Chapter Chapter 677 Old Wounds

Nathaniel did consume the drugged glass of wine. He was severely intoxicated when Yerek had him brought to Anya’s room.

Even so, Anya did not approach him as they planned.

In fact, she was forcibly reminded of the time when Madison schemed against Nathaniel and how similar her predicament was compared to Madison’s.

A strange fear suddenly gripped Anya.

If he finds out who I really am, I may end up even worse than Madison.

At that thought, Anya turned pale., Yerek sneered at her fearful expression. “The plan is just beginning, and you’re already chickening out?”

Anya hated more than anything being looked down upon. She cast a sideways glare at him. “If you are as good as you claim, how did Gibson Corporation end up in Christina’s hands?”

Mercilessly, she struck him where it hurt the most.

Anya never acknowledged Yerek’s abilities, so when she found out that he was Nigel’s illegitimate son and that Nigel wanted to hand Gibson Corporation over to him, she grew to hate her brother who had taken everything from her.

We are now in the same boat. How dare he look down on me?

Not content with inwardly ridiculing him, she even needled him on his sore spot.

“Let’s call off our partnership if you feel that I’m not good enough for you.” After the incident, Yerek lost faith in Anya becoming the lethal weapon in his hands the way he thought she would be. He was not going to sit around and wait.

If the first plan falls through, I can initialize the second.

However, Yerek was not planning on letting Anya in on it.

Naturally, Anya was unwilling to. She needed him for his financial support to afford the equipment necessary to maintain her façade.

We are halfway through the plan. Though we’ve had some hitches, we have at least achieved the desired effect.

Anya set aside her pride. “You know how reckless I am with words, Yerek. It wasn’t my intention to look down on you. Since the misunderstanding between Christina and Nathaniel did not manage to force his hand, we can act through her instead. It would be a waste after going through all that effort to attend this conference if we were to go our separate ways at this juncture.”

Yerek remained impassive. “If you want to be Mrs. Hadley, you’d better put aside your petty tricks and stick to the plan.”

Hmph. How dare he order me around like a slave?

Despite her inward grumbling, she maintained her meekness before him. “I got it, Yerek. Don’t worry, I’ll do as you say from here on out. Dad’s in jail, and Grandma is old and more senile than ever. The only person I have left is you. Please don’t cast me aside.”

Raising his brows, Yerek sneered, “Isn’t Grandma becoming increasingly frail what you want?”

Anya looked away. Yerek’s penetrating gaze made her deeply uneasy.

She gave a simpering laugh. “How could you think of me that way, Yerek? Grandma doted on me, and I love her. How could I harbor such wicked thoughts? I’m not a heartless woman like Christina.”

Yerek did not care much for Azure, and her fate meant nothing to him. He only brought her up to rattle Anya.

Yerek had a copy of the leverage Azure had over Anya. Furthermore, his copy was more complete and incriminating.

I will not go easy on Anya if she dares betray me.

“What shall we do next, Yerek?” Anya changed the subject and put on a look of humble ingratiation.

Before the ship docks tomorrow night, you must get something useful from Nathaniel. It would be best to convince him to accept you.” Yerek’s eyes glittered shrewdly. “If he does not, sabotage his project. I don’t think he will be that unfazed when tens of billions are at stake.

Yerek was well prepared for that day.

He had spent three whole days going over the identities of the important guests of the international business conference and spared no expense to learn Nathaniel’s itinerary for that trip Anya was not as certain. “You saw it yourself,” she argued doubtfully. “When I told Nathaniel he should take responsibility for me, I got the sense that he wanted to kill me. To have him change his mind in the span of a day is impossible.”

“That is your mission to accomplish.” Yerek did not care about the process, only the results.

Anya resigned herself to her fate. “All right. I’ll do my best, but I can’t promise anything.”

Christina bunked with Victoria that night.

Nathaniel left her plenty of calls and messages to explain his innocence, but Christina ignored them and blocked him on every platform. (2)

Nathaniel was restless. He rose, intending to speak to Christina, but Sebastian, who was standing guard outside, stopped him.

“Are you going to see your wife, Mr. Hadley?” Drawing on his experience from reading about romantic advice, he attempted to dissuade Nathaniel. “I don’t recommend it. Women cannot be reasoned with in their fury. It’ll only make her angrier at you if you were to see her right now.”

Nathaniel slumped, defeated, back onto his bed. His handsome features were contorted with agony. “She blocked me everywhere. Her hating me is the least of my worries right now.”

That was his first time he expressed his true concerns.

His marriage with Christina had not come easy, and they both knew it.

Christina is not a woman who can be taken with honeyed words and hollow promises.

Once again, Nathaniel lamented his carelessness during the banquet that night to allow the person scheming against him to gain access and leverage.

“Mrs. Hadley won’t hate you.” Sebastian was no expert in deciphering what women thought, so he was at a loss in comforting Nathaniel. “You need to give her time to think.”

Nathaniel rubbed his eyes wearily. “Where did that Vera come from?”

At the mention, Sebastian produced the information he had compiled beforehand.

“Vera Ludwig, the daughter of a jewelry tycoon from Wallera, graduated from a globally renowned school and founded her studio at the age of eighteen. She’s here to attend the conference on behalf of her father to secure some projects, but that’s only one of her reasons for being here. The other is to secure a fiancé.

“Here’s the kicker–Vera disappeared from the public eye for three years when she was twenty, and nobody knew where she went or what she did during the interval. The next time she returned home was when her father died. Even now, she has not managed to claim the inheritance left to her. Rumor has it that the real Vera is dead.”

Nathaniel raised his eyebrows. “Why?”

The Ludwig family is plagued by a hereditary disease–its direct descendants never live twenty–five.”