My Boss’s Hidden Heir (Elara and Marcus) novel Chapter 143

Chapter 143

Elara’s POV

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Elara stared at her phone for the hundredth time in the last hour, reading the blackmail messages over and over until the words blurred together.

I know you were pregnant before the wedding.

Pay me $500k or everyone else knows too.

Clock’s ticking, Elara.

The phrasing was crude, direct, exactly the way Luca talked. The amount demanded was ridiculous, more money than Elara had ever seen in her life. And the threat was real, devastating in its simplicity.

If people found out she’d been pregnant before the wedding, if the board discovered Marcus had married her out of necessity rather than genuine intent, everything would fall apart. The will, the shares, Marcus’s control of the company. All of it gone because Elara had been careless enough to get pregnant.

She’d tried to tell Marcus three times already. Had picked up her phone, opened a new message, typed out the words. But each time she’d deleted it before sending.

Marcus was already dealing with the fallout from the investor meeting, with proving Penelope had sabotaged him, with managing a board that was questioning his competence. How could she add this to his plate? How could she burden him with another crisis when he’d just promised to fix everything?

And there were the babies to think about. Dr. Sarah had been clear. No stress. Elara’s body was already under tremendous strain trying to support two pregnancies when one twin wasn’t thriving. Adding more stress could tip things over the edge.

So she’d made a decision. She would handle this herself.

Elara picked up her phone and typed out a response to the unknown number.

Elara: I’m not paying you. But I’ll meet you to talk. Where and when?

The response came within seconds.

Unknown: Smart girl. Tomorrow, 2pm. Old warehouse on Pier 47. Come alone or the deal’s off.

Elara’s hands shook as she read the address. Pier 47 was in an abandoned industrial area, the kind of place where no one would hear you scream. Going there alone was monumentally stupid.

But what choice did she have?

She needed to confront Luca face to face, needed to make him understand that she wouldn’t be manipulated or threatened. That he could take his blackmail and shove it because she’d rather face the consequences than give him a single dollar.

16:58 Mon, May 11 M…

Chapter 143

Elara typed back: Fine. 2pm tomorrow. I’ll be there.

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She set down her phone and took a deep breath, trying to calm the panic rising in her chest. This was a terrible idea. She knew it was a terrible idea. But it was her mess to clean up, not Marcus’s.

Her phone rang. Mimi’s name flashed on the screen.

“Hey,” Elara answered.

“Don’t hey me. What the hell is going on? You’ve been dodging my calls all day.”

“I’ve been resting. Doctor’s orders.”

“Bullshit. I can hear it in your voice. Something’s wrong. What happened?”

Elara closed her eyes. She’d never been able to lie to Mimi successfully. “I got a blackmail message. About the pregnancy timeline.”

Silence on the other end. Then: “I’m coming over. Right now.”

“Mimi, you don’t need to…”

“I’m already in my car. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”

The line went dead.

Elara lay back against the pillows and waited, her mind spinning through scenarios. What would she say to Luca tomorrow? How would she convince him to back off without paying? Could she threaten him somehow,

turn the tables?

Fifteen minutes later, she heard the front door open and Mimi’s footsteps pounding up the stairs. Her friend burst into the bedroom looking furious.

“Show me the messages,” Mimi demanded.

Elara handed over her phone. Mimi read through the texts, her expression getting darker with each line.

“This is Luca,” Mimi said. It wasn’t a question.

“I know.”

“And you’re not calling the police because…”

“Because he said he’d go straight to the press if I involved the authorities. And because Marcus has enough to deal with right now.”

Mimi sat on the edge of the bed. “So what’s your plant? Pay him the money you don’t have?”

“No. I’m going to meet him tomorrow and tell him to go to hell.”

“Alone? At some sketchy warehouse? Are you out of your mind?”

16:58 Mon, May 11 M…

Chapter 143

“I don’t have another choice.”

“Yes you do! You tell Marcus! You let him handle this!”

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“He’s already handling Penelope sabotaging the investor meeting. He’s already stressed about the babies and my bed rest. I’m not adding this to his plate.”

Mimi grabbed Elara’s shoulders. “Listen to me very carefully. Your father is dangerous. He’s desperate and he’s working with Penelope and God knows who else. Going to meet him alone is the stupidest thing you could possibly do.”

“I have to try. I have to at least see if I can talk him out of this.”

“Then I’m coming with you.”

“No.”

“Yes. You want to do this idiotic thing? Fine. But I’m not letting you walk into a trap by yourself.”

They argued for another twenty minutes but Elara knew she’d already lost. Mimi was coming whether Elara wanted her to or not. And honestly, having backup didn’t sound like the worst idea.

“Fine,” Elara said finally. “But we don’t tell Marcus. And we don’t tell Dante either because he’ll just tell Marcus.”

“Agreed. This stays between us.”

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