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All Chapters of Scheming Against My Ex-Boyfriend's Uncle: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

40 Chapters

Chapter 1: Stolen engagement

The engagement was supposed to be mine. Everyone at that table knew it.I sat between my mother and an empty chair reserved for a fiancé who hadn't arrived yet, running my thumb along the stem of my champagne glass, counting down the minutes until Edward stood up and made it official."Stop fidgeting," my mother murmured. "You look anxious.""I am anxious. This is my engagement, Mom."She didn't answer. She rarely did, when the honest answer might cost her something.Edward Marshall rose at the head of the table and tapped his fork against his glass until the room quieted, forty-some faces turning toward him with champagne already lifted."Family," he began, "means keeping your word. Six years ago, my dearest friend Franklin Rogers asked one thing of me before he passed — that our families would truly become one."My chest tightened with something close to relief. Finally. After two years of half-hearted dinners and Jayden's distracted attention, here it was, in front of everyone, rea

Last Updated : 2026-09-05

Chapter 2: They need 'stability'

Liam Wade had learned a long time ago that boardrooms were just dinner tables with worse lighting.Everyone smiling. Everyone lying."The Q3 numbers speak for themselves," he said, sliding the folder closed. "International division is up eighteen percent. I don't think anyone in this room wants to argue with eighteen percent."Nobody did. Not out loud.Edward Marshall sat at the head of the table anyway, because he always sat at the head of the table, regardless of whose numbers were on it."No one's arguing, Liam." Edward's voice was warm. Edward's voice was always warm right before it wasn't. "We're proud of what you've built. Ryan would have been proud."Liam's jaw tightened at his late brother's name, dropped so casually into a sentence about market share."Don't," he said quietly."Don't what?""Use him to soften whatever you're about to say next."A small silence. Claire, two seats down, examined her nails like the conversation bored her. It didn't. Claire was never bored when L

Last Updated : 2026-09-05

Chapter 3: First meeting

It took Bria exactly three days to build a profile on Liam Wade thick enough to work with.Gym at six a.m., three days a week, same private facility. Coffee from the same place every Thursday. No bodyguards inside a four-block radius of his building, because he apparently hated being handled."He's a creature of habit," Bria said, sliding her laptop across the kitchen island. "Which is either going to make this very easy, or very obvious. Depends on how careful you are.""I'm always careful," I said."You cried into my couch cushions three days ago.""That was before. I've recalibrated."Bria snorted, but she didn't argue.The gym was too public. The coffee run was too quick — ninety seconds, in and out, no room for a real conversation. What I needed was something that looked like an accident but gave me time. Real time. Enough to make an impression that would survive past the next morning.I found it in his Thursday routine — the covered parking garage two blocks from his coffee plac

Last Updated : 2026-09-05

Chapter 4: The favor that was owed

My mother summoned me to brunch four days after the engagement dinner, which was how I knew it wasn't really brunch.She waited until the waiter had poured the coffee and disappeared before she got to the point."You'll be maid of honor," she said. "Gracie wants to announce it this week."I nearly laughed. "You're joking.""I'm not.""Mom. She stole my engagement. You handed it to her. And now you want me to stand next to her at the altar smiling?""It's not about what either of us wants." My mother's voice stayed level, the same tone she used for everything unpleasant — flat, final, like weather. "It's about what this family needs.""What this family *needs*." I set my cup down harder than I meant to. "Enlighten me."She hesitated. That alone told me it was bad."The Marshalls have carried this family financially for six years," she said finally. "Since your father's business partners pulled out after he died. Edward stepped in quietly. Loans. Investments. The house we live in isn't

Last Updated : 2026-09-05

Chapter 5: Fifteen minutes was a lie

The garage was empty again, same time, same shadows, except this time I hadn't disabled anything.I didn't need to. I'd told him the truth in my text, more or less — I was unlucky. Genuinely early, genuinely rattled from the brunch with my mother, genuinely relieved when his car rounded the corner and he stepped out into the gray morning light."No hood popped today," he said, walking toward me. "I'm almost disappointed.""I figured I'd let you keep some dignity. Two rescues in a row might go to your head.""Too late." His mouth curved, easy, unguarded in a way I hadn't seen from him yet. "It already has."We walked to the coffee shop without discussing it, like the fifteen-minute rule from the first morning had quietly expired somewhere between yesterday and today.---"You look tired," he said, once we were seated, two coffees steaming between us."Family brunch," I said. "It's a genre of exhaustion all its own.""I know the genre well." Something flickered behind his eyes — brief,

Last Updated : 2026-09-23

Chapter 6: The car he sent anyway

The car arrived at seven, exactly as promised, black and unassuming except for the driver who opened my door like I mattered. I'd changed outfits four times. I wasn't proud of that. "You look like you're about to walk into a business meeting," Bria had said, eyeing my third choice over video call. "Try the green one. Business meetings don't require cleavage." "This isn't about cleavage, Bria. It's strategy." "Sure it is." She'd grinned. "Wear the green one anyway." I wore the green one. --- The restaurant was quiet in the way expensive places always were — no crowd noise, no rush, just low light and the occasional clink of glass. Liam was already seated when I arrived, and he stood the moment he saw me, which caught me off guard more than it should have. "You came," he said. "You sent a car. It felt rude to waste the trip." "That's not why you came." "No," I admitted. "It isn't." He pulled out my chair before the host could, and something about the small, unnecessary gestu

Last Updated : 2026-09-24

Chapter 7: Claire doesn't ask twice

Claire Marshall called me on a Tuesday, which was how I knew she'd done her homework. I didn't recognize the number, but I recognized the voice the second she spoke — smooth, unhurried, the kind of voice that had never once needed to raise itself to get what it wanted. "Samantha. This is Claire. I don't believe we've properly met." My stomach dropped straight through the floor. "We haven't," I said carefully. "Should I be concerned that you have my number?" "I have everyone's number." A light laugh, easy, almost friendly. "Occupational habit. Do you have a few minutes? I'd love to buy you coffee." "I'm a little busy." "I'm sure you are. You've been quite busy lately, from what I hear." A pause, precisely timed. "Thursday. Ten a.m. The café on Bellmont. I think you know the one." She hung up before I could refuse. --- Bria's face, over video call twenty minutes later, had gone unusually serious. "She used the word occupational," Bria repeated. "Like she runs surveillance as

Last Updated : 2026-09-24

Chapter 8: He already knew

Liam showed up at my apartment unannounced, which had never happened before, and the sight of him in the hallway — jaw tight, tie loosened like he'd pulled at it the entire drive over — told me exactly why before he said a word. "Claire talked to you," he said. Not a question. I stepped back to let him in anyway, my heart hammering. "How did you find out?" "She told me." He walked past me into the living room, restless, hands shoved into his pockets like he didn't trust what they'd do otherwise. "This afternoon. Very casually, over lunch, like she was mentioning the weather. 'I met your girlfriend, Liam. Clever girl. I gave her a fair warning.'" "I'm not your girlfriend." "That's not the part I'm stuck on right now." He turned to face me, and the raw frustration in his expression made my stomach twist. "She threatened you." "She was polite about it." "That's worse." His jaw worked. "Claire doesn't threaten people she considers harmless, Samantha. She wouldn't have bothered if

Last Updated : 2026-09-24

Chapter 9: Edward's change of heart

Edward summoned Liam to his office on Monday morning, which was never a good sign, given that Edward preferred ambushing people in rooms he controlled. "Sit," Edward said, not looking up from the papers on his desk. "This won't take long." Liam remained standing. "I have a nine o'clock." "This is more important than your nine o'clock." Edward finally looked up, folding his hands with the same calm precision he brought to every difficult conversation. "Claire tells me you've been seeing the Rogers girl. Samantha." "Her name is Samantha, yes. Not 'the Rogers girl.'" Edward's mouth twitched, something almost like amusement. "Careful, Liam. That tone suggests this is more than a passing interest." "Would that be a problem?" "On the contrary." Edward leaned back, and something in his posture shifted, recalibrating in real time. "I've reconsidered my position since Claire's report. I think this could actually work in our favor." Liam went very still. "Explain." "The board wants sta

Last Updated : 2026-09-24

Chapter 10: What Eva found

Eva was already at her desk when Liam arrived, two coffees waiting, one black, one exactly how Sam took hers — a detail he hadn't remembered telling her. "I didn't mention her order," he said, taking the cup. "You didn't have to. You've been distracted for three weeks and smiling at your phone like an idiot. I did some digging." Eva's expression sobered as she slid a folder across the desk. "Also, you asked me to look into Franklin Rogers' company shares. I found some things you're not going to like." Liam sat, flipping the folder open. "Tell me." "The trust structure is straightforward on paper. Morgan Rogers, sole guardian, full discretionary control until Samantha turns twenty-five." Eva tapped the first page. "But discretionary control isn't the same as unrestricted use. There are supposed to be annual filings — disclosures showing the shares are being managed for the beneficiary's benefit, not the guardian's." "And?" "There are no filings for the last six years." Eva's voic

Last Updated : 2026-09-24

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