Dark Revenge Of An Unwanted Wife: The Twins Are Not Yours! - Chapter 245

Chapter 245: Long Night IX
“So, Ewan, how is it going with the company and the fire outbreak? Have you discovered anything new yet? Have you gotten any other messages from the unknown number?” Old Mr. Thorne asked as they all settled into the sofas in the smaller sitting room.

Gianna and Old Mrs. Thorne had whisked the children away to tuck them in, leaving in the room, Ewan with his friends, Old Mr. Thorne, Athena, Aiden, and Antonio.

Ewan hesitated, his eyes flitting through everyone in the room as if checking to see if they were trustworthy. Sensing his uncertainty, Athena seized the opportunity to send Antonio on his way. It was half past nine now.

“Antonio, didn’t you say you had an early meeting tomorrow and a late meeting tonight with Herbert?” She asked, raising an eyebrow.

Antonio, who had been eager for this latter part of the meeting, furrowed his brows and turned to Athena.

He nodded however, remembering that he had actually told her so.

Clearing his throat, he got to his feet, kissed her on the lips before she could turn her cheeks away—much to Ewan’s chagrin—and said his goodbyes.

“I will see you tomorrow then, my love,” He said, flashing a charming smile.

Athena nodded, smiling back at him, but once he left, Zane scoffed, unable to help it. “He’s just showing off,” He muttered as Gianna and Old Mrs. Thorne returned to the sitting room.

Athena laughed, amused by the banter. “You’ve got a problem with that, Zane?”

Zane shrugged, his expression turning serious. “Not as I do with his supposed meeting with my father. I spoke with my father before I left the house; he never mentioned a meeting with Antonio.”

Athena raised an eyebrow, incredulous. “You’re not really saying that your father tells you everything?”

Zane paused, then scoffed again. “Well, that’s none of my business.”

Athena found his reaction interesting; she exchanged a furtive glance with Aiden, who seemed to share her thoughts. “Zane, don’t tell me you’re jealous of Antonio’s huge strides in your father’s company and the budding relationship with your old man… you know you’re the heir to the throne, right?”

“Who said I was jealous? It’s just suspicious that he appeared on the scene the day of your court case, and the next day, he’s occupying one of the managerial positions at the company—headquarters at that! My father thinks he’s qualified, but the entitled rich brat hasn’t even taken his own father’s business seriously, where he is the heir, so why mine?”

An amusing silence enveloped the room until

Florence broke it with a laugh. She found the scene delightful. Zane was jealous. What a sight to behold! “Young man, let it go. Maybe he doesn’t like his father?”

Zack scoffed, reclining deeper into his chair. “I just wish he would leave… no offense, Athena.”

Athena chuckled. “None taken, but he’s not going anywhere.”

Ewan frowned before he could help it. Why was she so besotted with Antonio? Or was it just a feeling of indebtedness? Was she dating him out of pity?

The thought unnerved him. He gripped his knee. He couldn’t let her enter another failed relationship—dating someone out of pity would surely lead down that path; and he had promised the children to keep them safe. But what could he do?

“So, Ewan, my question, before Zane digressed…” Old Mr. Thorne prompted, pulling Ewan back into the conversation. “Any more messages from the strange caller?”

Ewan nodded, resolute this time. “Yes, it’s Morgan.”

A certain stillness descended upon the room, even though they all recognized, to some extent, that the gang was behind the fire outbreak.

“He called me and said that if I didn’t deliver Fiona to him soon… he referred to her as Morgana, but I knew it was her.” Ewan paused, gathering his thoughts. “Well, he said if I didn’t comply, he would burn more sections of my company. He also spoke about knowing the children’s school and the current location of Kathleen and Old Mrs. Thorne. At that time, he mentioned they were at a beauty parlor.”

Old Mr. Thorne clenched his fists, his anger building at the blatant threat to his family and what he cherished most. It was time to put an end to that gang.

Who did Morgan think he was? Untouchable? Just because he was backed by some government agency? He scoffed unconsciously, the sound drawing the attention of those in the room.

But he didn’t realize that he was the center of attention. He was rather lost in thought, fantasizing about tearing Morgan limb from limb or watching him die slowly by poisoning.

It took a gentle tap from his wife on the arm to snap him back to the present.

“Oh…” He muttered, noticing everyone’s stare. “So, what are we going to do then? All of us are involved now. We have to put our heads together to get rid of this mess once and for all.”

Ewan held back a sigh of relief, not wanting to be too obvious in his eagerness to be included in their plans.

“Athena, you mentioned us attacking them tonight… how do we go about that?” Old Mr. Thorne continued, darting an urgent glance at Athena, who reared back as if she hadn’t expected the question.

She opened her mouth to respond but upon seeing Gianna’s confused expression, she shut her lips. Her friend didn’t know about her secret operations; she thought Athena’s alliance with the agents surrounding them was merely due to Aiden’s presence. Aiden had served in the military once, after all.

Athena darted a sharp glance at Aiden, silently pleading for him to help salvage the situation. Luckily for her, Aiden was perceptive enough to intercept her message, just as Ewan had noticed the eye contact.

“Well, yes,” Aiden affirmed, sounding confident. “We are planning to attack them tonight. According to the report we got from an insider, they are quite relaxed… however, from the news, we can see they are still plotting. It’s better we strike tonight; they won’t be expecting that.”

“O—k—a—y…” Old Mr. Thorne drawled, clearly still seeking clarification. He had been asking for the “how” of it all. “How do we go about that?”

Aiden paused, his mind racing. Athena was the one who usually conceptualized missions, her brilliance shining through in devising plans with minimal casualties. That was why the CIA boss still wanted her back—why she remained a high asset to Nimbus operations.

“I suggest we go in the old-fashioned way,” Athena spoke up, rescuing Aiden, though she was careful to keep her tone suggestive and not too definitive. She didn’t want Gianna discovering this second part of her life.

“Can you be more specific?” Zane asked, leaning forward, his brows drawn together in concentration as he tried to convince himself that Gianna didn’t sit in the same room with him. It made things easier that way.

“Well, we could go with the agents, sneak in since we have their location, set up bombs here and there while a few agents scope out the area, keeping watch. Then others could filter in and retrieve the boxes of viruses…” She paused, her eyes narrowing in thought. “But first, we need to induce them into a deep sleep. I think I have an idea…”

Athena leaned forward, forgetting her earlier decision to keep her tone vague.

A few feet away from her, Gianna watched in surprise, enamored by her friend as the latter discussed strategy, mentioning the names of compounds, guns, bombs, without a hint of hesitation, as though she had done this all her life.

She wasn’t the only one.

Ewan, despite the theoretical research he had conducted about Athena’s life, was just as taken aback. Seeing her in action was an entirely different experience. The same went for Sandro and Zane, who could now understand why his father respected Athena so much.

“So, what do you guys think?” Athena asked as she concluded her thoughts, surveying the group.

“Perfect,” Aiden and Old Mr. Thorne said simultaneously, causing low chuckles to ripple through the sitting room.

“But we need someone who can keep tabs on everything, telling us their location and all… do we have someone like that on the team, Aiden? Someone who can hack into their systems quickly, leaving no trace?” Athena looked at the men, searching for answers.

“We have men,” Aiden replied, “but I’m not sure about the leaving no trace part. We don’t know much about Morgan’s system. The last time…” He paused, the tension rising.

Athena knew what he wanted to say. The last time, it had been the twins who hacked into the servers to gain crucial information, along with their online friends. She subtly shook her head. She was not involving the twins in any of this.

“What happened the last time?” Gianna asked, her eyes brimming with curiosity. Having not really been part of such missions, except for that one time when Athena was kidnapped, she was keen to know everything.

Athena bit her lip, unsure of how to respond.

“The last time, we had to utilize an old rival.” Ewan cut in unexpectedly, stunning both Athena and Aiden.

Even Old Mr. Thorne, who didn’t know about the ‘last time’ Aiden was referring to, looked surprised, knowing that Ewan’s statement was a fabrication.