Chapter 4
Keane finally found his voice after Valerie left Room 1908. “Mr. White, did you and Ms. Collins really just sign the divorce agreement?”
Lucius took a sip of his red wine. “Give me everything you have on Valerie.”
Keane reported, “Ms. Collins is the daughter of Skyler Woodward and his ex-wife, Lilith Collins. Back then, the Woodwards were fairly well-off. Lilith, on the other hand, was raised in an orphanage without ever knowing her parents.
“In their third year of marriage, Skyler’s current wife, Marnie Whitmore, became pregnant with twins and used that as leverage to take Lilith’s place. Unable to accept her husband’s betrayal, Lilith left with their two-year-old daughter.
“Records show that Ms. Collins’ mother went missing more than a decade ago. She was brought up by her adoptive father in a remote northern town.”
Lucius’ brows knitted. “Her mother went missing?”
“Yep. She went missing, not dead. Hence, Ms. Collins became an orphan.”
Keane’s tone shifted when he talked about the Woodwards’ relationship with Valerie. “Not long ago, Skyler sought her out, saying he wanted to make up for lost time and even offered her a share of their family assets if she came home.
“In truth, the Woodwards wanted her back because of Sonia’s twin brother, Jay.”
Keane’s eyes
darkened with disgust when he mentioned Jay.
up with
Jay was a spoiled scion who ran over people with his car, picked fights, and teamed thugs to pick on his schoolmates. He even drove a girl to suicide, and the autopsy revealed that she had been pregnant.
Perhaps even the heavens had had enough of him, because Jay became gravely ill and needed a kidney transplant to live.
It was no wonder Skyler acted out of character and pleaded Valerie’s case when she was taken. In hindsight, his plea wasn’t out of kindness. He merely wanted to force Valerie to give his wayward son her kidney.
“Since Ms. Collins’ case is closed, should we inform the Woodward family?” Keane inquired.
Lucius snorted. “I’m only interested in Sonia’s ability. Whether her family lives or dies has nothing to do with me. Valerie’s young, but she’s quick-witted and a master of schemes, both in plain sight and behind the scenes.”
Chapter 4
Keane kept a straight face, but deep down, he gave Valerie a silent thumbs-up. Not only had she humbled the Woodwards, but she had also used Lucius’ reputation to tuck herself safely in a cell and deliberately miss the surgery. Even if Jay couldn’t make it, none of it would have anything to do with her.
After stirring up all that trouble, she knew that Lucius would bail her out, knowing he’d worry she wouldn’t obediently sign the divorce agreement. Every move she made was calculated to perfection, leaving nothing anyone could pick apart.
Everyone hailed Sonia as a genius, but Keane thought Valerie, the young woman from the countryside, was even sharper when it came to strategy.
“How skilled is Sonia in hacking?” Lucius asked out of the blue.
Keane answered truthfully, “She’s one of the best in the country.”
“Who’s better, her or Zero?”
Without the slightest hesitation, Keane responded, “Zero’s the very best of the hacking world. If they weren’t so mysterious and impossible to pin down, you wouldn’t have needed to partner with Ms. Woodward, Mr. White.”
Lucius glanced at him. “It’s a pity her award-winning program was breached in seconds.”
Keane was rendered speechless.
Valerie pushed open the door to Absolute Zero and was met with a burst of pounding music
that made her frown.
Just then, someone reached out from behind her. However, before it could touch her shoulder, she caught their arm and flipped them over.
“It’s me, Val!” the person hurriedly said.
Valerie turned around and came face-to-face with a strikingly handsome young man whose features were delicate and androgynous. He wore a light blue suit that somehow mixed elegance with roguish charm.
He massaged the arm she had pinched and grumbled, “For someone so young, you’re pretty strong. I thought you were going to snap my arm.”
Valerie didn’t look the least bit guilty. “That’s what you get for sneaking up on me, Everett. You should know my temper by now.”
Everett Blackwell grinned. “Come on, I was just playing. Don’t be so petty.”
Right then, a good-looking young waiter walked over with a fruit platter. When he walked past
However, his eyes kept drifting toward Valerie.
Absolute Zero was the hottest nightspot in Windmere.
The club was famous for hiring attractive staff. Even the owner, Everette, was devilishly handsome. Yet, in that glamorous crowd, he was still in a league of his own.
He waved the waiter away, signaling him to leave. The waiter reluctantly tore his gaze from Valerie’s face and walked away with the fruit platter.
Everett slipped his arm around Valerie’s shoulders and led her to his go-to seat. “What do you think of the place?”
“I thought you ran a law firm.”
After murmuring a few words to the bartender, Everett looked back at Valerie with a smile. ” The law firm’s just my side hustle. This club is my real passion.”
Valerie was at a loss for words.
Everett was a legend in the legal world. Everyone knew him-he’d never lost a case.
His law firm was flourishing, yet he shifted his focus to a raucous nightclub. What was he thinking?
Before long, the bartender brought over two drinks -a vivid blue cocktail and a cup of warm milk. Everett slid the milk toward Valerie and clinked his glass against it. “Come on. drink with me.”
Valerie wrinkled her nose. “You called me here just to drink milk with you?”
Have a
He snorted. “Don’t you know why I called you here? How long have you been in Windmere?”
“A year.”
“If I hadn’t caught wind of your little run-in with the cops, would you have ever reached out to me?”
Everett had friends all over the world, but there were only a few he truly cared about. Valerie, who had once lived in a quiet northern town, was one of those few.
A year ago, she had vanished from his circle. He asked everyone he knew, but no one had any idea where she’d gone or if she was still alive.
That evening, he learned she was in Windmere and was caught up in a legal case. He went to bail her out as her lawyer, only for her to turn him down.
Valerie simply told him that someone else would get her out soon, and he didn’t need to
4/4
bother. She hadn’t changed at all. She was still a woman whose words were as solid as her actions.
Valerie tilted her head back and downed the milk. “I ran into some trouble a year ago. I didn’t want to drag my friends into it, so I went off the grid for a while.”
“What kind of trouble?”
“Don’t ask.”
“What, am I not your friend now?”
“I’m not telling you precisely because you’re my friend.”
His expression darkened. “Do you know that everyone’s been going crazy looking for you this past year?”
Valerie raised her gaze to meet his eyes. “Don’t let anyone know that I’m here.”
Everett was perplexed. “If you really wanted to stay under the radar, why did you let the Woodwards find you?” With her smarts, it should’ve been a piece of cake for her to stay out of the Woodwards’ reach.
