Chapter 153: Sam's Case

Right then, my mind wrestled with itself.I knew this was wrong. Faking someone's death, using another person's body—it was messed up. But I was still thinking about going ahead with it.

Was this really who I was now?

Maybe I couldn't avoid it. But if I wanted to reach my goals, I'd have to keep making choices like this.

I was crossing lines I never thought I would.

I work with people whose principles are basicly nonexistent, and their idea of being free is so fucked up that they would kill whoever they need just to turn their idea into a reality.

I thought using religious followers as servants was evil, but compared to what I was currently thinking of doing, that seemed tame.

Was there another way? I tried to think of something else. Maybe I could kidnap Kirstie instead—make it look like she was thrown into a river, spread photos in the media.

But that left too many loose ends.

Without proof of death, it would be too suspicious.

A burning house was cleaner, as twisted as that sounded.

If I agreed to this, there was no turning back.

I picked up my phone and called Ava.

"Could we use fake, artificial bones for this?" As soon as she picked up the phone, I asked her, but even I thought this was a stupid idea.

She laughed, almost mocking me. "Are you serious? You're such a pussy," she said. "Why does it matter? The woman's already dead. You can't bring her back. She was taken out by a professional—one of our dark web clients."

"It's because of my morals."

"Morals..." she scoffed. "Jacky... you asked us for help, so we are giving it to you. Take it or deal with it yourself."

'

Jacky?

' I thought.

I let out a slow breath, staring at the wall.

If I was going to work with someone so unhinged, someone who controlled entire criminal networks, I'd need to be just as ruthless.

I could try to avoid getting my hands dirty, but that wasn't real. The road I was on led to chaos. People would die. And some of that would be on me.

I had to face it: if I wanted the power I was after, I might end up being the bad guy.

But maybe, just maybe, being the greater evil for now would mean that someday, the world could end up in the hands of the lesser evil...

At least that's how I coped with it.

In the end, I agreed to go with that plan.

...

Tuesday morning, I drove in the security car with Charlotte. The bodyguard driver dropped her off at the university first, and then I headed to Gainesville Hospital.

I was meeting Sam and Mia there.

Sam had ended up dropping out of school. He couldn't juggle his studies, his business, and spending time with Mia.

Mia, on the other hand, was on medical leave.

It had been two months since the attack, and Sam was doing everything he could to help her get back on her feet.

My driver stopped the car in the hospital parking lot.

The building had a long path where patients could walk outside, surrounded by small gardens.

I could already see Sam and Mia sitting on a bench by the entrance.

Mia's legs were visibly weak, joined together; next to the bench there was a wheelchair.

There was a bodyguard standing next to the wheelchair; he likely helped them get here, as both Sam and Mia were disabled in some way.

I knew that there were another few bodyguards in the vicinity.

I got out of the car and walked over to them. seaʀᴄh thё Nôvel(F)ire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Mia noticed me and tried to stand. Sam seemed to sense her intentions and helped her up, supporting her with a careful grip.

Seeing Mia like this... sparked a familiar rage inside me at the people who had done this to her. And yet, I was working with them!

Seeing how it impacted Sam made it all the harder to swallow.

Mia smiled at me as I got to them, and I could see how much effort it took her just to stand there.

"Look at you, making steady progress," I said warmly.

Mia smiled shyly. "Trying my best."

"I mean, a month ago, she couldn't even stand up." Sam chimed in with a grin. "Things are definitely going in the right direction."

I nodded. "Have you two eaten yet?"

Sam shook his head. "Mia is on a strict medical diet."

"Sam hasn't eaten anything yet." Mia quickly added, looking at Sam with concern. "There's a restaurant next to the hospital. You should eat, Sam."

I smiled at them and we all headed to the restaurant.

We talked while eating breakfast and for a while, it felt almost normal again.

But only for a few minutes, after which Sam took a sip of his coffee and glanced at me. "By the way, there's something strange going on with Evelyn. She's giving up her share of the money. She transferred controlling shares of WhitePath Europe to Gabriel."

I frowned. "Let's keep that talk for when we go to Orlando, okay, Sam?"

Sam nodded, and we let the subject drop, focusing instead on enjoying the breakfast.

When we finished, I adjusted my shirt and stood up from the table. We all walked Mia back to her VIP hospital room, making sure she was comfortable before saying goodbye.

Afterward, Sam and I headed back to the car.

I got in myself while the driver opened the door for Sam.

In some way, this felt like a reversal of roles from the time I first drove to Orlando with Sam.

As we sat in the car, I thought back to what Sam had said about Evelyn.

In my previous life, Evelyn and Sam were in a similar financial position, but Gabriel had never seen them as a threat.

Now, though, Sam was growing fast.

My mind immediately went to Emily. She was clever and manipulative. Seeing how it's not hard for her to get anyone to bed, it is likely that her goal from the very beginning was to make Evelyn fall in love with her so that she would do whatever she told her to.

This way, Gabriel only had to worry about Sam.

I turned to Sam. "Listen, Sam. I'm quite surprised that Evelyn ended up being so unambitious, but I'm pretty sure that Emily persuaded Evelyn to give up her wealth to Gabriel."

"I thought so too. I mean, she's helping Gabriel." Sam said. "I just don't know how I should react to that. With WhitePath USA, WhitePath Europe, and Johnson Trading in Tampa and Miami, Gabriel has around $4.5 billion under his control. And he's growing that wealth quickly. His gains are at least $1 billion this year. How can my total assets of $1 billion compare to that?"

He looked back at me, his blurry eyes showing a hint of worry. "I don't know if you're aware, but Doyle has withdrawn from the battle for inheritance and was disinherited by my father... and now Evelyn too. My father's birthday is at the beginning of June... I'm pretty sure you know what that means."

I nodded.

'

The penalty...

'

I thought back to my previous life, to 2033, when Arnold Johnson was dividing his wealth.

Back then, four siblings were still in the battle, but even though Doyle has sustained all that pain from the penalties over the years, he only received 1% of the inheritance.

Gabriel had the highest stake—he got 71% of the inheritance, with Sam and Evelyn each receiving 14%.

But after Sam's death, the shares shifted: each of the other kids got a third of his part. In the end, Gabriel received 75.6%, Evelyn got 18.6%, and the remaining 5.6% went to Doyle.

In this timeline, Doyle made one mistake—going after Sam's money—and ended up losing all his assets. That meant he had no real shot at the big inheritance anymore.

But in the previous timeline, he held onto his assets and fought through the pain because, for years, he believed he still had a chance at a big piece of the inheritance.

I had always thought Doyle was the one to kill Sam, just to secure a part of the wealth... but maybe there was something else going on.

Could Doyle have pulled off Sam's death so cleanly, making it look like a suicide?

I turned to Sam, my voice low. "Sam, I don't think your father wants you to inherit his wealth."

Sam's face twisted into something unreadable. "Why would you think that? Father gave me Johnson Trading Orlando for my 18th birthday, and it was worth the exact same amount as WhitePath Europe and WhitePath USA when he gave them to Evelyn and Gabriel."

"That doesn't mean anything." I said. "Tell me, Sam. When did Gabriel marry Emily?"

Sam thought for a second. "Four years ago. But why does that matter?"

"Did you notice how close Arnold and Emily seemed to be? Also... Emily is part of the Freewinds club I joined, and I saw clearly that they are in some kind of collaboration. Your father is shrewd, Sam. He's always done whatever makes the family the most money. If the Johnson family controlled Heart's media, his influence would rise greatly."

"But," I continued, "he would have never thought that his 'blind' son would make a billion dollars in just two years—what took Evelyn and Gabriel more than a decade. Sam, I think your real enemy isn't Gabriel... it's your father."