45

Chapter 45

Brittany’s pov

I’d been low for days and couldn’t explain why. Maybe I knew the reason and had refused to admit it.

Everything I had planned was not going as planned. My carefully timed schedules and backup moves were collapsing because Martin Reeves had slipped up and been caught on camera. His car. His license plate.

Darcy’s security team digging into it. Martin now had to keep his head down, which meant he had to disappear at a time when I needed him visible and useful. Our scheme to frame Adrian with drugs was paused for now and that made me furious.

I looked at the breakfast on my plate. Mouthwatering but I don't want it. Eggs Benedict, fresh fruit, croissants, from my mother’s favorite bakery. It was all arranged perfectly, all meaningless.

My mother sat across from me, cutting her food slowly while she eats. But she’d been watching me for a while and her face showed she was worried.

Finally she called out “Brittany," putting down her fork. “Why aren’t you eating? You’ve hardly touched anything.”

“I’m not hungry, Mother.” I pushed the eggs into meaningless circles.

“You haven’t been hungry for three days.” She leaned forward. “What’s bothering you? Is it about Darcy? The engagement?”

It was about the engagement. About securing my future and making certain nothing stopped me from becoming Mrs. Darcy Rodrigo.

“I’m fine, Mother,” I lied. “Just stressed — business things.”

“Business.” She repeated it like it tasted odd. “Brittany, you don’t have business things. Your trust fund means you’ve never worked.”

Her reminder stung. She was right: I’d never done any job or built anything with my own hands. Everything I had and owned was my family’s name and money. My father made sure I never lacked. I am his heir. That’s why this marriage is vital to me. I needed the Rodrigo name to prove to everyone I'm not among those spoiled heiresses that live off on their family’s money.

“I’m working on something, Mother,” I said vaguely. “Plans that need coordination.”

She didn’t believe me, I knew she wouldn't but she didn’t press any further.

Then she reached her purse and pulled out an envelope — heavy, elegant stationery I recognized. “This arrived for you yesterday,” she said, sliding it across. “From Margaret Rodrigo. A VIP invitation to her charity gala for the Children’s Hospital Foundation.”

I felt that familiar thrill of social maneuvering. “The gala,” I said. “I heard she was doing something big.”

“It’s going to be grand,” my mother said, sparkling with the thought of high society assembled. “All the important families. Business leaders, politicians and everyone who matters. Margaret specifically requested you attend.”

Of course she did. Margaret already saw me as her future daughter-in-law. She’d use the event to show me off, to make people believe the engagement was settled even if Darcy hadn’t folded yet.

“There’s more,” my mother added, voice low with excitement. “Margaret said she has a surprise planned for you. She insisted you couldn’t miss it.”

A surprise. My pulse quickened despite my mood. Maybe Margaret would stage a public announcement that would force Darcy’s hand. A reveal at her own gala, in front of the elite, that would be the kind of bold move she loved.

“What kind of surprise?” I asked, trying to hide how eager I felt.

“She wouldn’t say. Just that it’s something you’ll like. I know whatever she plans would be to your favour,” My mother’s smile was proud. “Next Saturday. Black tie. I’ve arranged your stylist.”

Next Saturday. Seven days to change what was happening. If Martin stayed hidden, my window narrowed. I needed to take control again.

My phone buzzed. Luis. He’d sent the surveillance photos I’d requested. It was pictures of Martin from the past few days. I excused myself and went to my room to check them.

The first showed Martin in a parking garage, giving something to a man on code. It was an exchange that looked like drugs and money.

The second showed him outside his penthouse at night, very much with Amelia. He was bare when he stood in front of his window. I looked at that very picture longer than usual.

More pictures tracked his movement: meetings, late nights, moments when he seemed entirely at ease. Living his life while our operation stalled.

A sharp, bitter laugh escaped me. So he was using his time to sleep with his wife and run his side deals. While I held the strings, waiting.

“What's so amusing,Brittany?” My mother’s voice was in the doorway. She’d followed me without my noticing.

“Nothing,” I said, locking my phone. “Just something a friend sent.”

She fussed with my dresser and asked about the lunch with Margaret, about Darcy supposedly declining to propose. I could feel the pressure pushing under my skin. I wanted to scream that everything had gone wrong but instead, I forced a smile and said, “I’m looking forward to the gala.”To Margaret’s surprise.”

Satisfied, she left me alone.

Back at the photos, Martin looked relaxed. Happy, even. As if he wasn’t a marked man, as if hiding would somehow keep him safe. Amelia looked content, the perfect domestic picture. It made my stomach tighten.

I’d noticed Martin’s dangerous charm from the start. He was attractive in that reckless, rough way — the kind that enticed but couldn’t be trusted. Yet he was dedicating himself to his wife and his comforts, not to the job I needed him for.

I wanted him focused. I wanted him, committed to the plan. If he were, Adrian would already be crushed. The evidence planted, the arrest staged, Darcy freed of that complication and ready to accept me without doubts.

An idea formed. Risky, but it could work.

What if I made Martin need me? Not as lovers need, I wasn’t chasing romance. I wanted control. I wanted to redirect his attention and keep him from slipping back into complacency with Amelia. If I could pull his focus toward our goals, offer him incentives that made the plan more appealing than the quiet life, he’d work faster and smarter.

I felt a secret thrill at the idea of testing my power over him—of claiming his loyalty, ambition, and focus.

"Okay!" I said to no one.

Then, I typed Luis a message: Meet me at our usual spot. We’re going to see the nurse.

The nurse from the hospital, the one we’d paid to lie about Adrian’s baby. She’d vanished, but Luis had tracked her. I needed answers about Pink. I needed to know if she was Adrian’s child or if someone had switched babies. Without that clarity, I couldn’t finalize the next moves.

When? Luis replied.

Tomorrow morning. Early. Before her shift starts.

Understood. I’ll drive.

That felt better: action. Martin might be laying low, but I didn’t have to. I could move on other fronts. Find the nurse, learn Pink’s true origin, and work on making Martin see what was at stake. And if I could destabilize him at home while positioning myself in his line of sight, the rest would follow.

I scrolled again through Luis’s photos. Martin’s face in those shots had a dangerous energy — restless, alive. Men like him craved risk, not the steady comforts Amelia offered. I could be at risk. I could be the one to give him purpose and profit and the kind of thrills that kept him hooked.

If I reminded him what our partnership promised, money, influence, the satisfaction of taking down a woman who’d wronged me and he’d choose us. If I made him see that Amelia was holding him back from something bigger, he’d be easier to move.

And if he resisted, there were other levers. A few well-placed favors, a reminder of what he owed me, that I knew things his enemies didn’t and all of that could shift the balance. He was a man who played in the gray. He could be pushed where I needed him.

Tomorrow’s meeting with the nurse was the immediate priority. I needed the truth about Pink so I could plan against Adrian smartly, with all the angles covered. After that, I would see Martin alone. I’d make it clear that his distractions were unacceptable. That our cause and his own interests required his full attention.

By next Saturday, either Margaret would force Darcy’s hand and I’d be revealed as the future Mrs. Rodrigo, or I’d have forced the pieces into place so the reveal would land exactly as I wanted. I intended not to leave that outcome to chance.

A real smile finally came, different from the polite ones I’d given my mother. It was the kind that came from being back in control. From having a plan and the resolve to execute it.

Adrian had survived prison and slid into my future home with my future husband and his daughter. She’d been stubborn, resilient, a nuisance that made me more determined. But she wouldn’t endure what I’d put in motion. Not if Martin was fully committed to her undoing. Sending her naked pictures to her was just the beginning.

I'm willing to do whatever it takes, even risky, unusual, or morally gray things just to get the result.I never shrank from what needed to be done.

Tomorrow, the nurse. Then Martin. Then the gala. One way or another, I would get what I wanted. I always did.