Chapter 8
Cary stared down at Jax Koda with eyes as sharp as butcher knives.
Jax wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. "Please, Mr. Warren," Jax begged, shrinking under Cary's gaze. "I just need five minutes with Erna. It's life or death."
Inside the room, Erna heard the commotion. She recognized Jax's voice. He was one of the few people who hadn't openly mocked her at the parties.
"Let him in," Erna called out, her voice raspy but firm.
Cary's jaw tightened, but he gave the bodyguards a curt nod. He stepped out into the hallway to take a phone call, leaving the door slightly ajar.
Jax practically sprinted into the room. In his panic, he failed to pull the heavy door completely shut.
At that exact moment, Apollo stepped out of the emergency stairwell at the far end of the hall. He had slipped past the security perimeter.
Apollo had come back with a blank check in his pocket. He intended to throw it at Erna to force her to drop the police report and save his company's stock.
He walked silently toward the cracked door. He raised his hand to push it open, but the sound of Jax's voice froze him in his tracks.
Inside, Jax rushed to the side of the bed. He held out the piece of paper with both hands. It was a blank check, already signed at the bottom.
"Erna, please," Jax pleaded, his voice trembling. "Write down any number you want. Five million? Ten? Just please call the NYPD and drop the charges."
Outside the door, Apollo's lips curled into a cold sneer. There it is, he thought. The fox shows its tail. She's going to take the money.
But inside, Erna didn't even glance at the check. "Put that away, Jax."
"Erna-"
"I spoke to my legal aid lawyer this afternoon before I even came to the club," Erna said, her voice freezing the air in the room. "I didn't ask Apollo for a single cent in the divorce, and I certainly don't want the Koda family's dirty money."
Outside the door, Apollo's sneer vanished. His brain short-circuited. She didn't want the money?
Jax's eyes turned red. His knees buckled, and he dropped to the floor beside her bed.
"I'm so sorry," Jax choked out. "I know it wasn't you who drugged the wine last night... it was my sister, it was Milla."
Apollo stopped breathing.
"Milla was jealous of Brynlee stealing her modeling contacts," Jax confessed rapidly. "She tried to spike Brynlee's drink to ruin her. But the glasses got mixed up. You took the fall."
A physical shockwave hit Apollo. He stood paralyzed in the hallway.
His entire justification for torturing Erna-the core reason he believed she was a manipulative monster-was a lie. It shattered into a million pieces, each one slicing into his conscience.
"If the NYPD investigates, Milla will face felony charges," Jax begged. "Our family will be ruined."
Erna looked down at the kneeling man. There was no pity in her eyes. Only exhaustion.
"Where was Milla when Apollo stood in front of all of New York and crucified me?" Erna asked coldly. "Where was your family's honor when he branded me a criminal?"
Jax hung his head in deep shame, his fingers crushing the useless check.
Outside, a violent, twisting pain ripped through Apollo's chest. The realization of what he had done to an innocent woman hit him like a freight train.
The guilt and shock made his chest heave. He stumbled slightly, his shoulder bumping hard against the wooden door.
Creak.
Jax and Erna both snapped their heads toward the entrance.
Knowing he was caught, Apollo pushed the door wide open. His face was deathly pale. His eyes were a chaotic storm of regret and panic as he walked into the room.
Erna looked at him. Her expression didn't change. She looked at him like he was a piece of rotting trash on the sidewalk.
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