The Coldest Man in the Room Melted Only for Me novel Chapter 65

On the other end of the line, Seraphina scowled in intense irritation. "Fine. I'll wire the rest of your payment. Just keep your mouth shut."

"Don't worry, my lips are sealed."

"They'd better be, or I'll make sure you can never show your face in Riverport again," Seraphina hissed, slamming the phone down.

She lifted a slender cigarette to her painted lips and took a vicious drag.

A venomous gleam flickered in her eyes.

She wanted to prove to Pierce that Riley was nothing but a nightmare, dragging her parasitic, money-grubbing family along to bleed him dry.

She was going to make Pierce despise his wife, piece by calculated piece.

She just hadn't expected Riley to be smart enough to shut down the extortion entirely without involving him.

Seraphina exhaled a cloud of smoke, a twisted sneer curling her lips. "That's fine, Riley. I have all the time in the world to break you."

**

In the car.

Ross sat in the passenger seat, nervously testing the waters. "You aren't going to tell Mom and Dad about this, right?"

Riley kept her eyes firmly on the road. "What, suddenly feeling a little cowardly?"

Their parents completely coddled him, but they worshipped money above all else. If they found out he had just flushed two hundred thousand dollars down the drain for a one-night stand, they would literally beat him senseless.

Ross flashed his most obnoxious, pleading smile. "You're the best sister in the world. Please don't tell them. I swear to God I'll never do anything like this again."

"You actually thought about a next time?"

"No, no, no! I mean I'm done. I promise, I'll work and pay you back every single cent."

"Great. I'll have Pierce wire two thousand dollars of your paycheck directly to my account every month until your debt is entirely cleared."

Ross's eyes practically popped out of his skull. "You're joking, right?"

"Do I look like I'm joking?" Riley shot him a deadpan look. If she didn't crush his arrogance now, he was going to end up in prison before he turned twenty.

Ross's heart bled for his stolen paychecks, but he had zero leverage. He gritted his teeth. "Fine. Two thousand a month. But you cannot tell Mom and Dad."

"Depends on your behavior."

"Why are we stopping here?" Ross asked, completely baffled.

Riley killed the engine and turned to stare at her brother, desperately holding onto a shred of hope. "Is there a deputy manager named Walsh in that department?"

Ross shook his head. "No."

Riley felt like she had been struck by lightning.

There was only one Manager Walsh in the planning department.

And Arthur had just explicitly stated that Quentin Walsh had held the position for three years.

Which meant the Manager Walsh constantly calling Pierce was completely fake!

Why was he lying to her?

Why had he invented a phantom employee to deceive her for months?

Seeing Riley completely paralyzed, her face drained of all color, Ross nervously nudged her. "Riley?"