Chapter 515
Stone let out a bitter laugh. He’d already gotten into the car, but for some reason, something had felt off- so he had the family send a replacement vehicle.
At that moment, aside from his own people and Jonathan’s team, he trusted no one.
Thinking back to the brief encounter at the door with Maddox, he hesitated before saying, “I ran into Maddox.”
“I don’t know if today’s incident had anything to do with him.”
Maddox had said he was being overly cautious. At the time, Stone hadn’t thought much of it. Now, the fear was setting in.
Once close friends… now reduced to this. He couldn’t help but feel a bit of regret.
But Jonathan simply said, “It probably had nothing to do with him.”
“He’s not that stupid.”
Getting involved in something that might cost lives–Maddox wouldn’t dare. Not with Stone involved.
If anything had happened to Stone, the Hayes family wouldn’t have let it slide.
Stone rubbed his face. “Once all this is over, I’m requesting to be sent out on field missions.”
Compared to all this scheming and backstabbing, missions were much more straightforward.
Jonathan understood his friend’s nature. He also knew this situation had pushed Stone to his limits.
“By the way, that number White gave-?”
“We’ve confirmed it. His sister really was taken.”
Jonathan tapped his fingers lightly. Even when he’d looked into White’s background before, there hadn’t been a trace of a sister.
Victor’s reach abroad still exceeded his.
“Should we tell White?” Stone asked.
“He’s probably already figured it out,”
“Asking me to check was just a way to confirm it–and also to force himself into cooperation with me.”
Jonathan’s insight surprised Stone.
After everything that had happened, they were still going to work
with White?
“There are no permanent enemies,” Jonathan said quietly.
Before learning the full extent of Victor’s schemes, White had been the first name on his list to climint
Now, that top spot belonged to Victor.
“Then I’ll find a way to pass the message to him,” Stone offered.
But Jonathan shook his head. “No. You stay out of this.”
“He’ll find a way. Don’t underestimate White.”
s
Victor’s arrogance was his weakness. He didn’t realize his sons had grown up. Even hyenas, when there are enough of them, can bring down a lion.
And just as Jonathan expected, the next day he received a message from White. It contained several hidden routes.
Sierra couldn’t make sense of it, but Jonathan knew at a glance.
It was Victor’s smuggling network..
This was White’s signal of allegiance.
He was smart. He knew that at this point, working with Jonathan was his only shot.
Jonathan didn’t hesitate. As soon as he received the information, he handed it off to an elder he deeply respected.
Two days later, Victor received the news: multiple smuggling routes belonging to his family had been completely shut down.
S
Those routes had cost his people significant resources to establish. Strict regulations in the regi them hard to set up in the first place.
Now, wiped out in one sweep, Victor’s expression darkened considerably.
Though the loss wouldn’t cripple the family, it was a blatant slap in the face.
Worse, he was still in Dracovia–and it was his Dracovia operations that had just been dismantled.
It was a direct, public insult.
ade
After the initial rage passed, he composed himself again and sneered, “Do they really think this is enough to defeat me?”
In his eyes, this was just a minor disruption.
He made a call–directly to one of his most trusted aides..
With so many children under his name, he wanted to know who was behind this betrayal.
But the reply he received stunned him: his sons, including the few he’d marked for special attention,
showed no suspicious behavior.
“You’re sure?” he asked coldly.
For the first time, Victor began to question whether his informants were telling the truth or whethe
too, had turned on him.
He never believed in absolute loyalty. Loyalty only lasted as long as the benefits.
If someone else offered more, betrayal was expected.
And for the first time, Victor felt something slipping out of his control.
It had only been ten days. There were still twenty left in his wager with Jonathan.
But he now realized–he couldn’t afford to just sit and wait.
He summoned Maddox.
“I heard there was a lot of conflict between Jonathan and his family over who should succeed the Wynn clan?”
“Yes,” Maddox answered carefully.
He gave a rough overview of the infighting among the Wynn family’s second and third branches.
At present, both branches–as well as Jonathan’s aunt–were still under investigation.
There was no way any of them would be able to stage a comeback. That path was already sealed.