Date The CEO.com

Chapter 272: Snow Storm with an Ice Castle on Top

"Smile for the camera, sweetie!" 

"What in the world...." Jane trailed off. Then, someone snagged her arms and twisted them behind her. She grunted, trying to break free. Her amber eyes flared at the person holding the video camera. "What's the meaning of this, Elias?"

Elias tilted his head sideways and revealed his face. "I had tried to convince you not to do this but nothing could sway you. A little more protest on my part and you would have known something was up."

When he first heard the idea, he knew it wouldn't be easy to flip the situation back around. A small delay could have been too late. A wrong chess move could have cost the entire game. They had to execute it delicately—and plant double agents into the scheme.

Something he wouldn't have been able to do without some help.

Jane snorted at his words. She shook her head, her mouth hanging open slightly. "Are you trying to redeem yourself? Because it won't work. No matter how you plead your case, you're still my accomplice."

"Under my instructions that is."

The blood drained off her face when another person came out of the steel backdoor. Her chest became hollow in an instant. Her lips turned blue. Ringing sounded in her ears. This couldn't be real. It just couldn't!

"Aunt Avery…" Jane breathed out.

Avery climbed down the short set of stairs. She walked up to Elias' side, a stern expression on her face. She had wondered about this moment numerous times—thinking about what to say and how to respond. Her consciousness still took Jane's feelings into consideration. It was hard to break out of an old habit.

But now that Jane was in front of her, those memories vanished. 

What she had witnessed minutes ago shattered them into millions of pieces.

"I wish I didn't have to do this." Avery sighed. She wore a long black coat and had her hands tucked into its pockets. Her violet eyes hardened into gems. "But you and your father left me with little choice. I can't believe you were about to place Evangeline in a compromising position."

No words could describe how she felt when Elias called her about it. It was one thing to fake a photo on the internet or to fake an entire story. It was another level to force the person to participate in a constructed demise against them. 

Worse scenarios could have happened and Avery knew that well.

They had to cleverly execute their play just to persuade Jane not to drug Eve. 

Jane hardly believed her ears. Why was everyone on Evangeline's side?! What was so amazing about her? She was a person who had faked her entire identity for crying out loud! "She's the one deceiving people with her lies! You should know more than anyone that Ambryan deserves better!"

Avery closed her eyes briefly. What seemed like a ridiculous idea months ago had escalated this much. When she opened her eyes again, she whispered in Elias's ear and stepped towards Jane. This was her fault. None of these would have happened if it weren't for her own actions and decisions.

Her desperation and impatience on her son finding love had stemmed out into several branches—where on several of them, good outcomes had sprung. On others, they led into situations such as this.

And people had suffered from it.

In her softest voice, Avery explained the situation as short as possible. "Jane, the truth is… Ambryan does know about Evangeline's secret. He's one of the people keeping it and is gladly showing off to the world that he still chose her."

Tears swelled in Jane's eyes. They stained red. Utter betrayal poured out of her system. One of her pillars had broken. Her voice trembled as she spoke. "You were like a mother to me. How can you turn against me like this? Don't you consider me as your daughter anymore?"

Avery felt her own heart break. Years of acting helped her suppress the tears that threatened to leak out. Now wasn't the time for her to be vulnerable. "It's because you matter to me that I treated you this way. Believe me… that I and especially Ambryan could have done far worse. I hope you can learn from this incident."

She shifted her attention to the people within the vicinity. "You may take her away now."

Her back turned on Jane as she gazed at the opening of the alleyway. 

Elias had ran towards it when she instructed him to awhile ago. Eve should be physically safe by now but she couldn't help feeling worried. Her mental state had to be unstable. Although someone was there to clear up the situation, maybe Elias could enhance it better.

At this time, Eve panted for breath. Her swollen wrists were untied and her hands were on her knees. She had her eyes closed and had clutched her upset stomach. A groan escaped her lips. She might throw up at any moment—and she despised that.

Standing beside her was no one other than Jarrett.

"Can you please explain to me just who was that guy?" He demanded, looking across the street. 

Eve's mind wandered back to the mysterious man who had intervened. He and his bodyguards appeared while she was being chased. She didn't know who he was but, feeling bold, she shouted for his help. The bodyguards had moved even before she could finish her statement. 

She stopped running and watched them take down the kidnappers. 

When her head whirled around to thank their boss, he had vanished.

"I don't know," she gasped. Her breathing hadn't stabilized quite yet.

"Then, why did he help you?"

She grunted in frustration and flipped her hair back, straightening her spine. Her hazel eyes glared at his confused face. "Jarrett, if I knew that, I would have told you by now for goodness' sake. And why are you even here? Am I supposed to believe that this is some strange coincidence?"

Jarrett pressed his lips together and placed his hands on his hips. "Yes and no."

"Excuse me?" Eve blinked. She crossed her arms over her chest, arching an eyebrow. The day had enough fun in toying with her life. She certainly didn't need another one. "Explain yourself."

For some reason, he couldn't meet her eye. Everything else seemed far more interesting: the broken shop sign, plastic bag caught up in a post, the cat that observed them from an old bench—

"We knew you were going to be here, " Jarrett admitted under his breath.

"We?!" Eve exclaimed. "Who is 'WE'?!"

He coughed and cleared his throat. "Forensics."

Eve batted her lashes, absorbing the new information. Did he mean to say that this was part of a grand plan? A plan she hadn't consented to. A plan she hadn't been aware of beforehand. She was merely joking earlier but life did seem to be toying with her after all.

"Am I bait or something?" She scoffed, each syllable dripping with sarcasm.

"We received a tip that you'd be kidnapped and be brought here. That's all," Jarret clarified. Then, his gaze flickered to a spot over her shoulder. "As for the details, I think someone can fill you in better than I ever could."

Eve frowned and followed his line of sight—just in time for Elias to close the gap between them.

Her face froze into a shock. This was a person she never thought she'd see again. "Elias?"

He gave her a tight smile and raised his hand for a wave. "Hi, Eve."

She instantly caught on the switch. "Eve?"

Elias glanced in Jarrett's direction. The latter merely shrugged. He'd rather not jump into something that was between the two of them. Elias turned back to Eve and nodded once. "Yes, I know about it. Only recently though."

'This day just keeps getting better and better, huh?' Eve mused. Reality felt more like a dream than itself. 'Had hell also turned into a princess's snow storm with an ice castle on top?'

Jarrett took this chance to make his escape. "I'll leave you guys to it."

"Hey—" Eve began to protest but she let him go, blowing on her bangs. She clicked her tongue and shifted her attention towards Elias. Her eyes narrowed in concentration. "Word on the street is you can tell me what the hell is this about."

"Right," Elias replied. He gathered his thoughts and proceeded to provide some answers. "You see…"

Eve stayed quiet as Elias narrated the events. Among all the schemes Jane had a part in, he was one of her more reliable accomplices. He and Avery believed that it would only be a matter of time before she reached out to him again—which came true when Eve quit her job as Ambryan's secretary.

He admitted to helping with the fake photos in the red district. As soon as he mentioned this, Eve recalled how amazingly realistic the images turned out. He had done the same thing when he fabricated that they once shared a romantic relationship.

As for the kidnapping, he had suggested the same formula since he knew it would be debunked but Jane had enough of it—arguing that they would be stopped again because they were clearly fake. She was convinced that the only way to make it believable was to have Evangeline 'caught in action.'

"And so she kidnapped me with sloppy henchmen in order to get the evidence that she wanted to facbricate," Eve finished for him. That part had already been partially explained earlier. Her body shook from the memory of it.josei

"Safety precaution?" Elias said, his pitch rising higher by the end. He received a deadpan expression for it. "The flaws were intentional so you could escape in case things didn't go as planned."

"Does Ambryan know about this?" Eve asked after some consideration.

Elias shook his head. If Ambryan had been involved, the kidnapping wouldn't have happened at all. "Only Avery does. Although, I think he should be handling something else right about now."

He tapped on his phone and showed her a video of a live news report.