Chapter 41

After being thrown out, Drake stood with his mother and Sienna outside the Sterling estate.

“Son, what do we do now?” Margaret was nearly in tears. “Have we ruined everything with the Sterlings? What about the investment?”

“Will they retaliate?” Sienna trembled. “The Sterlings are so powerful.”

Drake remained silent, moving like a puppet with cut strings, his expression vacant and lifeless.

Later that evening, as Asher drove Thalia home, she hesitated outside her building. “About today…”

He brushed a strand of hair from her face, his voice low and vulnerable. “When he said you could have been married and happy if he’d known your identity… I was afraid. If you-”

“There is no ‘if,” Thalia cut him off gently, meeting his dark eyes. “Don’t worry about things that never happened.”

“Besides,” she added seriously, “I never planned to marry Drake anyway.”

Asher’s eyes brightened. “Really?”

Thalia nodded, smiling. She shivered slightly in the night air, but her eyes sparkled. “Back then, I never thought about marrying Drake. But now, I’m looking forward to our engagement ceremony.”

Asher slipped off his jacket, wrapping it around her as he pulled her close. “So am I.”

Drake left the estate alone in his car, disappearing into the night.

Sienna drove Margaret back to their hotel, both women still shaken from their humiliation. As they stepped out of the car in the underground parking garage, they were suddenly grabbed from behind. Before either could scream, bags were pulled over their heads and everything went dark.

They awoke in a dimly lit private room, forced face–down against a glass table. A man covered in tattoos lounged on the sofa across from them, one leg crossed casually over the other.

“Let’s have some fun,” he smiled menacingly. “Share a drink with me?”

Margaret, still playing the wealthy matriarch, began hurling abuse at him. “How dare you! Do you know who I am? When my husband-”

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Your Gold Digger is Actually A True

40.8%

Chapter 41

man’s smile never wavered as he nodded to his associate. The black suited man grabbed Margaret by

“Who

woman. One more word and we’ll solve that problem permanently.” He pulled out a Swiss Army knife, letting the

her legs trembling beneath her.

wine, splashing it across

can’t drink!” Margaret

vanished. With a sharp gesture, his men began forcing liquor down their throats. No matter how they struggled,

after glass, bottle after bottle, until their stomachs distended painfully.

dimple the skin. “Watch who you cross in this city. Some people aren’t as

lip quivered, her face bloodless with terror.

suddenly roared, making

and their lives literally in his hands, they could only

we understand,” they

stood outside Drake’s

Are you in there?”

Silence.

phone to call him. The phone rang endlessly before disconnecting. Since that night at the Sterling estate, Drake had completely disappeared – no

confirmed he

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is Actually A

41.1%

Chapter 41

BANG! BANG!” She pounded harder. “Drake Ashcroft! I’m not leaving until you open this

minutes of relentless knocking, the door finally opened. A wave

making her gag.

She pinched her nose

unshaven, his face oily and unwashed.

and sweat suggested he hadn’t showered in

done to yourself?”

voice hollow. “What do you

you.” She pushed past

on despite the midday hour. The spacious suite was

black.

on the lights with a grimace. Empty

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