?Chapter 143:


    Last night, Kiara and Paige had failed to get a hold of Merritt no matter how hard they tried, and it felt like the rug had been yanked out from under them. Without his clout to protect them, they were sure they’d been hung out to dry. Gutted and scared stiff, they holed up indoors all day, too spooked to even peek at the news online.


    But then, out of the blue, as evening rolled around, Merritt had sent someone to pick them up, inviting them to his private mansion for a chat.


    The sudden attention hit Kiara and Paige like a bolt from the blue. On the ride over, they gingerly checked the inte, bracing for the worst. To their shock, the web was spotless—no whispers of Paige’s cheating at the Starry Oil Painting Competition. The final results hadn’t even dropped, and Elliana’s secret identity as the famous artist Rosa was still under wraps.


    It didn’t take a genius to figure out Merritt had scrubbed the inte for them.


    Relief washed over the mother-daughter duo, and they couldn’t hold back their tears of joy. They hadn’t been ditched by Merritt after all!


    When they rolled up to Merritt’s swanky mansion, Paige was all over him—pouring his water, kneading his shoulders, tending to his every whim like he was royalty. Merrittpped up the attention, grinning ear to ear like a kid in a candy store. Back in his rough-and-tumble days as a dockside brawler, he had taken enough hits to leave him unable to have kids of his own. Paige wasn’t his flesh and blood, but as the daughter of an old me, her beauty and sharp wit had won him over.


    After shooting the breeze with Paige for a bit, Merritt’s eyes slid to Kiara.


    “Did Dariny hands on you again?”


    Kiara’s face was a mess of bruises, puffy and discolored. Despite her best efforts to cake on the foundation, the marks still stuck out.


    “Yeah,” she admitted, not daring to lie. Merritt wasn’t the small-time crook he used to be—his wealth and power demanded respect, and she knew better than to y fast and loose with him.


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    Merritt let out a cold snort and mmed his cup down.


    “What’s so special about that deadbeat Darin? Why stick around and put up with this humiliation? Dump him already! You and Paige can move in with me. I’ll take care of you both!”


    Sure, Merritt had run through plenty of women over the years, but those flings were never more than a sh in the pan. Now, getting on in years, he was craving the warmth of a real family. He had big ns to groom Paige as his heir, and having her and Kiara under his roof would make his life feel a whole lot fuller.


    “That’s kind of you, but it wouldn’t be right,” Kiara replied politely.


    “With your status, you’ve got women lining up around the block to be with you. I’m past my prime—how could I ever measure up? I’m just grateful you still look out for my girl.”


    Her words were as smooth as butter, but deep down, she was gagging at the thought. Sure, she and Merritt had a fling back in the day, but now? The sight of him made her stomach churn. Merritt had wed his way through the underworld, racking up scars from bloody brawls. One eye was gone, and his rough, intimidating vibe screamed trouble. The idea of climbing into bed with him? No thanks.


    Darin, for all his temper, still had that movie-star charm. Back in school, he’d been the guy every girl swooned over. Even now, despite the bruises she’d suffered at his hands, Kiara couldn’t shake her foolish pull toward his good looks and the fleeting moments of tenderness he offered during intimacy.


    Merritt, not one for reading between the lines, ate up Kiara’s ttery like it was gospel. He genuinely thought she was singing his praises, and his mood perked up like a sunny day. “Kiara, you were always such a sweet, gentle thing back in the day. Now, with a few years on you, you’ve only gotten wiser and kinder,” he said with a satisfied smile.


    Kiara shed a flirty smile. “I’m just speaking from the heart. You’re loyal, generous, and I’m beyond thankful for all you do. I wouldn’t dream of stepping out of line, a move that would potentially tarnish your good name.”


    Merritt nodded, buying her logic hook, line, and sinker. With his clout, snatching another man’s wife would definitely stir up some gossip. Plus, Kiara and Darin had a young son, so cutting ties wasn’t exactly a walk in the park. “Do as you see fit,” he said dismissively.


    Paige jumped in, quick to keep the good vibes going. “Thank you so much for wiping the inte clean for me. Without you, I’d be toast by now.”


    Merritt’s face suddenly darkened, like a storm cloud rolling in. “Scrubbing the web was no big deal. What’s got me worried is something else entirely.”


    Paige and Kiara exchanged nervous looks, totally in the dark about what he meant. If something was rattling Merritt, it had to be bad. Their stomachs started tying themselves in knots.


    “Our meeting with Luciano went down on my private turf, and I’ve got John, a world-ss cybersecurity guru, locking down mywork. Normally, it’s tighter than a drum.” His expression grew grimmer. “But this time, someone took the video, and John didn’t even catch a whiff of it.”


    Paige’s and Kiara’s faces matched his, heavy with worry. John Welch wasn’t just some keyboard warrior—his hacking skills were among the top ten on the. For someone to get past John’s defenses without a trace, they had to be a ghost in the machine, as elite as it got.


    “That’s downright terrifying,” Merritt said, his voice thick with dread.


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