Chapter 1645 - Dice (1)

Victoria was escorted by a staff member to the VIP room which was booked under the name 'Dice'. She knew that it's a fake name, but who cares? She was curious to find out who she will meet inside.

"You are?" Victoria asked suspiciously when she faced a woman who is about her age.

"Chelsea. And you?"

"Victoria." Victoria responded stiffly.

Chelsea eyed Victoria while voicing a question that burned inside her: "Are you the one who sent me the message?"

"No." Victoria responded with disappointment obvious in her voice because Chelsea's question confirmed that Chelsea is not the one who sent the message either.

"It appears that we are still waiting for someone." Victoria said and sat on the sofa opposite from Chelsea.

They sat in awkward silence for about a minute when the door opened, and another person got in.

"David?" Both Chelsea and Victoria cried in unison.

Chelsea and Victoria know David Smith, a man who would be the patriarch of the Smith family if Charlie does not exist. Chelsea and Victoria were in the same circle with David.

Chelsea turned to Victoria and met her equally suspicious gaze. How can both of them know David, yet they don't know each other? It's all about the timing...

Chelsea fell from grace more than three years ago, when she ruined Emma's dress. That event caused the downfall of the Davis family; Charlie demanded properties as compensation, after which Jeff punished Chelsea's whole family. At that time, Victoria only started attending important events outside the Long family with Gabriel, and by the time Victoria became someone worth noticing, Chelsea disappeared from that stage.

David's sight paused on Chelsea and then on Victoria. He nodded in greeting before asking: "Which one of you sent me the text message?"

Chelsea and Victoria exchanged confused glances. They thought that he messaged them, but it seems that is not the case.

"None of you..." David answered his question before they could. 

The door opened again, and a waitress entered. She took their drink orders and swiftly left.

"What brings you here?" David asked Chelsea and Victoria.

"The same thing that brought you. A message." Victoria said and asked: "Do you know what we are waiting?"

"Drinks and the person who sent the message. Unless this is a trap. In that case, I will deny everything." David said casually while scrutinizing Chelsea. "You changed. You look more… haggard."

Chelsea frowned. "Since my family met misfortune, my life changed. My options were to adapt or perish. I chose to survive."

"Misfortune?" David asked with a smirk. "How much I remember, you and a few others bullied a woman you shouldn't and it cost you everything you own. How is your brother, Dylan? Is he still limping?"

Chelsea gritted her teeth. How dares he make fun of Dylan? He is limping because Charlie's bodyguards beat him up and broke his limbs when Dylan failed to assault Charlie with a knife.

How can Chelsea allow that nasty verbal jab to pass without throwing a poisonous remark back at David? "Yes, I insulted a woman by spilling wine on her dress. The same one you claimed to sleep with. But it turned out that you don't know with whom you are sleeping because you were shagging a maid for everyone to see."

"I see that your tongue is still sharp, Miss Davis. And you manage to keep in touch with gossip from the slums. I wonder if you still dream about marrying my Cousin Charlie?"

Chelsea snorted. "I wonder if you still dream about sleeping with Charlie's wife. Does that come before or after your Cousin Charlie kicks you out of the house?"

"Enough!" Victoria hissed. "I'm quite sure that none of us is here to bicker. Can't you be civil?"

The door opened and a waitress brought in their drinks.

…

From the room in Serbia, Belgrade…

Marija is looking at the monitor which is showing David, Chelsea, and Victoria. They are sitting stiffly while the waitress is arranging drinks in front of them.

She is the one who sent them messages to provoke them, make them curious, and to give them hope that they can reclaim what they lost.

Of course, Marija does not care about their petty reasons. Money, power, prestige. If they are capable, why don't they earn those things for themselves? Those three people have one thing in common: entitlement. They believe that they are destined for greatness, yet neither of them has the skills, or knowledge to make it happen so they depend on others.

David, Chelsea, and Victoria lost things that were never theirs, but they don't see it that way and Marija will take advantage of that resentment.

Marija needs these people to create a distraction so that she can get her revenge on Sarah, because Marija sees Sarah as the person who insulted her and kicked her out of the group where Marija belonged. Only when Sarah loses everything, Marija will be able to sleep peacefully. Who knows? Maybe Mishi, Emir, Tereza, Petar, and Lucija beg Marija to return. Nick accepted her as an ally, and Marija is convinced that the others will do the same, as soon as Sarah is out of the way.

Marija glanced at the time. It seems that the others are not coming. Cowards. However, these three are greedy enough to risk everything they have, their lives included, and Marija needs greedy people that can be controlled.

Marija wondered, will these three be enough for her plan? Well, they have to be…

…

In the VIP room in Los Angeles…

The room was back to silent after the waitress left.

David, Chelsea, and Victoria jolted when the phone on the table rang. It was unusually loud.

The trio in the room exchanged glances while confirming that the phone does not belong to any of them.

David reached and answered. "Hello?"

"Put me on speaker…" Marija's voice drifted into the room.

"You are on speaker." David confirmed.

"Good. Since all three of you are present, with drinks, we can start…" Marija said and snickered. "There is no point to look around. I can see you through the cameras in the room. Let's go to the point of why we are here. It's in everyone's interest that we finish this quickly so that you can start with your tasks."

"Wait!" Victoria called. "Who are you?"

"It does not matter who I am." Marija responded. "I am the one who knows who you are, what you want, and how you can get it. That's enough."

Chelsea frowned. "It's not fair that you know who we are, but we don't know who you are. What if you are setting us up?"

"You are welcome to leave." Marija said flatly, knowing that none of the people present will dare to leave. Not now when they already saw each other. She decided to give them a reminder: "Don't forget, I already knew who you are before this meeting. I have enough on each of you to send you to jail, or worse. But I didn't because we need to work together. Agreed? … Nod if you agree!"

"Good." Marija said after Chelsea, Victoria, and David nodded.

"How do we call you?" Victoria asked.

"Call me Dice." Marija responded.

---

If you are not reading this at 'W e b n o v e l .. c o m', then the content you're reading is stolen! Please support the author by reading this novel from the original source.