The Transactional Marriage That Imploded novel Chapter 163

Cynthia beamed with pride. "Oh, him? He treats me like I'm the center of his universe."

Mathis offered her a doting smile. "It's nothing, really. Just a small gesture."

The nurse grew even more envious. Rich people's romance was always so grand.

Zane called Mathis, and without hesitation, Mathis stepped outside to answer.

Cynthia felt a prickle of unease. In his office, he used to say he had no secrets from her.

Why was he suddenly hiding to take a call?

Could it be Bianca calling to beg for mercy?

Outside the ward, Zane reported, "Mr. Jagger, regarding the post Cynthia just made—our team noticed that Neville Quinn has already hired trolls to stir the pot and launch a cyberbullying campaign against Ms. Baldwin. Should we intervene?"

"No."

Bianca's resolute face flashed before Mathis's eyes, and that dense, suffocating ache crept back into his chest.

"Just document all their online attacks," Mathis instructed, pausing before adding, "And if my wife, my grandfather, or anyone else tries to fight back, suppress it."

Zane frowned in confusion. "Sir, if you do that, you'll only push her further away."

Not long ago, Mathis had ordered him to bid on those two antique zithers just to win her back. Why the sudden cold shoulder?

Mathis said coldly, "I need her to learn that the only place she'll truly be safe from harm is by my side."

Zane couldn't comprehend Mathis's twisted logic, but he worked for the man, so he simply replied, "Understood. I'll get it done."

After hanging up, Mathis returned to the room.

Seeing his calm expression, Cynthia assumed Bianca was still as useless as ever, failing to get Mathis to agree to whatever she was begging for.

The corners of Cynthia's lips curled up. Neville had just texted her: *I've arranged the online hit on Bianca. Just wait for her to be trampled into the dirt.*

Cynthia thought viciously: *Once the internet destroys you, Bianca, you'll have no choice but to be my ghostwriter for research.*

To live as a woman like you is a total failure.

Learning that she had directly hacked into the surveillance system, Theodore warned her: *Whatever you can think of, Mathis has already thought of. Are you sure he hasn't laid a trap?*

Bianca's heart skipped a beat. She remembered when Mathis had snatched Mabel from the nursing home; he had wiped the cameras then, too.

He definitely had his own team of hackers.

*Thank you for the warning, Grandfather. I'll check right now.*

Bianca always kept her laptop with her. She booted it up immediately and ran a sweep.

Her heart sank. Just as warned, someone had reverse-installed a trojan on her system.

She didn't even have to guess—it had Mathis written all over it.

From last night until now, her laptop had been completely exposed. She had no idea how many of her secrets Mathis had scraped.

Thank God her research hadn't yielded final results yet, or else all her hard work would have been handed over to someone else.