Chapter 1644

[ 689 words ]

Otherwise, Dane couldn’t fathom why Logan would zero in on Claire so specifically.

The guy had absolutely done his homework on her.

“But a family with that much power shouldn’t have any trouble finding fixers to broker introductions and secure supply lines, right?”

Why aim for The Churchill Family specifically?

Claire was genuinely puzzled.

Dane looked at her, his dark eyes reflecting the exact same question.

“Aside from The Churchill Family, do you personally have ties to any other syndicate

that controls large-scale jewel or jade mines?”

At Dane’s prompt, Claire blinked, a sudden realization washing over her.

“Actually… I do.”

“Now that you mention it, my family… The James Family, I mean. We own overseas mining operations. We excavate raw jadeite.”

Dane had always known The James Family wasn’t just a group of simple country doctors, but he hadn’t realized they were *’international mining cartel’* rich.

No wonder his grandfather had warned him never to underestimate the matriarch of The James Family, telling him it was better to cross The Churchill Family than to ever offend her.

The James Family was a fortress of secrets. God only knew how many trump cards they were hiding.

Just look at the two personal bodyguards the grandmother had assigned to Claire.

That man and woman were far from standard security muscle.

They moved like elite, lifelong retainers bred for a singular purpose.

“Is Dewitt the one managing the overseas mines?” With a single piece of the puzzle, Dane’s terrifying intellect snapped the rest of the picture together.

Dewitt and Stephen James clearly operated in entirely different spheres. It was an open secret that Dewitt spent most of his life running “businesses” abroad. What else could it be?

Dane hadn’t expected the matriarch to hand the keys to an international mining empire to someone so young.

It meant Dewitt’s ruthlessness and capability were far beyond what anyone realized. “Yeah. Dewitt basically lives in Kaston. The only reason he came back to the States recently was for the holidays and to entertain some blind dates.”

“Obviously, the dates were a disaster. Once the dust settles around my current situation, he’ll likely disappear back overseas.”

“Wait, when you were attacked at the hospital… Dewitt was there, wasn’t he?” Dane suddenly recalled the chaotic night of the ambush.

Dewitt had arrived on the scene, though he had stayed on the perimeter.

The fact that someone had noticed such a fleeting detail in the middle of a war zone was chilling.

“So, this VIP pass… it’s not actually for me.”

Claire nodded slowly, piecing it all together. “Should I pass it along to Dewitt?”

Dane shook his head. “There’s no

velaet

need. It’s Logan showing his hand and proving his intent, but he specifically didn’t put Dewitt’s name on it.”

“He gave it to you, but his target is absolutely Dewitt.”

Claire despised this kind of

high-society maneuvering, but she understood that someone like Logan couldnt just walk up and demand a meeting with Dewitt

Despite Dewitt’s laid-back, big-brother persona around her, he was a warlord in Kaston.

A cartel boss controlling vital mines didn’t casually agree to supply contracts with random Cabinda socialites.

Yes, The Hayes Family had domestic power, but Boss Dewitt operated in an entirely different jurisdiction.

To put it bluntly, Dewitt didn’t need anything from The Hayes Family, but Logan was desperate for Dewitt’s raw stones.

That gave Dewitt absolute leverage.

Logan had likely crossed paths with Dewitt briefly, realized who he was, and then discovered his protective connection to Claire.

At least, that was their working theory.

Or, perhaps Logan simply wanted the two of them at his party to boost its prestige.

Even ignoring The Green Family’s terrifying Corporate monopoly, Claire’s status as Padgett’s sole granddaughter was more than

enough to warrant an exclusive invite.

IMS

After breaking it down, the two of them shared a knowing smile.

“So? Do you want to go?”

Dane deferred to her entirely. He wasn’t about to drag her to a corporate vanity project if she didn’t want to go.

Claire thought about it for a second. “Let’s go. It’ll be fun to see the spectacle.”

It wasn’t that she had never been to a high-end jewelry show, but the events in Cabinda had to be wildly different from the ones back in Apex.

Plus, if she actually spotted something beautiful, she could buy it as a gift for the family.

If you find any errors (non-standard content, ads redirect, broken links, etc..), Please let us know so we can fix it as soon as possible.