Laird’s POV“Listen, the shell companies belonged to Peter. He had borrowed the names of Alan, Mallory, and other people as the owners of the companies. In exchange for borrowing their names and providing a seemingly legal place to store money, they received some fees.” Mr. Golden started to explain the matter.“The results from tracing the transactions showed that the shell companies, disguised as investment firms, bought shares to inflate the stock value in the companies. For example, Alan's company had received a large amount of capital from one of the shell companies.”“Then Alan's company would record sales as if they were skyrocketing. After a few months of being held in Alan's company’s account, the shell company was dissolved and liquidated. With this dissolution, Alan's company had to return a certain amount of investment plus the promised dividends.”“Next, they would open a new shell company and carry out the same operational business with another company, for instance, Mal
Fenella’s POVI didn't know what made me so bold. In my mind at the moment, I just wanted to make sure that people got the justice they deserved. Oh, I knew I sounded foolish thinking about justice, but I felt I had to do it now.“I’ll do it.”“Wait a minute, Fenella. We should discuss this further.”Laird looked at me with wide eyes. He seemed caught off guard and couldn’t believe I had said that.“Ah, finally, someone has some guts,” Mr. Golden exclaimed happily.“You shut your damn mouth,” Laird warned Mr. Golden, while the man chose to sit back on the sofa.“Fenella, please don’t do it. Alan is dangerous enough for us. Bringing down Peter is a more dangerous task than we could possibly imagine. That man only wants to hide behind us and make us roll out as sacrifices,” Laird said, pointing at Mr. Golden.“But, Laird, you were t
Fenella’s POV“Legit business empire?” I asked, pulling my face back slightly from Laird.“Yes. Me with Rackers Bite and you with New Gene. I was sure we would both succeed in our own ways.”“Yeah. That sounded like a really nice dream,” I said before kissing his lips.“We would make it a reality,” Laird whispered between our kisses.“Uh huh.”“You wouldn’t need to beg for jobs from your agency anymore. You would choose all your own projects and have your own brand.”“Wow, okay. It sounded too good to be true.” I chuckled softly.“It would be true. I promise.” Laird kissed my lips firmly.Now I felt more confident that my decision was right. I was sure I could accomplish our mission, and after that, we could dance together in the ideal world we had always dreamed of. I would continue with my career as a model, while Laird pursued his career as the CEO of a game developer company.One kiss led to another. A new spark ignited within us. I felt energized to achieve all our new goals. Of
Fenella’s POV“You're good?” Laird asked me.“Uh huh,” I replied with a quick nod. I adjusted the receiver in my ear once again. The receiver was silver with crystals on the outside. Designed to deceive others, it resembled a full earring that was fitted around the entire edge of the ear. The earring was paired with a matching pendulum choker necklace because they were a set of receivers and voice recorders. Laird was also wearing the same receiver, but his model was rigid and plain black.“Test.” A woman's voice sounded faintly in my ear.“Yes, I heard,” I answered. “Can you hear me?” I asked in reply.“Yes, I heard.” The woman at the other end of the receiver replied.“Can you hear it clearly?” Laird asked again to confirm.“Yes. I’m ready.” I answered with a long sigh.“Do you remember the safe word?” Laird asked.“Whitehill Academy.”“Ok.” Laird then sighed in relief again. His face was tense, with his lips slightly parted without a smile. I knew he was nervous, but I was determ
Fenella’s POVPerhaps because I was wearing black pump shoes that were pointy high, everyone looked small in my eyes. They watched me with their heads slightly upturned. But somehow I knew it was all just my imagination brought on by my soaring confidence.I felt great!Some people we knew, like Jemima Hors, Oscar de Ragetti, and other celebrities, immediately surrounded Alan and me. They immediately praised us, especially my appearance, which was considered elegant and luxurious for a gala dinner.“Oh, Fenella, I'm so happy to see you again, darling.” Oscar gave me a quick peck on both cheeks.“Yeah, I was afraid I'd never see you again after that commercial,” Jemima said with a chuckle.“Why? Do you think I'm going to kill myself like the people on my social media asked me to?” I chuckled, though my tone of voice was quite sharp as a sarcasm to those who left me alone when I was down.“Oh, of course not, dear. I'm glad you ignored those horrible haters. Besides, scandals pass like t
Fenella’s POVI widened my eyes. My mouth dropped open after hearing Amy's confession. I snorted then shook my head, still rejecting her confession. I needed more than this.“No. That's not true. I clearly saw the names of Gene's shareholders. Several investment companies, Alan himself, and Ms. Lola's children.”“Oh, please, please, Fenella. Stop being a no-brainer. No wonder everyone said you're just a dumb girl.” Amy growled in dismay after hearing me.“I've told you clearly. How can you still not understand such a simple matter? All those investment companies belong to Peter. It's all Peter's money. Even the shares in Alan's name are actually Peter's money. Alan doesn't own anything!”“Keep at it, Fenella.” The FBI commander's voice rang again in my ears faintly.“That's impossible. Even Gene's shares are actually Peter's money? How is that possible?” I mu
Fenella’s POV“Alan!”I called him back to seek confirmation of where he was taking me. The man kept silent and put his arm around me. He ran, and I was half dragged by his long strides.“Ourgh!”I fell into a tumble as my feet were no longer able to balance on my high-heeled pumps in the midst of a quick escape. Pain instantly pierced my ankle. I winced, and Alan immediately stopped.“Damn!”“Are you alright? Come on, Fenella. We need to go now. Can you stand up?” Alan helped me back to my feet. I put my hand on his arm and stood up. It was just that the pain was so intense that my ankle was now swollen and red.“I sprained my ankle.” I winced with tears gathering in my eyes.“It's okay, Fenella. Get on my back. We need to get out of here quickly before Amy snitches on Peter.” Alan crouched down so I could climb onto his back.“I can't, Alan. You go on your own. Just leave me alone. I'll be fine.” My breath caught as I shook my head.“No! We'll go together. We'll go as far away fro
Laird’s POVI pounded angrily on the glass door of the van in which the FBI commander and Prosecutor Golden were riding. They were all sitting relaxed in the car, while Fenella could be heard being hurt by Amy. Fenella's heavy breathing and the sound of Amy's roar that I heard over the receiver convinced me that Fenella was in trouble.This had all gone too far.“Amy's confession is enough, right? What the fuck are you waiting for? Arrest her now and save Fenella.” I growled at Prosecutor Golden.“Fenella is still holding out, Laird. We should wait until Fenella says the safe word. She can also gauge her capacity.” Prosecutor Golden raised his hand to calm me down.“If you don't help her now, I'll go help her.” My eyes narrowed, and I growled with a serious threat.“Laird, if you go in now, you'll ruin everything we've built up so far. Fenella is trying hard in there. All you have to d