Free Web NovelChapter 54: The game changes
Mark walked faster towards the elevator, his face turning pale. He looked around the hallway to make sure nobody was listening.
"Calm down, Zhao," Mark hissed. "I just left her place. Everything is fine. She has no idea what’s happening."
"No, it’s not fine!" Zhao shouted. "I’m looking at my screen right now. Someone bypassed my firewall. They aren’t just looking at her accounts—they are tracking where the money goes."
Mark felt a cold chill run down his back. "Is it the feds? Are the police watching us?"
"The feds?" Zhao said, his voice trembling. "I wish it was the feds. I can hide from the government. This is bigger than that, Mark. It’s a high-level security signature. The kind of tech you only find in the Pentagon. It’s military-grade."
Mark gripped his phone tighter. "The Pentagon? Why would they care about some fashion house bank account?"
"I don’t fucking know!" Zhao snapped. "But they are inside my system. They are tracing the bridge between her account and even my secret files. If they show up here, I’m done. And if I’m done, you’re done too."
"Can’t you stop them?"
"I’m trying to pull the plug, but it’s like they are everywhere at once," Zhao said. "Look, I need to go dark. Don’t call me, I ’ll call you."
The line went dead. Mark was in the elevator now sweating.
....
Lyvana sat at her desk with her laptop open. She was working from home today, but her eyes were everywhere. On one part of her screen, she watched a live video of her studio. She gave quick instructions to her staff as they packed the first orders.
The fabrics looked beautiful even through the camera. Everything was going smoothly.
Suddenly, her phone rang. It was Julian. She had been waiting for his call.
"How did it go with your fiance?" Julian teased.
"Smoothly," Lyvana said, leaning back in her chair. She looked out the window at the morning sky, thinking about the look on Mark’s face when she handed him that coffee. "Phase one is done."
"Did he suspect anything?"
"Not a thing," she replied coldly. "He left here feeling like he was on top of the world. He has no idea it wasn’t me in that bed." ƒгeewebnovёl.com
"Perfect," Julian said. "So, remind me again, what is phase two?"
"We have to wait. Phase two starts when Grandma and my father are back in town."
"Alright."
"When will I be seeing you?"
"Miss me already?" Julian asked.
Lyvana giggled. "A little."
"I’ll be there soon," Julian promised. "I will give you a surprise."
"Can’t wait."
Then, she heard muffled voices in the background on Julian’s side. It sounded like a hushed, urgent conversation she wasn’t supposed to hear. Then she heard someone scream.
"I’ve got to go," Julian said, his voice suddenly clipped. "I will call you tonight."
Before she could even say goodbye, the line went dead.
Lyvana stared at her phone for a long time after Julian’s sudden hang-up. She wondered what those muffled voices were about, but a sharp knock at her front door pulled her back to the present.
She stood up and walked to the door. A delivery man stood there holding a large, high-end garment box.
"Package for Ms. Lyvana," he said.
She signed for it and carried the box into her living room. Laying it across the sofa, she unzipped the cover. Inside was a dress — a dark, plain gown chosen by Clarisse. In her past life, Lyvana had thought it was elegant.
Now, she saw it for what it truly was, a dull, boring choice designed to make her disappear into the background while Clarisse sparkled.
Lyvana ran her fingers over the fabric, a cold smile playing on her lips. "Nice try, Clarisse," she whispered.
She reached deeper into the box and found a smaller, silver gift box tucked underneath the dress. She opened it, and the light hit a chunky, glittering bracelet. To an untrained eye, it looked expensive. And Lyvana had thought it was made of real gold and diamonds.
This was a cheap knock-off. It was the gift she was supposed to present to the Vanguard family tomorrow night.
In her past life, the host had recognized it as a fake immediately, and the gossip had ruined Lyvana’s reputation before the night was even over.
She picked up the bracelet, letting it dangle from her fingers. It felt light — like a toy.
"You bitch," Lyvana muttered, thinking of Clarisse.
She walked over to her closet and pushed the dark, boring dress to the very back, hiding it behind her old coats. Then, she pulled out the stunning purple Blaireaux gown Julian had sent her.
She hung it up where the light could catch the silver embroidery.
She wasn’t going to be the girl in the boring black dress this time. And she certainly wasn’t going to give that fake bracelet.
She had twenty-four hours to ensure that when that silver box was opened tomorrow, it wouldn’t be her name that was dragged through the mud.
She sat back down at her desk and called Marco. Exactly fifteen minutes later, his black sedan pulled up to the curb.
....
Lyvana stepped out of the car, and the night air was immediately filled with the bright flashes of cameras.
She was wearing the Blaireaux gown. The silver details that swirled across the fabric looked amazing in the light like smoke. The high slit showed off her legs, and the low neckline was daring and confident.
She looked like a celebrity.
The reporters went wild.
"Lyvana! Over here!"
"Is that a custom Blaireaux?"
She didn’t stop to answer. She simply smiled for the cameras.
In her past life, that boring dress had earned her just a few clicks as Mark’s fiancée but this time, she was rewriting the script.
As she entered the ballroom, she spotted Mark and Clarisse talking with some dignitaries. Mark’s jaw nearly dropped to the floor when he saw her.
She was undoubtedly the most beautiful woman in the room.
