Chapter 14 - The Counter-Offer
I let the silence stretch between us, watching Chloe squirm under my cold, unblinking gaze.
She was trying to extort the woman she had helped ruin, displaying a level of audacity that was almost impressive.
“Let me get this straight,” I said slowly, placing my teacup softly on the saucer.
“You helped my husband betray me, you tried to steal my life, and now you want me to pay for your escape?”
Chloe flinched but pushed her phone across the table, hovering her finger over a play button.
“Julian is going down, and I refuse to raise my child in poverty because he’s an idiot,” she hissed.
“Pay me, and I give you the final bullet to end him.”
I laughed softly, a dry, humorless sound that made her pull the phone back slightly.
“I already have the final bullet, Chloe. I have all his financial records and a federal whistleblower.”
Her face dropped, the last shred of her desperate hope evaporating into the dark air of the bar.
“However,” I continued, leaning closer to her pale face, “I will make you a different offer.”
“You will give me those recordings for free, right now, as an act of goodwill.”
“In exchange, when Julian is inevitably sent to federal prison and left penniless, I won't use my massive fortune to tie you up in custody battles out of pure spite.”
May you like
Chloe gasped, realizing she had walked into a trap of her own making, completely outmatched.
Without a word, she unlocked her phone, emailed me the audio files, and ran out of the bar into the rain.
