All Chapters of Shattered Mask: Chapter 131
- Chapter 140
144 chapters
CHAPTER 131
AT THE VALET SPOT.The minute hand on the dashboard of a parked sedan finally snapped to the twelve o'clock position, and Robert didn't hesitate for a single second. He blew out a long, ragged breath, his heart hammering against his ribs as he pulled his phone from his pocket. He had spent the last half-hour pacing near the edge of the shade, ignoring the sharp looks from his supervisor, completely consumed by the need to know what had transpired within the walls of Julius Vane’s office.He dialled Leslie’s number, pressing the device tightly against his ear to drown out the roar of the midday traffic. It only took two rings before the line clicked open."Robert?" Leslie’s voice came through, sounding strained, hushed, and profoundly exhausted. The distant hum of the supermarket's refrigeration units and the faint beep of cash registers provided a sterile background track to her anxiety."Leslie, thank God," Robert breathed, turning his back to the street to catch his breath. "It
CHAPTER 132
Robert looked at his watch. The afternoon was already moving. "Okay. Okay, don't panic," he said, trying to sound like the executive he used to be, though his own heart was racing. "I am also going to think it through. I will look at the angles from a corporate perspective and help find a solution before the deadline. We just need to stay calm and play the right card." Robert told LeslieA long pause stretched over the line. Robert could hear Leslie shifting her weight, the sound of her cheap plastic apron rustling against her uniform. When she spoke again, all the pride, all the aristocratic distance that had once defined her, was entirely gone. She sounded small, fragile, and utterly reduced."Robert..." she murmured, her voice laced with an embarrassing trace of shame. "Are you... do you have any money on you? I am sorry to even ask, but I am using this opportunity to see if you have a few dollars you could spare. Just something I could use for food. I am standing here in the ba
CHAPTER 133
He had seen the sharp, resentful glints in her eyes over the past few days. To Linda, he was no longer the brilliant catch who had replaced Jack; he was the catalyst for their exposure, the man whose presence in Leslie’s bed had given Jack the ultimate weapon.Robert was a smart evaluator of human nature, and he was now entirely sure that even if they miraculously survived this ordeal, even if they eventually succeeded through some legal anomaly and reclaimed a portion of their wealth, Linda was definitely going to trash him. The moment she had her crown back, she would view Robert as an embarrassing reminder of their lowest hour. She would find a way to separate him from Leslie, cast him out of the family circle, and leave him with absolutely nothing. He was fighting a war for a general who intended to execute him after the victory parade."She is not a good person," Robert muttered under his breath, watching a bead of condensation trail down his glass.His assessment of Linda had
CHAPTER 134
"You are late," Robert murmured softly, his hand resting on the small of her back as they began walking toward the boarding queue for the cross-town bus. "I was getting worried.""My manager," Leslie whispered, her voice hollow and dry. "He saw the log. He told me I had to work two hours of mandatory overtime today to cover up for the missing three hours from this morning's meeting with Julius. And he already scheduled me to do an extra hour tomorrow morning before the store even opens to the public. If I said no, he told me there were ten other applicants waiting for the uniform. I didn't have a choice, Robert. I had to stay," Leslie responded.Robert didn't complain. He understood the brutal mathematics of the lower tier all too well now. He, too, had stayed late at the valet lot, pulling a gruelling two hours of overtime himself. But unlike Leslie, Robert’s extended shift had been entirely voluntary, driven by three main reasons that he kept carefully categorised in his mind.Fi
CHAPTER 135
Robert narrowed his eyes, his corporate brain analysing her surrender. "Let go? And do what instead?""Instead of putting up a fight that we are definitely going to lose," Leslie said, turning her face to look directly into his eyes, "the entire family needs to go see Jack and Harnes in person." We need to walk into the Rothwell Tower, sit across from him, and play the only card we have left: we have to plead for forgiveness. We have to swallow our pride, admit how horribly we treated him, and beg him to show some mercy on our lives. It is the only way he might lift the liquidation or give us a baseline settlement to survive. " Leslie explainedRobert sat in silence, the bus bumping violently over a pothole. Her suggestion mirrored his own secret plan, but hearing it come from Leslie, the woman who had been the centrepiece of the entire conflict, carried a different kind of weight. He knew Jack’s internal thoughts; he knew Jack was currently sitting in his tower expecting this ver
CHAPTER 136
Linda stood up, pacing across the dark Persian rug, her voice filled with a desperate, calculating logic. "If we sue Jack, we are not just filing a claim in a local district; we are going to make it completely public. We will leak the filing to every independent journalist, every corporate blog, and every media outlet in the region. We will make sure everyone knows about it. We will drag the name of the new Rothwell heir through the dirt, exposing his three years of living like a peasant in our house, exposing the divorce, exposing everything."She turned back to face them, a triumphant smile stretching across her face. "The Rothwell family board will never allow that kind of chaotic publicity to threaten their stock valuation or their institutional reputation. They will definitely go for an immediate, aggressive settlement. They will settle us off-grid, away from the court, away from the public eye, just to buy our silence and make us disappear. They will give us fifty million,
CHAPTER 137
The silence that followed Robert’s suggestion did not just fill the room; it seemed to solidify, turning the cold air of the formal living room into a brittle, explosive barrier.Linda Smith did not move. For three long seconds, she simply sat in her high-backed armchair, her gaze fixed on Robert with an intensity that could have broken steel. The pale, flickering amber light from the solitary floor lamp caught the sharp angles of her jawline, which had turned completely white from the force of her clenching teeth. The absolute entitlement that had sustained her through generations of aristocratic supremacy was roaring back to life, fuelled by an intoxicating mix of offence and pure outrage.The words of Robert had pissed Linda off to the absolute maximum.She slowly rose from her chair, her movements deliberate, her spine straightening until she seemed to tower over the room despite her age. When she spoke, her voice was not a scream; it was a low, venomous hiss that carried the f
CHAPTER 138
"I am done being quiet! I am stating this point-blank to you right now, Linda: I am not going to be an accessory to what you are planning. I am not going to sit here and watch you drag us into a legal meat grinder that will turn us completely homeless," Leslie said.She wiped a line of sweat from her forehead with the back of her sleeve, her posture shaking violently. "If no one in this house has the courage to save themselves, if Bernard wants to sit there like a coward and let you destroy his life, then that is your choice. But I am going to look for Jack myself. I will walk into the Rothwell Tower tomorrow morning, completely alone if I have to, and I will plead for his forgiveness. I will put my knees to the marble floor, I will tell him he was right, and I will beg him to spare me and my child. " Leslie said,She choked on her own breath, the anger suddenly curdling into an overwhelming, suffocating wave of despair. "I am so tired, Mother... I am so, so tired. And I do not n
CHAPTER 139
Linda was left completely stunned, standing entirely alone in the centre of the fading light. For the first time in her life, her words had not commanded authority; they had commanded an exit. She stared at the empty doorway, her lips parted slightly in absolute disbelief, her mind struggling to process the total insubordination of her eldest daughter. She wondered, with a rising sense of internal panic, what was happening to her reality. Her kingdom was not just losing its wealth; it was losing its obedience.But the final, crushing blow to her dignity did not come from Leslie or Robert.Slowly, Bernard rose from the edge of the velvet sofa where he had sat silently throughout the entire domestic war. He didn't look at his mother. He didn't offer a word of comfort or defence for her strategy. Instead, he simply tucked his scribbled legal pad under his arm, turned toward the exit, and began walking out of the living room.As he crossed the threshold, he began whistling a nonchalant
CHAPTER 140
"Linda", Julius said, his tone perfectly professional, yet carrying a distinct, weary edge that suggested he was already packing his briefcase for the weekend. "I am assuming you are calling to give me the final feedback regarding the options we outlined this morning. My assistants are waiting to draft the documents or close the file," Julius said.Linda stopped her pacing, standing rigid in front of her vanity mirror. She looked at her reflection, at the deep lines of stress etched around her mouth, and forced her voice into a cold, commanding register."Julius, before we finalise the directional feedback, I need to clear up a tactical variant," Linda stated, her tone mimicking the executive authority she used to possess. "I want you to analyse a different legal avenue. First of all, tell me: how much would it cost us, hypothetically, if we decided to bypass the standard asset nondisclosure claim and instead completely pursue the case by suing Jack for a fundamental breach of the m