While My Husband Cheated I Married His Powerful Brother novel Chapter 35

Chapter 35: Chapter 35 An Unknown Number

Her thumb hovered over the call button.

Li Wei’s name was on the screen. His number was already dialed. All she had to do was press send.

She did not press send.

She stared at the phone for a long moment. Her heart was pounding. Her lip was still sore from where Beatrice had slapped her. Her cheek was still throbbing.

She wanted to tell someone. She wanted to scream. She wanted to point her finger at Eleanor and make everyone see what she saw.

But she had no proof.

No proof. Just a feeling. Just the way Eleanor’s eyes had flickered when Veyra mentioned Dorian. Just the smug smile. Just the panic that had flashed across her face when the butler announced Dorian’s call.

If she told Li Wei now, if she accused Eleanor without evidence, it might provoke something. Eleanor might panic. Eleanor might do something rash.

Eleanor might hurt Lily.

Veyra could not let that happen.

She set the phone down on the nightstand. Her hand was shaking. She pressed it flat against the wood to steady it.

She would wait.

She would trust Dorian to find Lily. He was smart. He was capable. He had hacked into the municipal surveillance system like it was nothing. If anyone could track down the kidnappers, it was him.

She just had to be patient.

She hated being patient.

She lay back on the bed and stared at the ceiling.

Her mind drifted back to the café. To Dorian’s fingers flying across the keyboard. To the lines of code flashing on the screen. To the way he had moved through the surveillance system like he owned it.

He was formidable.

That was the word. Formidable. The type of person who walked into a room and everyone else took a step back. Not because they were afraid. Because they knew he was operating on a level they could not reach.

She wanted that.

She wanted to walk into a room and have people listen. She wanted to speak and have people believe her. She wanted to be taken seriously.

She thought about his words at the café. The way he had mocked her. What exactly do you plan to do? Like she was a child playing at something she did not understand.

It had hurt.

But it had also lit a fire.

She sat up. She looked at herself in the mirror across the room. Her face was pale. Her lip was swollen. Her eyes were red.

But something in her expression had changed. Something had hardened.

Just give me a lever, she said to herself, and I can move the world.

She did not know where the words came from. She had read them somewhere. A book. A quote. Something her mother used to say.

She believed them.

She just needed a lever.

Her phone buzzed.

She picked it up. The screen glowed. A message from an unknown number.

No text. Just a photograph.

Veyra’s blood went cold.

It was Lily.

She was inside a dog cage. A metal cage. Too small for her. Her knees were pressed against her chest. Her arms were wrapped around herself. Her face was contorted with terror. Her eyes were wide. Her mouth was open. She looked like she had been crying.

Veyra’s hand flew to her mouth.

She recognized the setup. The way the cage was positioned. The way the lighting was harsh and yellow. The way the floor was concrete.

This was Eleanor’s work.

She knew it. In her bones. In her gut. Eleanor had done this. Eleanor had taken Lily. Eleanor was the one who had tipped off the kidnappers.

The rage that rose in Veyra’s chest was unlike anything she had ever felt.

It was not the hot, explosive anger she had felt on the plane when she slapped Xiomara. It was not the cold, bitter fury she had felt when Caspian confessed about her mother.

This was something else.

This was a fire that burned without smoke. A fire that did not rage. A fire that just kept burning, hotter and hotter, until there was nothing left but ash.

She wanted to kill Eleanor.

She wanted to wrap her hands around Eleanor’s throat and squeeze until the smug smile disappeared forever.

But she could not. Because Lily needed her.

Another message came through.

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