All they had to do was keep their heads down for a while, stay quiet, stay unnoticed, and find a small house to buy instead of wasting money on rent. It sounded simple enough, at least on the surface.
"Who will pay for the house?" Selena asked, her eyes narrowing slightly as she turned to look at Mr. Smith.
"Calm down," Mr. Smith replied, waving off her concern as though it was nothing. "I’ll pay for the house. I still have so money stashed away. All you have to do is take care of the daily necessities until I figure sothing out. Don’t worry, it won’t be permanent." He looked at his wife expectantly, as though waiting for her approval.
Selena crossed her arms, clearly not entirely convinced. "Fine. But you better figure sothing out fast."
"Don’t worry," he said with a confident smile. "I’ve already made a move. Soon, we’ll be flowing with money. All we need to do is wait for the fish to bite."
At the ntion of money, and the status that ca with it, Ashley seed to forget her earlier resolve. Her mood shifted almost instantly, her dull expression brightening as greed quietly took over. The promise of wealth had always been her weakness.
She told herself she could always deny everything if things went wrong. It wasn’t as if they were model parents anyway. They had used her all her life, manipulated her, controlled her, so why shouldn’t she use them now?
Ashley had never killed anyone. She clung tightly to that thought, repeating it in her mind as though it could cleanse her conscience. She had only tried to embarrass Lena before, nothing more. She hadn’t crossed that line... yet. And she didn’t want to carry murder on her conscience.
All she wanted was Evans.
And if working with these two crazy people would get her Evans, then so be it.
Plastering a fake smile on her face, she leaned forward slightly. "What move did you make?" she asked, trying, and failing, to hide her curiosity.
"It’s not for you to know," Mr. Smith replied coldly.
"When the ti is right, I’ll tell you. If you really want Lena’s company, then you’d better start listening to ." His gaze lingered on her, sharp and warning.
"You will give the company to run when we take it from her, right?" Ashley asked, her eyes lighting up with excitent. The re thought of it filled her with imnse joy. She could already picture herself sitting at the top, bossing everyone around, commanding respect.
"Of course I will give it to you," he said. "I don’t know how to run a company, and since you’ve spent ti with Evans and Lena, you should have picked up a thing or two. So yes, it will be yours... as long as you behave." His tone hardened slightly, repeating the sa warning he had given her countless tis.
"Don’t worry, Father," Ashley said quickly. "I’ll behave and leave everything to you and Mother." The words felt strange on her tongue, unnatural. Even Mr. Smith visibly cringed at the title, but neither of them addressed it.
Ti passed slowly after that.
You could only imagine their anticipation when, a month later, Mr. Smith called his family into the dining room late at night. His expression alone told them everything, the fish had finally taken the bait.
Ashley, who had been sulking for weeks, imdiately perked up. The bitterness in her chest eased slightly.
At least sothing good had finally happened. Every ti she opened her phone and saw Lena living a perfect life, smiling, thriving, while Evans went out with his new beau, an heiress, of course, it felt like a knife twisting in her chest.
She knew what that ant.
Only soone of equal status could stand beside him.
Only soone like Lena.
Or... soone who could beco like her.
So Ashley endured.
She waited patiently, even though patience felt like a curse. She told herself it would all be worth it in the end. She could already imagine Freya and Jas bowing at her feet... and Evans finally returning to her.
So when her father finally spoke, she could barely contain herself.
"Father, what is the plan? Are you finally going to tell us?" she asked eagerly.
"Of course I will," Mr. Smith replied. "I already told your mother. I just didn’t tell you because you’re impulsive.
That Evans boy makes you crazy, you might run off and tell him everything, promising him a future you don’t even have, just to bring him back." His tone was sharp, laced with annoyance.
Ashley opened her mouth to protest, but no words ca out. Deep down, she knew he was right.
Selena gave her a small, apologetic look, one that silently said, I’m sorry, but your father is right. Ashley simply looked away. She didn’t care about their pretend concern anyway.
"I made contact with Lucas, Raymond’s brother," Mr. Smith continued.
Both won straightened imdiately.
"I offered to dispose of Lena... for a price."
The room fell into a tense silence.
"The plan is simple," he went on. "We lure Raymond out. He gets ambushed and killed. At the sa ti, Lena is taken care of. Two problems solved, for us and for the Blacks.
Apparently, his own family wants him dead."
Ashley’s eyes widened slightly, but she said nothing.
"The total price is one hundred million," he continued. "Fifty million has already been paid tonight.
All I have to do now is carry out the plan, kidnap Lena, drop her at the location they’ve given . Once the job is complete, the remaining fifty million will be transferred."
Selena and Ashley exchanged a look, one filled with excitent and pride.
Fifty million... already in their hands.
"But how will you get her to comply?" Ashley asked. "I heard she’s heavily guarded."
"That was before," Mr. Smith replied with a smirk.
"According to my source, she moved out of Mr. Black’s house. She’s vulnerable now. Completely exposed."
Selena frowned slightly. "What if you’re caught? Or the ssages are traced back to you?"
"Don’t worry," he said confidently. "I used a burner phone for all communication. I’ll dispose of it once the transaction is complete. And the money was paid into an offshore account, it can’t be traced back to ."
"When are you going to carry out the plan?" Selena asked quietly.
"I leave tomorrow morning," he replied. "Raymond isn’t in Vegas, he’s here in York City. That makes everything easier. With him distracted, the plan will go smoothly."
Ashley stared at him, disbelief flickering across her face. "How do you know all this?"
Mr. Smith simply smirked. "I have my ways."
Ashley felt a chill run down her spine.
He really is a criminal, she thought.
"I leave tomorrow morning," he repeated. "And while I’m gone, you both stay here. Don’t go anywhere." His eyes lingered on Ashley as he spoke, making it clear the warning was ant for her.
"Of course," she said with an awkward smile. "I won’t go anywhere."
That night, after finalizing every detail of the plan, they all went to bed.
The next morning, Mr. Smith boarded a plane to Vegas, his mind focused and his plan perfectly laid out. The mont he landed, he wasted no ti putting everything into motion.
And just as he had predicted...
Lena fell right into the trap.
So when he walked into the room the next day and found his family already seated, waiting anxiously for him, he could barely contain his excitent.
"It’s done," he announced, a wide grin spreading across his face. "Everything went perfectly. I kidnapped Lena... and I’ve been paid in full."
Relief and excitent filled the room instantly.
"All we have to do now," he continued, "is wait for Lena to die. Once she’s gone, everything she owns will be ours."
Ashley’s joy knew no bounds. When Mr. Smith told her she could go shopping, buy new clothes, change her image, she nearly scread in excitent.
He even ntioned buying a new house for them, especially for Selena who he believes has suffered too much..
For the first ti in a long while, everything felt... perfect.
The family of three basked in their victory, already making countless plans on how to spend their newfound wealth and enjoy their new lives.
If only they had known...
That this night, this mont of triumph, would be one of the very few tis they would ever feel this happy together.
Excitent surged through her, she couldn’t wait to flaunt it in Evans’ face, and in front of Jas and Freya. The thought of them fawning over Evans’ new girlfriend made her bite her lip in frustration. That place used to be hers.
Determined, she got ready quickly and rushed out of the house.
anwhile, Selena, who had been unusually quiet, suddenly leapt onto her husband, wrapping her arms around him and pressing a kiss to his lips. "It’s been a while, baby," she murmured sensually. "Co, let reward you for a job well done."
Mr. Smith chuckled, clearly pleased. "How can I say no to that?"
He lifted her effortlessly, and soon moaning sounds and tearing of clothes filled the air.
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