Betrayed? I Upgraded to His Billionaire Brother novel Chapter 148

Chapter 148

I had witnessed firsthand the relentless battle Chloe had fought to reach this point—pushing herself mercilessly through college and then working even harder afterward. If this charge stuck, it would shatter her entire career.

“Save the damn sob story for someone who actually cares,” he snapped, cutting me off sharply. Born with everything handed to him, he had no idea what it took for others just to get to the starting line. “I’m done playing the heavy hand this time, Elara.”

“This time,” he continued, his voice low and commanding, “I want you to come to me willingly. I want you on your knees, begging. I want you crawling into my bed because you choose to.”

A mix of fury and desperation clogged my throat, and my vision blurred with tears I refused to let fall. “You’re dreaming,” I hissed, grinding the words out through clenched teeth.

But deep down, I knew this wasn’t his plan. He wasn’t sharp enough to come up with something like this.

No, this scheme had Amelia’s fingerprints all over it.

With my mind made up, I didn’t hesitate. I grabbed my keys and headed straight to Zane’s place.

On the phone, Theodore remained infuriatingly calm. “We’ll see about that, won’t we? I’m giving you one night, Elara. Just one night to think it over.”

His voice turned icy and final. “If I don’t see you by sunrise, Chloe can start getting comfortable in her new cell.”

The threat hung heavy in the air before he abruptly ended the call.

I slammed my foot down on the accelerator. When I arrived at the villa, I didn’t even bother turning off the engine. I flung the car door open and rushed inside, breathless and frantic.

A servant, who had noticed the car pull up, hurried to open the main door. She looked genuinely startled to see me standing there, panting and distressed. “Ma’am? What are you doing back here?”

“Where’s Zane?” I demanded, my voice sharp and urgent.

She shook her head. “He’s not here. He’s barely been around these past few days.”

So that was what Zane meant when he said Amelia was moving out. He had left with her.

That fact barely registered. My mind was racing. “Where did Amelia move to?” I pressed.

The servant hesitated, clearly uncomfortable. “I don’t know, ma’am.”

My heart sank. I turned back toward my car, pulling out my phone to call Zane.

The call went straight to voicemail.

Then, a new text arrived from Theodore.

A hotel room number.

The woman he once held so delicately in the palm of his hand was now trapped in a barren, empty room.

As soon as he approached the iron-barred door, Amelia lunged forward, clutching the bars, her body shaking with sobs. “Zane! Zane, I know I was wrong! Please, just let me out…”

There was a time when Zane couldn’t bear to see her cry. A single tear would summon memories of the little girl who once grabbed her father’s hand and dashed through traffic, desperate to save him, softening his heart. Back then, he couldn’t stand to see her upset.

Even though she had long since shed the innocence of that childhood self, he had kept indulging her, lowering his own standards again and again for her sake.

He never imagined she wasn’t Jess at all.

When he and his mother returned to New York after his father’s funeral, he had the butler take him to find Jess. But he was too late. He tracked down the little girl’s address only to be told by a neighbor that her parents had died in an accident and she had vanished without a trace.

For years, he had used every connection, searched every corner. Until the day he spotted that clover necklace around Amelia’s neck.

And now, after all that time, he was back to square one. All those years wasted on Amelia, while his Jess might be suffering somewhere—God only knew where. He didn’t even know if she was still alive.

The thought sent a surge of fury through him. He kicked the iron door open, stormed inside, and slammed Amelia against the wall, his hand tightening around her throat. The veins on the back of his hand stood out in sharp relief.

“I’m asking you one last time,” he demanded, voice icy and unforgiving, “How did you get the clover necklace?”

His eyes narrowed, scrutinizing every flicker of expression on her face.