Ice and Fire novel Chapter 886

"Who else can stop me? You or Derek?" Sally asked with a sneer. Resting her eyes on Mond, she remarked, "Your prime time is over. Don't you think that you have changed a lot these years? You've lost much of your sharp edge already. I think the softening of your heart is evident in many things. For example, your generous thirty million dollars' donation to charity. But I suspect you thought it would remain secret, didn't you?"

Surprised that she had sniffed that out, Mond gave her a grave look, probing to see if she'd give away some helpful information. "It looks like you're better informed than I imagined," he began with a little bit of flattery. "Tell me, how do you get to know all these?" he asked. What puzzled Mond most was that Sally didn't have any friends. All the information that she seemed to have at her fingertips was sourced through spying on people through hired contracts. Considering that she was lonely and isolated, he assumed that it must have cost her an arm and a leg. The bit he had learned about her spying on Lawrence and Mike through the Russian intelligence was particularly unsettling. For that reason, he'd have to play his cards close to his chest. Worse still, Mond was gutted by her needless murder of Sharon. From now onward, he'd need to tread cautiously with this woman.

"Money has power, doesn't it?" Sally asked in return. "We can do anything as long as we have money."

Disagreeing, Mond shook his head. As far as he could tell, she wasn't being honest. There were many things that she wanted to hide with that generalized answer.

Being his old friend, Sally read what exactly was going through his mind. Money was a veneer behind which she had hoped to hide, but Mond was too smart for that. That wasn't going to fool him so easily, she thought.

All of a sudden, she changed the topic. Glancing around, she asked, "Do you live alone in such a huge house?" she asked.

"Why bother asking? You sat here waiting for me a long time. How could you not know?" Mond countered, focusing his expectant eyes on Sally. Expectantly he wanted for Sally to answer this last question, but in her typical cop out, she again switched topic. Now, he realized that the woman wouldn't provide any meaningful answer to his questions.

"I saw a woman dressed like a servant. She left here an hour ago with a wicker shopping basket," she began in a calm tone.

"If anything happens to her, I will not let you go," Mond threatened, without blinking. Of course, he knew there was no good reason why Sally would hurt her. But just in case she acted out impulse like she did most of the time, Mond would make her pay a heavy price for her sins. After Sharon's death, he had resolved he would deal ruthlessly with her. It was high time someone gave this callous woman a taste of her own medicine.

"Don't worry. I will not kill her," Sally promised coolly as she stubbed out her cigar in the ashtray. Lifting her head to look at Mond, she continued, "I've sent someone to stalk her, but she will be back safely."

Mond didn't say a word.

"But I am a little curious. You used to be so callous. You tried to hurt your half brother. Heck, you even killed your Grandpa," Sally took a dig at Mond, not afraid to get on his wrong side. "How comes you now even want to protect a mere maid?"