He just wanted to know—after Niamh mistakenly believed she'd slept with another man, would she feel guilty toward him?
Niamh hurled the photograph onto Jonathan's face, then turned sharply and headed inside.
It wasn't until she was safely indoors that the tears finally came.
By the time she got home, the chaos in her mind had slowly started to settle.
The photographer, after all, was only in this business for the money.
And she had, in fact, paid him a staggering five million for his silence.
Logically speaking, there was no reason for him to release the photos; if he did, he'd ruin his own reputation and future blackmail opportunities.
But just because he wouldn't release them didn't mean he wouldn't keep a backup.
After weighing her options, Niamh made a phone call.
"Rina?"
A man's voice answered—a clear, melodic sound, like water running over stones.
When Niamh didn't reply for a long moment, the man corrected himself:
"Niamh, what's wrong?"
Only then did she ask for his help.
He listened without interrupting, not asking a single unnecessary question.
"If you're tired, get some rest. If not, wait half an hour for me."
Niamh decided to wait.
Half an hour later, her phone rang again.
"I've hacked into all his devices—his phone, computer, camera. He did keep a backup on his home computer, but you can relax now. I've deleted everything. And no, I didn't look at any of it."
Niamh believed him.
"Thank you."
"Are you… okay?"
"I'm fine."
"You know, you could always come ba—"
She hung up before he could finish.
With the photo situation finally resolved—though it had cost her five million and left her owing someone a favor—at least the scandal hadn't blown up, and her reputation remained intact. To Niamh, it was money well spent.
The problem was…
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