Chapter 9: The Truth
I picked up the contract and was just about to flip it open when my phone rang. Claudia’s name lit up the screen.
1 set the contract aside and answered. “Claudia, what’s wrong?”
She sounded softer than usual, “Russell, my parents want me to go abroad for two months to study. I thought I should tell you.“”
My jaw tightened. “Why so suddenly?”
The underwater world I’d commissioned was already under construction. Timing was critical. And now she was leaving right in the middle of it. I’d planned to confess my feelings once everything was ready.
How was that supposed to happen if she wasn’t even here?}
Her voice wavered. “But… I can’t disobey my parents,”
I closed my eyes and let out a quiet breath.
After a long pause, I gave in. “Alright. Go. I’ll wait for you to come back.”
I didn’t slow the project down. If anything, I expanded it. With the extra month, I added an entire underwater hotel beside the central dome.
Claudia once said she wanted to fall asleep watching fish swim past her window. I wanted to give her that. I didn’t care what it cost. I poured over a hundred million into making it real.
Fraizer Group was already bleeding out, but none of it mattered to me if it meant making her happy.
When construction wrapped up, both the underwater world and the hotel were done.
Unamed them both “Claudia.“W
I wanted everyone to see them and know exactly who they were for.
The day she was due back, I sent drones over Harborview broadcasting my public confession.
I invited the press, making it impossible for her to ignore. I wanted the whole city to witness what I had done for her.
I wore a formal suit and waited inside the dome. Fish drifted past the glass. The light was perfect, and the scene looked like a dream.
But she never showed up.
I checked my messages. I’d sent her a reminder earlier. She hadn’t replied, but I didn’t think much of it at the time. I thought maybe she was late.
I waited.
I stayed until the fish started to sleep.
Until the flowers I’d placed inside the glass cases began to droop.M
Still no sign of her.
Then a message popped up in a group
[Is that Claudia? Looks just like her. lat. Someone posted a photo from a
[Wasn’t she supposed to be with Russell tonight? Who’s that guy she’s with?]N
I opened the images. My whole body went still.M
nightclub.M
She wore a revealing dress, barely covering anything. She clung to a man like they’d known each other for years.M
In the next photo, they were kissing and then hugging. Then, they entered a hotel together.
I didn’t react. I just stared at the screen.
Then I stood up, walked out, and drove straight to the hotel.
I stood outside the door, listening. I didn’t knock.
After a few seconds, I heard the door rattle. Then it started to shake in a rhythm that was all too familiar. The walls weren’t soundproof.N
Inside, I heard moans. I knew those sounds. I recognized them.N
My expression hardened.
Then some guy’s voice came through–cocky, amused. “Isn’t your sister head over heels for the Fraizer heir? Didn’t he say he was gonna confess to you tonight? Everybody in town knows.“W
Claudia snapped back, sharp and totally dismissive. “Russell? He’s just a puppet on a string. Everyone knows Fraizer Group is sinking fast. I’d have to be nuts to marry him. I figured he’d confess to me, so I told him I was heading overseas. Simple as that.”
The guy asked, “Aren’t you worried he’ll find out?”
I heard her gasp, then some low moans. Then the guy growled, and I caught a thud against the wall of their hotel room.
A few seconds later, with this breathy laugh, she said, “I’m engaged to the richest guy in the city. What’s Russell gonna do? He’s practically broke. I’m just milking what’s left before he falls apart. When he’s got nothing, he won’t be able to touch me.”
I didn’t blink. I didn’t move.
Right then, the hotel manager rushed over, holding a master key.
“Mr. Fraizer, here’s the key,” he said.
I didn’t take it.
Inside, Claudia kept talking. “If he hadn’t been Nadine’s husband, I wouldn’t have wasted my time. I hate Nadine. She lived twenty years
9:06 AM
under my name while I was stuck in the countryside. I’m taking everything from her–her money, her place, even her husband.” The guy said, “But Russell really seems to love you.“>
“So what?” she snapped. “Love isn’t worth anything. That whole balloon thing? Staged. Men like sweet girls. I gave him the act, and he fell for it.”
I lowered my hand. My mind stopped. Everything went still.
The guy tried to say something else, but she cut him off. “Enough. Either do it or don’t. I’ve got to deal with Russell tomorrow. And don’t leave any marks on my neck.”}
That was enough.”
“Mr. Fraizer,” the manager said again, quieter this time, “the card?“}
I didn’t answer. Closed my eyes and forced my lungs to catch up. My head was pounding like a drum.)
After a long silence, I turned away, my fist clenched tight with rage.}
“Put a snake in the room,” I told my bodyguard. “Not venomous. Lock the door. Don’t let them out.“}
I wanted her to die slowly, to really feel the weight of her betrayal.}
Without even looking back, I walked out and dropped into the car.}
I stayed quiet. Just waited.}
Twenty minutes passed. I smoked until the floor was littered with ashes and cigarette butts.}
Then I heard her.
Help
“Help! Somebody help!“>
Claudia’s scream cut through the quiet, sharp and desperate from the hotel window.
People looked up, curious. She was clutching the window frame like her life depended on it, eyes wide with panic.}
“There’s a snake in my room! The door’s locked! Somebody help me!“}
Someone pulled out a phone to call the cops, but my bodyguard stepped forward and crushed it under his boot.
I pulled out a wad of cash and threw it at them. “Take it. Walk away.“}
They took the money and backed off.}]
Her screams kept going. “It bit me! I’m gonna die! Please!“}
But nobody moved. Nobody said a word.
I lit another cigarette and said, “Let her out at dawn.”}
“Yes, sir.”
My bodyguard nodded once, and that was that.
…B
Back at the villa, I walked into my study. The stack of documents sat untouched on the desk.
I pulled off the tie I had picked out for the proposal and dropped into the chair, drained.
Claudia’s voice kept echoing in my head. Every word. Every laugh.
! reached for another cigarette. My arm knocked over a folder.
I bent to pick it up, and then I stopped when I saw the cover.”
..
