Chapter 212
[ 489 words ]
Chapter 212:
Finch walked to the desk and picked up the box. He looked at Caroline and gave a very slight, respectful nod of his head, then turned and walked out of the study, pulling the heavy door shut behind him.
The loud click of the brass latch echoed in the room.
The General’s amusement vanished instantly. The predator returned to his eyes. He laced his fingers together and leaned forward, bringing his face closer to the green light of the lamp.
“Let us stop wasting time, Miss Thompson,” the General said, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. “Tell me exactly how much you know about my grandson.”
This was the core evaluation. He was digging for her true motive.
Caroline met his stare without looking away.
“I know that Jarrod is a man who is entirely conditioned to give orders,” Caroline answered. Her voice was flat and brutally honest. “I know he is highly volatile, extremely dangerous, and absolutely relentless when he decides he wants something.”
The General’s eyes widened slightly. He had expected her to recite a list of Jarrod’s heroic military achievements or fake a speech about true love. Instead, she had just delivered a perfectly accurate, highly negative psychological profile of the Romero heir.
The General pushed harder, leaning his weight onto his elbows.
“If you know he is a dangerous man,” the General pressed, his tone dripping with accusation, “then why did you marry him? Was it the Romero trust fund? Did you see a uniform and a black credit card and decide to cash in?”
𝖱om𝗮𝘯𝖼𝗲 a𝗻𝗱 р𝗮𝘀si𝗼𝗻 o𝘯 𝗀alոo𝘃𝘦𝗹s.𝗰o𝗺
Caroline let out a short, sharp breath — a laugh completely devoid of humor. Her eyes turned to ice.
“General,” Caroline said, her voice slicing through the heavy air, “if I were here for your money, I would have spent the last three hours at a salon. I would be sitting in that chair wearing a five-thousand-dollar silk dress, smiling and telling you exactly what you want to hear.”
She gestured down at her faded jeans and the cheap black sweater.
“I am wearing clothes that smell like hospital disinfectant,” Caroline stated coldly. “My personal bank account is currently overdrawn. And since the day Jarrod forced himself into my life, I have not touched a single penny of his money.”
The General’s mind instantly flashed to the Spectre Advisory background report Finch had read to him. The financial audit was flawless. Caroline’s bank accounts were a disaster, but there were zero transfers from Jarrod’s accounts. She was telling the absolute truth.
The General’s defensive wall began to crack. The logic was airtight. She did not fit the psychological profile of a gold digger.
He tried a different angle. He tried to crush her with status.
“He is a colonel in the United States Department of Defense,” the General boomed, his voice echoing off the books. “He is heir to a legacy that shapes the geopolitical landscape of this country. You are a nurse.”
Caroline did not blink. The intimidation bounced off her.
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