The Blackmail Bride

Chapter 51 Part 3

If given the chance, would you go back ten years and redo your life? I keep hearing the answer that there's no better time than the present or that things happened for a reason. But I think many would go back if given the chance. They just give us the typical responses because saying I'd go back would mean explaining WHY.

Boats

"The Porters will want their daughter back. When the issue hits the news—"

I laid in bed late that night, wide awake and staring at the ceiling.

My roommate was in his study, more than busy with whatever it was that he needed done for work.

After asking me if I wanted to move our little outing from the weekend to tomorrow... Jace's full attention was shifted to his office responsibilities.

He'd been in call with Sierra inside his study the whole afternoon. The man didn't lock himself in, but a closed door was an implied gesture not to be disturbed and I didn't. We were leaving early tomorrow, and he did say he had things he had to finish before that.

I was occupied with my own tangle of thoughts. I agreed to go move the schedule to tomorrow. I gave him that opening.

My eyelids fluttered shut as I breathed in deeply. Before I opened them again and stared at the ceiling once more, wide awake. Sleep was evading my tired body.

The Porters will want their daughter back. When the issue hits the news.

I already knew what he meant. My grandmother already laid it out for me with plain words very early on into the engagement.

"Despite how hasty this was because of that scandal with the hotel, I have to make sure we're getting the better end of the stick. Otherwise, we throw the deadweight off our boat and ride with the next potential family."

There was only one reason my family would want me back.

It meant the empire of the Black Family known as Nero Hotels was about to topple. There was no merit for the Porters to wait and watch them go under. If I thought from my family's perspective, it was time to search for the next boat to ride with.

Deadweight, huh?

I knew what the issue was. I'd seen the financials on their Philippine branch. The problem was Sand Castle, El Nido. It was going to hit the news and it was going to put Nero Hotels in an extremely bad light.

If there was no truth to what the news will show, the company was going to survive. But a spotlight might also be the breaking point if they find truth to the remotest issues—That meant there was more to what the financials were showing. The indication of fraud that I'd pointed out during the meeting... there could be worse things if the news triggers an audit.

Also, how did media get wind of this internal conflict?

If the Blacks were intelligent enough to turn the tide in their favor... It was tremendously unrealistic. I wasn't optimistic about the situation. I'd seen the financials.

My family will not want any part of this. Which meant it was time to break off the partnership with the Blacks. And a divorced heiress was still a good bargain at this point.

It was a bitter taste in my mouth. That even I thought of myself as some sort of trading chip.

But there was something that worked even better in my family's favor they didn't know yet. Jace and I never consummated the marriage. An annulment bore very little consequences compared to a divorce. It was like starting on a clean slate.