billion book
Chapter 22
Chapter 22
“Such a loyal dog of Gianna Clarke,” hissed Olivia. “Or do you think that just by being silent, you think
you can hide the fact that it was she who ordered you carry out the deed?”
“This has nothing to do with Ms. Gianna! Stop slandering her!” Damian retorted, visibly agitated at the
mention of Gianna’s
name.
He groped around and his fingers found a piece of gla**. Like a rabid dog, he swung his arm around
and retaliated. Olivia evaded the blow and that was the chance he needed to get up.
“I see, so it really is Gianna Clarke. Tell her: her time will to pay will come and it will come soon
enough!”
“Who the hell are you! How dare you threaten the safety of Ms. Gianna!”
Gripping firmly the piece of gla**, Damian lunged at Olivia.
They were fighting when the din of cars halting to a screech outside pierced the silence.
Olivia could hear that it was more than just one vehicle.
“About time!” Please check at N/ôvel(D)rama.Org.
She tucked away the pocket recorded and headed out the door, choosing not to use the elevator but
the stairs instead.
William must not know that she had been here if she wanted to avoid more trouble and ha ssle.
“Bang!”
“Go d, someone just jumped off the building!”
Olivia was just reaching the ground floor when she had a heavy thud just outside, followed swiftly by a
scream.
She paused for one split-second, then she hastened and slipped out quickly.
But just when she thought she was out of the building, a hand seized her by the wrist.
“Running away after committing a murder?”
The cold voice as if it reached from the deepest-most abyss made Olivia jerk her head around in time
to meet eye-to-eye with William Kinsman’s enraged pair of bloodshot eyes.
Olivia uttered not a word. Her instincts struggled to break free, but William seemed to have expected it
and he pulled her into his arms.
Grunting with an anger-laced voice, his hands reached to remove the bandana that masked her face.
But her reflexes pushed him backward as his slender fingers drew closer and before they could get
even closer, she disentangled herself from him by breaking free of his hold with both arms and rolled
out of his reach.
William acted fast enough; but not fast enough. He threw himself forward but all he got was just her
jacket. She was free.
Olivia quickly slipped into a jet-black sedan that swerved by her just in time before it accelerated with a
roar and sped away.
By the time William reached the street, the car was long gone.
Marshall Foster caught up and gave a report, “Sir, it’s Damian Clarke. The situation’s not good, but he’s
still breathing.”
“Save him. I have question that I want answers from him.”
“Yes, sir.”
“But what of the woman earlier. She could be an a**a**in here to terminate Damian Clarke. Should we
catch up?”
“Yes, but she’s not getting away.”
William slid into his car. A bright-red dot was moving on the screen of the HUD console. He barked at
Marshall, urging him to make haste.
He needed to get to her and make sure if it’s her. There were questions for her too.
William did notice that the woman wasn’t interested in a fight. She wanted to escape. For that reason,
he had stealthily dropped a tracker dot inside one of her pockets.
The tracking system on this car was an upgrade compared to the one on his.
An obsidian sedan headed down the main highway of Melburgh’s four-ring-road system. It pa**ed
through a tunnel and making use of the surveillance’s blind spot, it turned into a milky-white car.
Olivia was sitting in the front pa**enger seat. She removed her jacket, revealing a deep ga sh on her
svelte arm and blood was flowing down its length profusely.
1/3Chapter 22
It looked hideos.
That also released the metallic pang of blood into the atmosphere inside the car.
“Ms. Clarke, you’re hurt!” Gideon yelped anxiously.
“Just a minor wound. It’s fine.”
It was caused by Damian back at his house when he retaliated.
But Olivia Clarke, obviously no stranger to getting hurt, carried herself with skill and training as she
cleaned, sterilized, and dressed her wounds using the paraphernalia from the tiny first-aid kit in the car.
Once she was done, with her teeth biting on one end of the gauze, she wrapped herself up and tied a
tight knot,
“Damian Clarke still lives, Ms. Clarke. They’ve sent him to the hospital. Reed is watching him.”
“Good. I want eyes on him at all times. Make sure he’s not killed before he speaks.”
“You mean Gianna Clarke might try to silence Damian?”
“Just you wait and see; the end of Gianna Clarke is near.”
“I’m sure of that, ma’am. No one has ever triumphed over you. But—”
“Speak freely.”
“Gianna Clarke is the prime candidate to be the future queen of the Kinsmans. The evidence we have
right now are not yet conclusive and if Mr. Kinsman decides to remain adamant about protecting her,
that could spell trouble for us.”
Gideon finally articulated his reservations after a beat of hesitation.
For the past two days he had been investigating both Gianna Clarke and William, discovering that they
have been together for five years. In fact, there have been rumors suggesting that William’s first choice
should have been Gianna and not Olivia.
Marrying Olivia could had been a mistake.
Since Olivia’s alleged death, Gianna had been around William all the time. She had accompanied him
through what could be the longest gloom in his life. Even William’s son was cared by her that time.
They might not have been engaged at all, but the world has been swirling with rumors saying how their
marriage date must be near and it seemed like it was going to be true.
Especially since Gianna Clarke herself did reveal during a press conference that they would be
announcing their engagement during a global charity event.
After which, they would get prepared to be properly married.
Gideon had done a little more digging. William Kinsman had been present during the press conference
and although he did not provide any response, it was his reticence that had led everyone to believe that
Gianna Clarke and his imminent engagement could be true.
And since that day, headlines of how the Kinsmans and the Clarkes would once again celebrate their
union never stopped gracing newspapers and news reports. The Kinsmans did nothing to stop these
news from spreading.
Which was one of the main reasons behind Gideon’s apprehension.
“William Kinsman would most undoubtedly try to defend Gianna Clarke. She’s been his sweetheart all
the time!”
Olivia was frustrated. Listening to Gideon reporting about the details of his findings had only served to
aggravate the anxiety that has been tormenting her.
It was as if the weight of a hundred mountains was crushing on her.
The blind and stubborn oaf William and the ruthless and cruel Gianna Clarke who had caused Old Mr.
Kinsman’s death! The most perfect match if there ever was one!
“Ma’am, I- Gideon muttered softly, feeling partly guilty as he realized how troubled she looked.
“It’s fine. If William Kinsman wishes to stand in our way, then we’ll just have to send them both down to
the Underworld to offer their apologies personally to Old Mr. Kinsman themselves.”
Olivia made the grim pronouncement and exhaled heavily, the bit now finally between her teeth.
Gideon’s car weaved through the traffic and finally came to a halt outside a shop selling vintage
formalwear store called LM.
Olivia got off the car and fished around her pocket until she found a tiny little dot and she pasted it on
the door of the car.
Gideon stared dubiously and with gaping jaws, he asked, “Um, ma’am? That’s?”
“William Kinsman’s tracking dot. Have some fun with them and come back here in an hour.”
“Understood, be careful too, ma’am.”
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Gideon wished to say something more, but seeing that she seemed to know what she was doing, he
drove away and swerved a corner before he disappeared.
This old town area is a labyrinthian web of narrow and intricately interconnected streets filled with
antique and unique architecture.
There was no better place to throw sniffers off their scent.
Olivia watched Gideon drove away before she pushed open the gla** doors of LM and admitted herself
inside.