and takes out a different phone from the one he’s been using.

“Do you remember his phone number?”

I nod, and dictate it to him. We all wait while Swithin dials it.

“…Hello?” A voice answers after a few seconds.

My blood immediately boils. Charles’ voice. Swithin glares at me, basically to get me to shut up and wait.

“Hello,” says Swithin, taking a very calm and polite voice. “May I speak to Mr. Charles Williams, please?”

“That would be me. Who is this?”

“Good evening Sir, I apologize for the impromptu call. I’m calling from the Law Firm Johnson & Browns regarding the late miss June Starr. First, on behalf of my associate and myself, we’d like to give you our deepest condolences, Sir. We were actually looking to get in touch with her next of kin regarding an asset of hers that was left under our supervision, but an associate of her Father’s suggested we reach out to you first, as Mr. Starr is currently unavailable. Is that alright?”

“Yes,” Charles answers immediately. “We have withheld the information from the general public, but I need to inform you that uh, June and I were actually married. That’s probably why her f- I mean, my

Father-in-law’s secretary redirected you to me. I am her next-of-kin, so to speak.”Daily Latest update www.noveljar.com

Thank God I am standing across the coffeetable right now, because I swear I would smash that stupid phone to the ground right now. How dare he so confidently claim we were married to a perfect stranger! That fucker! There’s no way an associate of my Father would recommend him, he’s just too happy to pull this to himself!

“Oh, then I’m even more sorry for your loss, Sir,” says Swithin, his voice perfectly hiding the smirk he’s got on. “It must have been terrible.”

“Yes, yes indeed…” Sighs Charles, as if just remembering he’s supposed to act sad. “There’s uh… Quite a lot going on now, so may I ask what is this about?”

“Yes, it’s regarding a flat that your fian- sorry, your wife had purchased, in London.”

“An apartment in London? June did? …Are you sure? When?”

“Yes, Sir. Our records show she bought this property a while ago, but since she hadn’t come to England in a long while, it was left for us to manage.”

Swithin suddenly grabs the tablet back, and quickly types something to show me- When? Oh, he meant when could I have purchased an apartment here without Charles knowing? …I think quickly.

“…In 2015, Sir.”

“Six years ago?” Charles mutters, visibly confused.

That’s the most probable date. Right before we met, the year I had my first on-screen success. I had received quite a lot of money from the movie’s success, and I had just reached an age where I could

have purchased an apartment in Europe, with the help of a lawyer or two. This is going to annoy him even more that he’ll think I hid this from him all along.

“Yes,” Swithin keeps smirking. “According to Miss Starr’s request, we were to let the flat be rented while she wasn’t using it, but a recent audit has shown that the value of the property has risen quite significantly amongst the London Market. I was very saddened to hear of Miss Starr’s passing while trying to reach her regarding this.”

“That’s… Uh, yes, June had mentioned something about an apartment in London… Who ordered the audit? I’m not sure I have time to take care of this at the moment.Daily Latest update www.noveljar.com

“I understand, Sir. We can just keep renting it, but with the increasing demand of the market, we were actually looking to ask Miss Starr if she wanted to consider selling her property. I understand this was an investment from your Wife, and quite an insightful one, I would say, the value of her property rose by 2.3 Million.”

“T-two point three million?” I hear Charles almost choke.

I can imagine his stupid face. He was probably thinking I had just bought some tiny apartment for myself that he could just ignore, but Swithin got him hook, line and sinker with that one sentence…

“Yes, Sir,” Swithin nods.

“What kind of property can rise this much?”

“Miss Starr had purchased a six-bedroom flat on South Bank, with a splendid view of the London Eye and Thames. We are talking about a 6,763 square feet penthouse Mr. Williams, currently valued at twenty-six and a half million. I do realize this might be negligible considering your current issues and the loss of your wife, Mr. Williams. Do you want us to perhaps wait or discuss this with her Father

instead? We have all the paperwork waiting here in London, but due to the circumstances, we can always wait after you’ve sorted the inheritance issues with Miss Starr’s family.”

Damn, Swithin is good. His innocent tone is just enough to keep Charles thinking he’s the one leading the conversation, when he’s literally getting himself into Swithin’s lie. Charles must be panicking that he’s going to lose a 26.5 million pound penthouse to my father’s army of lawyers, when he got a unique chance to get this call first…

“No, no,” he quickly opposes. “I… I will see what I can do. Do you have a firm in New York City, by any chance?”

“I regret Sir, we are a tiny firm, and I have to fly back to London in an hour. I’m actually calling from the Airport Lounge. I was lucky one of Miss Starr’s father’s associates was kind enough to call back and give me your number.”

“Yes, yes I understand… T-then I can fly to London. Please send me your availability next week and I will have my secretary schedule it.”

“Thanks for your understanding Sir. They are calling for my flight I believe, but I hope to see you soon in London. Good evening, Sir.”

Swithin hangs up, and I’m still in shock.

“…You’re scary,” I mutter after a second. “A 26.5 million pound penthouse in London? How in the world did you think of that so quickly?”

“Because we do have one,” he scoffs. “And the firm is also real, it belongs to me. Since your ex-fiancé is so attracted to money, what else should we have hooked him with? Now, I got him to come here, and I’m going to try to make him run in circles for a bit so he sticks around thinking he can win a penthouse. Your turn to find how you’re going to give him hell, Baby Vamp.”

Sounds like my nickname’s already adopted by everyone in this family…

“So we got the lad coming here,” says Bart. “What next?”

“Hera can find a way to infiltrate his business and dig into it, but that won’t be easy,” nods Benedict. “First, we need to make sure he doesn’t recognize her. Protecting our secret and identity as vampires is always our priority. The fact that she was famous and that modern times don’t let people forget one’s face will be inconvenient. You have already changed a lot physically, but many people have seen your pictures and movies. We need more than some physical changes; We need to make sure your ex meets a different person if you have to go and confront him.”

“How can I do that? My appearance has already changed a lot, but what more could I do?”

“It’s not just about the looks,” says Swithin. “It’s your attitude, your voice, your mannerisms, your way of speech… even your accent. We need to change everything, so that there is nothing more left of June Starr. And since we had to act before your husband dearest grabs everything that once was yours, we should start very soon. The sooner the better, in fact.”

He turns to Benedict, who sighs quite theatrically, before looking at me.

“…How is your French, darling?” novelbin

*Author Note: Thanks for reading! Please do leave a comment, a like and add to your library! ;p