Chapter 2

I flipped the ticket while asking, "Where to?"

Mutembo. An island country I had never even heard of.

"It will be a wonderful getaway," Carl assured me. "The weather's nice, and there's no extradition rules."

I didn't understand the last part, but asked, "Are there malls there?"

Max looked bewildered, while Carl replied patiently, 'Yes."

"Limited-edition merch?"

"I'll have that stuff sent over."

"What about my monthly allowance?"

Quinn was just coming upstairs and heard that. She rushed over, snatching the plane ticket and flinging it on the floor.

"Is money all you care about? My dad was forced to resign, and my brothers are in police custody! Carl is giving you what's left of his personal accounts to protect you, but you're still asking about allowance?"

I simply leaned against the doorway in silence, while Carl glared at her coldly. "Pick it up."

"Carl?"

"I said, pick it up."

Quinn's eyes were teary, but she eventually picked up the plane ticket and shoved it into my hand, growling under her breath, "You love money, don't you? Take it and leave. Don't be a burden to Carl anymore."

Carl scowled, but I didn't take it to heart. I was convinced the Grants wouldn't fall.

Plus, I'm Carl's trophy wife. Trophy wives are best at doing nothing while burning through money.

Obedient as ever, I went to my closet room, which was two floors packed with clothes, shoes, jewelry, and handbags, all bought with Carl's money over the last three years.

I picked a dozen of my most expensive bags and shoved them along with the diamond jewelry in my safe into my suitcase.

However, there was a loud commotion downstairs just as I zipped up the suitcase.

Walking over to the second floor handrail, I saw uniformed officers setting up a police line around the house. Various art pieces were taken off the wall, while the wine cellar and garage had thick seizure notice stickers pasted over the doors.

Molly tried to stop them, but Ben stopped her, his voice ancient and weary.

"Let them. It's company assets in the first place."

-

Later, when Carl returned home, he had two men following him.

One of them handed him a document and said, "Zenith Club, 8 p.m. Representatives from the Twelve will be waiting. It's your last chance."

He looked past Carl to give me a once-over, his smile turning sleazy. "Ah, Ms. Jones."

Carl stepped between us and growled, "Are you done staring?"

The man turned away, chuckling. "Please don't get the wrong idea, but the boss heard you had a charming little creature living under your roof. If we can come to an agreement tonight, he won't mind taking her off your hands."

Pow!

Carl punched the sleazy man in the face, breaking his nose.

Chaos ensued. Carl's bodyguards were immediately leaping up to restrain the other man, while the sleazy man simply wiped the blood off his nose and kept smiling.

"Still think the world of yourself now, Mr. Grant?" he taunted. "8 p.m. If you don't show up, your brothers will be handed over to the police. And at that point, it won't be just a few years."

With that, he and his friend left. Carl stood there, his knuckles covered in blood.

Molly was burying her face in her palms as she sobbed. Ben closed his eyes, his shoulders slumped.

Carl turned to me, his expression calm as he said, "Hey. Your flight's been brought forward. Let's go right now."

He had his assistant Bob drive me to the airport, while he got into another car. I got in the backseat, watching as his car disappeared into the night.

As Bob started the car, he said, "Don't worry, Ms. Jones. Mr. Grant has everything ready for you."

"Where is he?" I asked.

As Bob turned silent, the bad feeling in my gut swelled.

Were the Grants really going to…?

Looking into Bob's eyes through the rearview mirror, I snapped, "Turn this car around."

"Mr. Grant's orders were explicit."

"Turn, or I jump out."

Bob was silent for seconds, but ultimately turned the car around.