CHAPTER 72
Jeremy's House — Game room.
Jeremy's shout echoed through the game room as his character was shot down for the third time in a row. Liam chuckled, snatching victory with ease.
"Unbelievable. You're cursed," Liam teased.
Jeremy tossed the controller onto the couch, scowling. "No, I'm distracted. Too much crap going on lately."
Liam's laughter faded. He glanced at his friend, sensing there was more behind the words than just a lost game.
Liam studied his face. "What's wrong?" He asked, settling back into his chair and giving Jeremy his full attention. "What's bothering the almighty Jeremy?"
Jeremy was quiet for a moment, his hands clasped together as he stared at the blank television screen.
"It's this whole Donovan situation. Emma and I have been working so hard trying to penetrate his digital security, trace his communications, find some kind of vulnerability we can exploit." He shook his head. "But all our efforts seem to be in vain."
"Why do you say so?"
"Military-grade encryption, rotating proxy servers, compartmentalized data storage—the works." Jeremy spoke professionally despite his frustration. "Whoever's running his tech security isn't some corporate IT guy. This is someone with serious training, probably government or black ops background."
"Hmm…. So what are you going to do?"
"Seriously I don't know…. I'm just so worked up. And now we have silly images of William that I'm sure of its AI doings…. William gave me forty two how's to get to the bottom of it and I'm still stuck here…. Fuck." He groaned.
"Just take it easy dude…. You don't have to overwork yourself…. Let's play another round." Liam said changing the topic.
"Never…. I'm not playing a y fucking game with you anymore." Jeremy laughed getting off the sofa.
"Come back here loser."
"Suit yourself gamer." He yelped.
____
The sunlight streamed through the curtains of the master bedroom. Kate opened her eyes slowly, her hand reaching across the bed only to find cool, empty sheets where William should have been.
She blinked twice adjusting to the brightness, glancing at the digital clock on the nightstand. 9:35AM. That was unusual—the pregnancy had been making her sleep deeper and longer, her body demanding rest she'd never needed before.
After a quick shower and getting dressed in a flowing emerald dress that accommodated her growing belly, Kate made her way downstairs. The familiar sounds of conversation drifted from the sitting room and she recognized Tina's distinctive laughter mixing with William's deeper voice.
"—you're telling me, she's been sleeping like unusual." Tina was saying as Kate approached the sitting room. "That's normal for pregnant women though."
"Well the doctor said so…it's completely natural in the first trimester," William replied, his voice carrying fond amusement. "Something about the body conserving energy for—"
"For growing a human being," Kate interrupted, stepping into the sitting room with a mock-stern expression. "And here I thought my best friend and husband would have better things to do than gossip about my sleeping habits."
Tina spun around with a guilty grin, her coffee mug still raised halfway to her lips. "Rhe witch is finally up. Good morning, sleepyhead."
"Good morning to you too, traitor," Kate replied warmly.
"I prefer the term 'concerned friend,'" Tina shot back. "William and I were just discussing whether we should check your pulse to make sure you were still breathing."
William cleared his throat deliberately. "Excuse me, ladies, but there's still a third person in this room."
Kate turned to him with sparkling eyes, noting how handsome he looked in his charcoal suit despite the stress lines that had appeared around his eyes in recent days. "Oh, hello there, dear husband. Feeling left out?"
"Maybe just a little," he admitted with that crooked smile she'd fallen in love with.
Kate glanced at the wall clock. "Shouldn't you be heading to the office soon? You're running late."
William's expression grew more serious at the reminder. "I was about to leave when this she"—he gestured toward Tina—"showed up at our door demanding coffee and conversation."
"I assume. You should get going and get things ready upon my arrival."
To her surprise, William leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to her cheek.
"See you later, wife." he said, straightening his tie and leaving the ladies.
They listened to his footsteps crossing the marble foyer, followed by the soft thud of the front door closing. The house suddenly felt larger, quieter, as if William's presence had been holding something at bay.
Kate turned to find Tina studying her with knowing eyes.
"What?" She blurted out.
"William…. Was he acting up because I was here or what?"
"I swear I don't know, I was also surprised by this action. What brings you here early this morning?"
"It's about what you're planning to do."
"Okay… any problem?"
"Not really… but Kate, I feel like you should include William in this. If you're going to feed your uncle with lies then you need William so you both can come up with a perfect plan and there won't be anything suspicious because if your uncle finds out you're playing him—you know what he's capable of doing." Tina rushed her words.
"Thanks for worrying… I told him last night. I already came up with a plan…. I'm going to his office today so we can plan it perfectly together with Liam. You can come along if you want."
"Thank goodness…. I told Liam about it also… sorry about that."
"No problem." Kate said and stood up heading to the kitchen. "I'm starving. I need to eat before setting my foot out of this house."
"You should… you don't want to starve our dear baby."
____
The private conference room was so quiet at 6PM, most of the office building emptied as the day had officially closed.
Kate entered first, her heels clicking softly against the floor. She carried a manila folder and wore the determined expression William had learned to both admire and fear. Behind her, was Tina.
"Alright," Liam said, settling into one of the leather chairs, "What exactly are we planning here?"
Kate opened her folder, spreading several documents across the table. "We're going to destroy my uncle's operation from the inside. And to do that, William needs to become a gambling addict."
"I'm sorry," Tina said slowly, "did you just say—"
"That I'm going to develop a gambling addiction that threatens to destroy everything I've built," William finished. "Crazy right, but that's exactly what she said."
Kate leaned forward. "My uncle has spent years looking for a way to bring William down. Not just him — also Donovan. I guess they are working hand in hand. He's tried corporate sabotage, media manipulation, board member corruption—nothing has worked because William's too smart, too careful, too disciplined."
"But a gambling addiction," she continued, sliding a forged bank statement across the table, "is different. It's personal, self-destructive, and it explains away any unpredictable behavior or poor decision-making. More importantly, it's something Carlos would believe because it's exactly the kind of weakness he'd exploit."
Liam picked up the fake statement, his eyebrows rising at the figures. "These withdrawal amounts... Kate, this looks like someone losing their house money."
"Exactly," William said. "The addiction has to be severe enough that Carlos sees it as a genuine vulnerability, but not so obvious that it seems planted."
Kate pulled out another document. "I'll set up a meeting with my uncle and his allies. Tell them what I discovered about William's gambling problem. I'm sure they will want more and start digging in their own end."
"He will definitely believe it." Liam said.
"Right. And Carlos trusts me now because he thinks I've finally seen William for what he believes he really is—a manipulative man who destroys the women in his life." Kate's voice carried a slight edge at having to voice such accusations, even fabricated ones.
William reached across the table and squeezed her hand briefly. "So what do I need to know about this addiction? How deep does the performance go?"
Kate consulted her notes. "According to my research on gambling addiction psychology, it typically starts small and escalates. Your 'problem' began about eight months ago with online poker—something you could do privately from your office or home."
"What triggered it?" William asked.
"A recent business setback. You needed an outlet, a way to feel in control when everything else felt chaotic. The early wins convinced you it was skill, not luck."
"Then it escalated," William nodded. "Bigger stakes, private games, eventually high-stakes poker nights in back rooms and exclusive clubs."
"Exactly. And like most addicts, you got better at hiding it as it got worse. Secret accounts, cash withdrawals, lies about business trips that were actually gambling excursions."
Tina had been listening intently, and now she leaned forward. "This is actually a brilliant strategy, but the execution is going to be incredibly difficult. William, you'll need to be method acting at a level most professional actors couldn't sustain."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean you can't just pretend to be a gambling addict when Carlos is around. You'll need to embody the psychological profile completely—the mood swings, the financial stress, the secretive behavior, the guilt and shame cycles. Because if Carlos is as smart as we think he is, he'll be watching for tells."
Kate nodded eagerly. "You understand behavioral psychology, you know how people really act under stress. What do you think can be done?"
"Okay," Tina said, her mind engaging. "Let's talk about the psychological markers Carlos will be looking for. First, gambling addicts become increasingly isolated. William, you'll need to start canceling social events, avoiding friends, making excuses for why you can't attend things you'd normally prioritize."
"That'll be tough," William admitted. "My social calendar is part of my business strategy."
"Which is exactly why it'll be convincing," Kate pointed out. "Carlos knows how important networking is to your success. If you start withdrawing from that, it signals serious problems."
"You can have Liam attend to some on your behalf." Tina said and continued, "Second, there's the financial behavior. The secret withdrawals Kate mentioned, but also things like checking your phone obsessively—supposedly checking stock prices or business updates, but really checking betting accounts or game schedules."
"I can have fake gambling apps created on my phone," William said. "Jeremy could build them to look legitimate but actually be completely under our control."
"Good thinking." Tina said,
"So what's our first move?" William asked.
Kate smiled, and there was something both excited and dangerous in her expression. "Tomorrow, I will call Carlos and set a meeting with him, tell him what William is up to now and he lost fifty thousand last night and when I confronted him, he promised to stop but I found evidence he's planning an even bigger game this weekend."
"And I'll make sure to look appropriately haggard at the board meeting," William added. "Like a man whose world is crumbling from multiple directions."
Liam nodded approvingly. "Then we give Carlos exactly what he wants—the chance to watch his enemy destroy himself. He'll never see the real trap coming."
"Liam, you inform Jeremy to work on a gambling app for me."
"Alright."
As they gathered their papers and prepared to leave, Kate paused at the conference room door.
"Whatever happens," she said quietly, "we see this through to the end. My parents deserve justice, and I'm tired of living in fear of what Carlos might do next."
As they walked out into the empty office building, each of them understood that they'd just committed to a dangerous game where the stakes were higher than money or reputation—they were betting their lives on their ability to out-deceive one of the most dangerous men in the city.