Queen of Wild Cards novel Chapter 39

At the Hawthorne Villa.

Larry, flanked by half a dozen menacing bodyguards, knocked on the grand double doors.

"Larry, what brings you here? Is there a problem?"

It had been ten days since Larry had dropped off the wedding fund and taken Stella away. Frederick had no idea what this sudden visit meant.

"I'm here on behalf of the Blackwood family to retrieve the wedding fund."

Miranda immediately bristled. "On what grounds? You already took my daughter. Coming back to demand the money is completely absurd! Is this how a prestigious family like yours does business?"

Larry sneered disdainfully. "Save the dramatic outrage, Mrs. Hawthorne. I think you know exactly why I'm here. You know damn well whether the girl I took was actually your daughter or not."

Miranda's face flushed with sudden panic. Unable to meet Larry's eyes, she nervously tugged at Frederick's sleeve.

Frederick plastered on a diplomatic smile. "Larry, the girl you took was indeed my daughter. Surely... there must be some sort of misunderstanding?"

"There is no misunderstanding. The girl we took is your daughter, yes, but her name is Stella, not Chloe. You swapped the brides behind our backs. Not only did her presence fail to ward off the bad luck, but our boss is now lying in a hospital bed because of it."

"The matriarch made herself perfectly clear. If you don't want to return the money, fine. But you will hand Chloe over to us immediately. We'll break both of her legs as compensation for the boss's condition, and then she'll go down with him. Once that's done, we'll consider the debt settled."

Frederick's mind raced: *So Stella blew her cover. What a useless liability.*

He had assumed that after so many days, the dust had settled. He had literally been preparing to funnel the massive wedding fund into expanding his company. Now, Larry was standing on his doorstep.

Chloe shrieked in absolute terror. "No! I'm not going! Dad, give them the money back right now! I am not getting my legs broken for some dead man!"

Chloe finally choked back her tears.

Desperate, Frederick tried to salvage the situation, leaning on his absolute lack of shame. "Larry, listen to reason. You took my daughter for over a week—her reputation is ruined now. The Blackwoods certainly aren't hurting for cash. Why don't we just let this slide?"

Larry's expression hardened. "Not a chance. The matriarch said that while the Blackwoods don't care about the money, we refuse to tolerate being played for fools by the Hawthornes."

"Your little stunt put our boss in the hospital. Like I said, you don't have to return the fund. Just hand Chloe over to me."

When Larry had delivered food to the hospital the previous day, Julius had specifically ordered him—while Stella was out of the room—to ensure the wedding fund was violently ripped back from the Hawthornes.

Larry was already fully aware of the forced substitution from the matriarch.