The Scorned Heiress: No More Mercy novel Chapter 490

After a heavy pause, Charles reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small, metallic object. He sets it on the table.

"This is an anti-eavesdropping signal jammer," he states calmly. "Whatever we say in this room won't be recorded or transmitted."

Tara is highly familiar with counter-surveillance tech, but she certainly never expected a man like Charles to carry it around.

"What, are you being monitored?" she asks, a mocking lilt in her voice.

To her surprise, he nods. His expression is dead serious. "I have been for well over a decade."

The casual confession sends a jolt of genuine shock through Tara.

"That isn't something you need to concern yourself with," Charles says, leaning forward and dropping his voice to a grave whisper. "But I need you to stop looking into Jovani. She is vastly more dangerous and complicated than you can possibly imagine."

"Why? You think Deanna will finally catch you in your little affair?" Tara sneers. She knows there is a much deeper conspiracy at play, but she refuses to pass up an opportunity to take a shot at him.

Charles lets out a bitter, exhausted sigh and shakes his head. "I wish to God it were that simple."

"You are a terrifyingly good actor," Tara murmurs. "You even had me completely fooled."

She had spent her whole life believing her father was a spineless, philandering playboy who let anyone drag him by the nose. In reality, it was all an elaborate smokescreen. He is infinitely more ruthless and Machiavellian than her three idiotic brothers combined.

"You need to continue pretending you know nothing," Charles warns her sternly. "If this secret leaks, it will bring absolute ruin to the Dennis family. You cannot breathe a single word of this to your brothers or your mother. They do not have the brains or the discipline to keep their mouths shut."

Looking at her, Charles can't help but feel a surge of pride. Out of all his children, his youngest daughter is undeniably the most brilliant. She is the only one who truly inherited Grandpa Cian's ruthless intellect. He poured endless resources and grooming into his eldest son, preparing him to be the heir, yet Jake doesn't hold a candle to Tara. Recently, his eldest son has started to mature, finally stopping his pathetic doting on Jade—likely because reality finally slapped him in the face and showed him his adopted sister's true colors. But even with that slight improvement, his eldest son remains leagues behind the predator sitting across from him now.