The Dark Secret of the CEO
Chapter 16

Chapter 16

He remains quiet for a long while, simply staring at me. As always, his thoughts remain a completemystery to me behind those icy eyes of his. I can barely keep looking him in the eye, and I’m wellaware that’s only because he tolerates it. I can feel the stares of the others, Benedict and Swithinbehind 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 socasually. I feel like a child with her parent agreeing to her tantrum. As usual, he’s not displaying anyemotion that could cue me in either. I exchange a quick glance with Bart and Cata behind him, but theyseem 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, HeraHeartgraves. No one can know what you are, of course, nor that you once were June Starr. I’m alreadyworking on building your new identity, you will have all your papers ready within the week. Theessential 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 HeraHeartgraves, especially in this day and age and if you’re planning to go after your ex, you’ll need tohave a rock-solid new identity. I can provide anything else you’ll need if you let me know.”Daily Latestupdate www.noveljar.com

Wow, they can even give me fake identity papers? Or are they real ones, somehow? I can’t imaginethat vampires get arrested while traveling for possessing fake papers, so I do want to believe him onthe 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 Heracan’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 canpull a few strings and make sure they think she had more assets here. If he’s in this for the money, itshould be enough to have him come here and see what’s to win. Since she didn’t leave a will, and shewas 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 wouldbring 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 putme 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 myfuneral. Even if he slept around with her, he probably doesn’t care anymore about her than he didabout 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 becamehis own CEO. He never fails to mention how working hard under my father was such a hugeopportunity 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 fewseconds, 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, andopened 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 ofcelebrities. Actors, Models, Athletes, Musicians and Singers, Entertainers, all sorts of them. He usedyour 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 yourfather’s name, it’s easy to get rid of pretty much any small upcoming rival… How do you want to takehim 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’twant to use Richard’s money, or my other new vampire siblings to do this for me.Daily Latest updatewww.noveljar.com

“…From the inside,” I mutter. “I want to uncover all of his misdeeds. I’m sure there’s a lot more, mydeath is only the tip of the iceberg. I had… heard things, while I was still under his agency. He kept a lotfrom me but I know there were some things going on that just can’t be normal. I want to expose him. Ifwe just try to crush him from the outside, he’ll put on a show again and just start over. I want to dig upevery single bit of dirt I can replace and throw it out there. I want the whole world to see what he’s done tome, how horrible of a human being he is, so there’s nowhere for him to run. I want him to loseeverything. …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 allthat 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 justdoesn’t match the numbers year after year. There are far too many benefits for someone who beganwith a handful of actors to represent, and none of them more successful than June was. His companygrew really fast, even while receiving some external support, there’s something fishy in there. If I wereto 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 bebothered to spare him. Even if his empire crumbled tomorrow, I wouldn’t care a single bit. In fact, ifthere’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 updatewww.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 inmy mind, but the more I think about it, the more obvious it is to me that Charles was the oneresponsible for my death. I don’t know how to answer her, though. How do I get definite proof? I glanceback 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 andwait.

“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 & Brownsregarding the late miss June Starr. First, on behalf of my associate and myself, we’d like to give you ourdeepest condolences, Sir. We were actually looking to get in touch with her next of kin regarding anasset of hers that was left under our supervision, but an associate of her Father’s suggested we reachout 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 Ineed 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 updatewww.noveljar.com

Thank God I am standing across the coffeetable right now, because I swear I would smash that stupidphone 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 topull this to himself!

“Oh, then I’m even more sorry for your loss, Sir,” says Swithin, his voice perfectly hiding the smirk he’sgot 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 toEngland 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 meantwhen 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 hadreceived 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 himeven 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 whileshe wasn’t using it, but a recent audit has shown that the value of the property has risen quitesignificantly amongst the London Market. I was very saddened to hear of Miss Starr’s passing whiletrying to reach her regarding this.”

“That’s… Uh, yes, June had mentioned something about an apartment in London… Who ordered theaudit? 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 wereactually looking to ask Miss Starr if she wanted to consider selling her property. I understand this wasan investment from your Wife, and quite an insightful one, I would say, the value of her property rose by2.3 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 formyself 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 Eyeand Thames. We are talking about a 6,763 square feet penthouse Mr. Williams, currently valued attwenty-six and a half million. I do realize this might be negligible considering your current issues andthe 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 canalways 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 leadingthe conversation, when he’s literally getting himself into Swithin’s lie. Charles must be panicking thathe’s going to lose a 26.5 million pound penthouse to my father’s army of lawyers, when he got a uniquechance 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 anychance?”

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

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

“Thanks for your understanding Sir. They are calling for my flight I believe, but I hope to see you soonin 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 worlddid 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-fiancéis so attracted to money, what else should we have hooked him with? Now, I got him to come here, andI’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 replace 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 replace 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 isalways our priority. The fact that she was famous and that modern times don’t let people forget one’sface will be inconvenient. You have already changed a lot physically, but many people have seen yourpictures and movies. We need more than some physical changes; We need to make sure your exmeets 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 ofspeech… even your accent. We need to change everything, so that there is nothing more left of JuneStarr. And since we had to act before your husband dearest grabs everything that once was yours, weshould 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?”

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