'You need to pick up my calls now! Why did you even talk to Luke? Come on, I'm losing my mind,' Venus sent message after message to Ivan, who read them and smiled sheepishly.
'This isn't fair; you can't keep on blackmailing everyone to do what you want. Meet me at our usual place at 8:00 pm. Don't be late,' Venus sent another message and angrily stepped on the accelerator and sped off.
"What's funny?" Kevin asked when he caught Ivan smiling sheepishly.
"Venus," Ivan answered, and Kevin slapped his forehead, shut his eyes, and gnashed his teeth.
"Please don't tell me you're still…" he started, but Ivan interrupted him.
"I'm not," Ivan stated in a more serious tone. "I'm just scaring her to help me with Luke. I need Steph back. My dad gave me 24 hours only."
"24 hours," Kevin repeated as he looked at the time on his watch. He then looked up at the sky, and Ivan looked at him questioningly.
"You don't need Luke. I have an idea that will bring Steph running back to you. Come with me. I hope no one is at your parents'," Kevin said in a victorious voice, and Ivan sheepishly followed him.
Xxx
"Why did you call me here?" Stacy asked as she looked around the luxurious office in admiration.
The room was roughly 20,000 square foot space. It had echoes of earthen designs, a high-back leather chair, a corner desk with metal legs, shelves full of books, a TV set, a glass table, a fridge, and what seemed like a bar.
"We need to talk; don't you think so?" Noah asked in an irritated voice, and Stacy shifted uncomfortably in her chair.
"About what?" Stacy asked as she removed a strand of hair that had partially covered her face."Is this how you talk to your guests?" She continued in irritation, and Noah shrugged as he asked what she meant.
"We haven't even talked yet," he answered as he walked towards the bar and asked Stacy if she needed anything.
"I'll pass. God knows you might even poison me," Stacy answered, and Noah chuckled softly as he placed a bottle of wine on the glass table.
"You're right about that, but I'm not so careless. I mean, if something happens to you, obviously, all fingers will be pointed at me. You know how good you've made me look, right?" Noah sarcastically said as he smirked.
"Why did you call me here?" Stacy asked as she raised her head high in confidence.
"As I said before, to talk. How much do you want?" Noah asked as he sipped his drink.
"What?" Stacy asked in confusion, and Noah repeated his sentence as he looked at Stacy in hostility.
"You think I want your money? How dare you!" Stacy asked in irritation as she spat.
"I know you want it. Why else would you decide to go against me? You're foolishly trying to open the buried skeletons, and you know it won't end well for both of us," Noah asked, and Stacy looked at the dumb ass man before her and scoffed angrily.
"I can't believe you asked that question, yet you're the one who first went against me. Forget it. I need to go. Coming here was a mistake and a total waste of time," Stacy reiterated and picked up her handbag as she readied herself to leave.
"I'll ask in a more polite tone. How much do you want? I don't ever want to hear my name come out of your mouth," Noah said in a thunderous voice as he placed his glass of wine down.
"You can burn in hell with your money for all I care," Stacy said as she rolled her eyes and looked at Noah in disgust.
She took a few steps, and when she got to the door, she turned to look at Noah, who had an amused smile on his lips.
"For your information, I will destroy you until you come begging for your life as I begged for my life. I'll make sure you go through everything I went through and much worse, and when it's all over, you'll wish you had never known me," she hissed and stormed out of the office, and ironically, Noah broke into a fit of laughter.
She fumbled with her phone as she tried calling a taxi since she had been driven by Noah's guards to their secret meeting.
Afraid that Noah might be tracking her down, she gave out Vera's address to the taxi man instead.
"You look flushed and pale," Vera said as she opened the door for Stacy, who was panting hard despite alighting from a taxi.
"He tried to buy my silence. I recorded everything," Stacy said after gulping down a glass of water.
"Who?"
"Noah Jackson," Stacy said with a faraway look.