Entangled with the Ruthless CEO

CHAPTER 4

TALIA's POV

“Killer’s Killer anonymous podcast is live.”

I stared at the notification for minutes, my mind running through the most horrible possible scenarios, and somehow, despite my mind's creativity and dramatic activity, it was still not adding up.

No one had an access key to the podcast feed except me, and I definitely didn’t publish this episode, and I wasn’t even live, so what the hell was going on?

I brought out my earphones from the fancy bag I had around my wrist all along, and this particular episode was not any of the pre-recorded stuff that my father had released before his unfortunate death.

This particular voice had a computer tone to it in a strange way. It sounded like my dad to anyone who was just listening randomly, but as my father's child, I knew immediately something was wrong.

This was a computerized version of my father's voice, and it was saying things that I had no idea about.

Maybe the podcast got hacked, or could it be an Artificial Intelligence glitch?

I had lots of questions, but somehow I decided to listen to it first. Maybe it would help track down whoever was behind this dirty game.

The fact that my dad had the podcast as an anonymous account where he slightly tweaked his voice so people wouldn’t trace it back to him, and somehow this person was able to access it, meant someone other than me already knew my father's best-kept secret—and that was not a good sign.

“Today’s episode is special, and I want you to record this if you’re listening right now. This episode will not be available after this live session, unlike the other episodes. This is a one-time episode, and it’s about the death of the infamous Arthur Montgomery, who is now dead, and the secret behind his death that no one told you.”

My heart skipped more than a whole beat, and if I had any health issues, I would probably be suffering from cardiac arrest right now.

What did this person know about my father's death, and why were they releasing it live? Why could they not reach out to me as the only surviving child?

Oh, maybe because I faked my death after the death of my father and changed my name, did some surgery to tweak my facial features and voice modulation, and even changed my hair color, so to anyone outside, the whole family was dead without any survivors.

Especially to people looking to hold me accountable for my father's deeds before his death. It had sounded like a wise decision when I was doing all those details and transferring a small amount of my father's wealth to an anonymous bank account overseas.

But now that someone was here unpacking the secrets behind my father's death, I realized running away and hiding might not have been the best decision, even if it was already past time to turn back.

The podcast was playing the signature theme it played whenever the host was on break, and I tried as much as I could to pull myself together so I could listen to what this person had to say.

I put my phone on record, took a deep breath, and sat on the nearest chair before I lost control and fell face-flat in Damian Romano’s arrogant penthouse.

“Welcome back to Killer’s Killer anonymous podcast, originally created by Arthur Montgomery for the purpose of uncovering hidden truths, such as the secret behind his death and that of others, especially deaths caused by families who think they’re rich enough to buy the law.”

If there was a way I could fast-forward the podcast, I would have done that, but whoever it was seemed to be taking their precious time in hinting without revealing too much yet, so we didn't have much of an option but to stick around until the very end.

“But before we go deeply into that, let me tell you about the Romano family. Despite being one of the top three most expensive companies in the world, they have not always been a legal or law-friendly family. I’m talking bloodshed, casinos, gambling, prostitution, and even drug dealings. The Romano family was a whole level of illegal and bloodthirsty that you wouldn’t dare cross.”

Okay. But what did Damian's family have to do with my original family?

“They handled whoever crossed them in creative and deadly ways, like poisoning, sending their loved one's head to them in a duffel bag, burying some alive, dipping some alive in a chemical drum, and more specifically, they disposed of some in a mysterious car crash.”

My body froze as if I was paralyzed, and my hands started shaking as I connected the dots without the voice having to do it for me.

My hands started shaking until the phone fell and disconnected the earbud. With shaky hands and shaky limbs, I bent to pick up the phone.

My vision was blurry, and I barely saw anything, but I ensured the earbud reconnected so I could hear the rest.

Even if it would kill me, I deserved to know the cause of my father’s death.

I remembered the police coming over to our mansion and telling me they found my father's body involved in a nasty car crash, and somehow the other car involved didn’t lose anybody—they found it empty, but my father's car was destroyed with him inside.

I had always found it strange because I knew Father didn't drink, he didn't speed over the limit, and he was the most careful person I had ever met. Something about him losing his life in a car accident was too strange to be true, but I had been grieving so hard that I couldn’t think straight to hire a private investigator or ask more questions about that night, and I had let it go, especially after I changed my identity. I had closed that whole chapter behind me.

But now, hearing a computerized version of my father's voice confirm my worst suspicions, I was not okay, and I would not be okay for a very long time.

“Most people do not know this, but the Romanos and the Montgomeries had an agreement, or should I say an alliance, and all both parties had to do was respect each other's boundary, and that was it. This went on until the Romanos realized that Arthur was prospering more than they thought would be possible, and he was securing some old but really strong connections in the underworld, so they proposed another alliance. Arthur’s only daughter and heiress, Brielle Montgomery, should get married to Damian Romano, but Arthur told them it was over his dead body. Somehow, after several negotiations and persuasions, he still didn’t budge. Then came the mysterious call that his daughter was involved in an accident. On his way to his daughter's school, his car was mysteriously involved in an accident that took his life, and the driver of the other car has not been found to date.”

Did that mean….

Did that mean Damian’s family actually ordered my father's death?

That I was crushing on and about to work for the same man who killed my father and went on with his life like nothing happened?

Did he already know who I was and was planning to use me either way?

My thoughts were echoing, and my body was glitching physically. I didn't know what was going on, and I felt faint until I lost control of my body and any form of consciousness, falling from the chair as everything went dark and cold.