Betrayed By The Billionaire

227

Deep within the skeletal remains of the abandoned factory, suspended from a rusted beam in a near-impossible crevice, hung a single red apple. The rule was simple: if a single member of Donovan Tang’s Red Team shattered that fruit, the fortress fell, and the defenders were decimated.

They were given ten minutes to strategize. But as the men huddled over a blueprint of the factory floor, Chloe Bishop drifted toward Sarah Vance. The air in the warehouse was stale, smelling of damp concrete and old oil, but Chloe’s instincts were smelling something far more foul.

"Sarah, this feels like a setup," Chloe whispered, her eyes tracking the movements of the Green Team. "Their arrival was too perfect. And look at Bluebelle and Yvonne—they’re too quiet. Usually, Bluebelle can't go five minutes without throwing a barb, especially with Xander and Liam Martin watching. Something is wrong."

The silence of a "White Lotus" was often more dangerous than her scream.

Sarah’s gaze followed the opposing team as they disappeared into the shadows of the factory's interior. A cold, sharp smile cut across her face. "I don't care what kind of game they’re playing, Chloe. If I pass up a chance to hunt Yvonne Blue on a field where I'm the predator, I’ll never forgive myself. I’m going after her."

Chloe saw the raw resolve in her friend's eyes. It wasn't just about the game. For Sarah, Yvonne was a thorn driven deep into her heart, a constant, throbbing reminder that her marriage to Arthur had been tainted. The "peace" at the Vance Villa was a fragile patch over a widening crack. Sarah was forcing a choice: would the crack be healed, or would she let it rot?

"I'll stay on your wing," Chloe said firmly, realizing she couldn't talk Sarah out of it. "If something goes sideways, I’ll take the heat. You and Arthur just started fixing things—don't throw it away on a trap. Let me be the one to pull the trigger."

Sarah’s voice was like flint. "The consequences are mine alone to bear."

The Opening Salvo

Ten minutes later, the whistle blew, and the factory fell into a deadly, tactical silence. Outside the main entrance, piles of rusted tires, sandbags, and empty oil drums provided a jagged labyrinth of cover.

"Chloe, you have a sentry at three o'clock. Cover my advance. I’m going in to neutralize him."

Donovan’s voice crackled in her earpiece, rich with a magnetic, effortless authority. He sounded bored, as if Xander Grayson and his team were nothing more than target practice.

Chloe shifted her weight, her eye finding the scope. "Copy that. Preparing to suppress. On my count... one, two, three!"

Crack!

A red paintball shattered against the rusted window frame at the three o'clock position. Inside, Xander flinched as the red dust bloomed inches from his ear. Before he could recalibrate, Chloe fired a second shot, pinning him behind the brickwork.

Under her suppressing fire, Donovan moved with the grace of a panther, darting through the blind spots of Xander's firing line. Marcus, seeing a shadow blur past, squeezed off a panicked shot, but he was a second too late. Worse, his muzzle flash gave him away.

Chloe’s barrel swung instantly toward Marcus’s position. Seeing the opening, Xander tried to lean out for a counterattack.

"Commander, the window is clear. Now!" Chloe signaled.

In a move that defied gravity, Donovan used a stack of crates to vault himself toward the low-hanging window. He caught the ledge with one hand and reached in with the other, grabbing Xander by the tactical vest and the throat. With a single, powerful heave, he dragged the younger Grayson out of the window and onto the concrete floor.

"Damn it!"

The word barely left Xander’s lips before he was officially KO'd by Donovan’s close-quarters takedown.

Marcus, hearing the scuffle, hissed into his comms, "Xander is down! We need someone to fill the gap at the north entrance, now!"

"I’m moving," a cold, sharp voice replied. It was Liam Martin. "Everyone else, hold your sectors and wait for my lead."

The Red Team has breached the outer perimeter, and Donovan’s raw military power has already claimed a high-value target. But as Chloe moves closer to the factory core, she sees Sarah breaking formation, heading straight for the sector where Yvonne Blue is hiding. The "trap" Chloe feared is closing in.

Will Sarah’s thirst for justice lead her straight into Yvonne’s web, or can Chloe intervene before the game turns into a real-life disaster?

Should Chloe abandon her post to follow Sarah, or trust the "Iron Commander" to handle the mission while she prevents a catastrophe?