Chapter 3
Charlotte slowly let go of my arm, she stared at my back in disbelief, as if she'd heard the most absurd thing imaginable.
"What... did you say?" she stammered.
I didn't turn around. I just repeated, "I said, I want you dead. Can you make that happen?"
The silence was suffocating, as if the world itself had stopped breathing.
After what felt like forever, I heard Charlotte's laugh.
"Alex, do you have to be this cruel to me?" she whispered.
To you? Cruel?
Charlotte, who's really the heartless one between us?
I said something in the heat of the moment, but you truly wished for my death.
I ignored her and stepped out of the cage that had been my prison for three years.
Outside the gates, a black Rolls-Royce was already waiting for me.
An elderly man in a well-tailored suit stepped out of the car.
When he saw me, he immediately bowed respectfully.
"Sir, you've endured much," he said.
I nodded and handed him my suitcase.
"Mr. John Clark, is everything ready?" I asked.
"Everything's ready. All the covert contacts your father left behind have been activated, and I've reached out to the old guard at Grant Holdings. We're waiting for your word."
John's steady, confident voice brought a flicker of warmth to my cold heart.
I turned back and shot a look at Charlotte, who stood at the villa entrance, utterly stunned.
She could never have guessed that one she'd treated like dirt for three years was actually the only heir to the Grant Family.
Three years ago, the Grant Family was destroyed overnight. My parents were murdered, and I was hunted by our enemies.
John risked everything to get me out, and arranged for me to marry into the Sinclair family following my father's last wishes , hiding my real name so I could survive.
The Sinclairs only agreed to the marriage because they wanted to seize the scattered assets left behind after the Grant Family fell.
They thought I was nothing but a worthless outcast, but they had no idea my father had already prepared enough for me to rise again.
For three years, I endured, curried favor, and humbled myself to dust, merely waiting for my chance.
At first, I thought Charlotte would be the one bright spot in my darkness.
I was naive enough to believe that if I poured my heart out to her, I could thaw that icy heart of hers.
But after 387 calls that never got answered, that was when all my illusions came crashing down.
Nothing hurts more than when your heart finally gives up, but after that, you get to be reborn.
"Sir, please get in," John said as he held the door open for me.
I slid into the car without so much as a backward glance at Charlotte.
"John, spread the word, the plan starts now," I said.
"Yes, sir," he replied.