Being manipulative is a survival skill
1442 Words
Ethan POV
She left. Without a word, no thank you?
She owes me one. I let out a small smile
“Go to the control room,” I said as I stepped out, extinguishing the cigarette between my fingers, “inform the manager I want the transaction history for this month."
I glanced at my assistant.
“Check everything. If there’s any discrepancy, report it immediately. I won’t be coming to the office for a few days, so you have to send everything to my email.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good.”
I continued walking, but I could hear his footsteps still following me.
I stopped.
“What is it?” I asked, turning to face him.
He hesitated. “I’m sorry, sir. My men failed to stop Miss Daphne… she left early.”
I rubbed my temples, letting out a quiet breath. “Get the car ready.”
She can't discover that I'm gone otherwise everything would crumble.
Where could a cripple go alone without his wheelchair?
Luckily, Jace Winston’s clothes were already with me.
I slid into the backseat as my assistant started driving, quickly changing while my assistant sped through the roads.
By the time we reached the mansion, everything was in place.
I stepped out calmly.
But the moment I entered, I knew that Daphne was already in our room.
And the wheelchair, it was empty.
My jaw tightened.
I turned to my assistant. “Tie me.” I've got to make it look like I was bullied while I was at home.
“Yes, sir.”
I moved quickly, opening the closet and slipping inside just as I heard the faint sound of running water from the bathroom.
She was in the shower.
Silently, I dropped the chair in the closet to the group, threw the lamp gently to the ground. I scattered the place and made it look like there was a fight there.
I lay in the middle with my hands tied and face to the floor, I put on a sad look and forced tears out of my eyes
Soon, the water stopped. I exhaled slowly, letting my body relax into the role.
Daphne’s POV
I changed my clothes and sat on the edge of the bed, my thoughts restless.
Where could Jace be?
I started doubting everything,
His face when he stabbed Noah has made me suspicious of him.
What if… he had been lying to me all along?
Then, I heard a faint sound. A muffled cry or maybe someone sniffling.
My head snapped toward the closet. I stood up and went to check it out.
It was locked from the outside… but the key was still here. My heart began to race.
Slowly, I unlocked it and pushed the door open, the room was dark, no light in and no light out. The curtains blocked all the lights so I stepped in cautiously.
I turned on the light and what I saw made my chest tighten.
Jace was lying on the floor.
His hands were tied, and his eyes were red and watery, like he had been crying for a long time.
Why would his family treat him this way?
I didn’t hesitate. I pulled out my pocketknife and cut through the ropes around his wrists.
“Leave… leave quickly,” he said weakly. “If my mother finds you here, she’ll punish you too. Go… now.”
My brows furrowed. “Was it your mother who did this?”
He nodded faintly.
“As long as she thinks I’m disobedient… she locks me up and punishes me. It’s been like this for twenty years.”
My chest ached when he said that.
“Except for my father… you’re the first person who’s ever rescued me.”
Something inside me softened.
Carefully, I helped him sit up, then pulled him into my arms, holding him gently.
“It’s okay,” I whispered, patting his hair, trying to comfort him.
Jace’s POV
I smiled faintly as she held me, her fingers brushing through my hair, her thumb grazing my cheek.
She really believed it.
“Have you eaten anything today?” she asked, her voice filled with concern.
“No,” I replied softly, letting my hands rest lightly on her waist.
“Then let’s get you something to eat,” she said, helping me up and settling me into my wheelchair.
We stopped by the doorway, because of the voices echoing from the hall. They were from the head maid, her subordinate and my mother.
I tilted my head slightly, watching the commotion to know what was going on.
A package sat in the center of the room,large, wrapped in sackcloth but it was tied and a bright orange ribbon was placed in the middle.
A small card rested on top of the ribbon. From Ethan Cornelius. A smirk pulled at my lips.
My assistants had done well.
My mother opened the sack and froze.
Inside was Noah, he lay unconscious, his body was badly bruised, his clothes were torn and blood that trickled from his head dried across his face.
Her scream cut through the air.
“Call the guards! Get him to the hospital now!”
The house erupted into chaos, everyone was busy, calling the hospital, trying to clean Noah up. The bodyguards hurried in with a stretcher to carry him.
They carried him out while she followed behind, panic was all over her face.
We watched it all quietly and we were satisfied.
Daphne pushed me toward the dining room and then I looked at her
“Was it you who did that?”
She blinked, then shook her head slowly.
“No.”
“I heard it was Ethan Cornelius,” she said and I paused.
“The ruthless businessman?” I asked. “Wow… he’s impressive.”
“He just gave us a chance to breathe… even if it’s only for a while.” I said as I leaned back slightly, waiting to know her thoughts on him.
Daphne’s POV
I scoffed softly.
“He calls himself powerful,” I muttered, my lips curling slightly. “But Ethan Cornelius is nothing but selfish and arrogant. Every move he makes hides something he can’t reveal.”
My grip on the cutlery tightened. “I hate being manipulated.”
We didn’t say another word as I focused on my meal, finishing dinner in quiet silence.
Later that night, I went to visit my sister.
The room was still calm. Machines hummed softly in the background as she lay there, unmoving.
Carefully, I dipped the towel in water and began cleaning her body gently.
But my mind drifted, back to that day. That day that brought her to this place.
I remembered sitting in the waiting room, crying until my chest hurt while the doctors fought to save her and my parents.
And then, I received the news.
My parents were gone.
My sister couldn't make it but she fell into a coma.
Everything collapsed at once.
Everywhere became blurry.
I cried my eyes out, I no longer wished to live.
That was the day I met Marcus. He stepped in when I had nothing left.
He paid off my parents’ debts, handled their funeral. He paid my sister's medical bills, he gave me support when I had no one else.
I asked him why he was so kind to me, he said my parents had once helped him, that this was him repaying that kindness.
But nothing comes for free. He had done more than enough.
He cleared my debts and became my biggest creditor.
“And since all you have is your face,” he told me back then, “I’ll give you jobs. Complete them, and you’ll pay me back.”
I signed the contract.
What choice did I have?
Since then… we’ve grown closer.
He looked after my sister whenever I couldn’t.
He made sure she survived.
“You want me to investigate Jace Winston?” Marcus asked again, his voice pulling me back to the present.
He studied me, like he was waiting for me to change my mind.
“Jace Winston isn’t simple,” I said quietly.
Marcus folded his arms, raising a brow.
“Hold on,” he said. “You don’t even trust a cripple?”
I paused, my hand still against my sister’s arm.
Then I turned to look at him.
“What if he isn’t a cripple?”
Marcus sighed, running a hand through his hair.
“You’re overthinking this.”
But I wasn’t there was something about Jace Winston that didn’t feel weak at all.
- Writer
