The temptation of my brother-in-law-Chapter 136 - One Hundred and Thirty-Six

Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Six

Zhao Wei’s POV

I sat in my dimly lit office, the only light coming from the desk lamp that cast long shadows across the furniture. The city stretched out below me through floor-to-ceiling windows, a landscape of lights and secrets. I didn’t turn when I felt the presence, just took a slow sip of my whiskey and set the glass down with deliberate precision.

"You can come out now, little ghost."

A figure emerged from the shadows near the bookshelf, dressed entirely in black leather that covered everything except her eyes. Those eyes were cold, calculating, and entirely focused on me.

"You knew I was here," she said, her voice distorted by the modulator she wore.

"I always know when you’re here." I leaned back in my chair, studying her. "The voice changer is new."

"It’s to make sure you’re not secretly recording our conversations."

"I would never." I smiled, but there was no warmth in it. "We have an understanding, you and I."

She moved closer, her steps silent on the expensive carpet. "How far have you gotten with the Blackwoods?"

"I asked you first. How far have you gone with the plan?"

She was quiet for a moment, and even with most of her face covered, I could read the hesitation in her body language. Seven years of working together had taught me how to see through her masks.

"I’m still observing. Gathering information. Making connections."

"That’s not what I asked."

"I’m being careful."

"You’re stalling." I stood, walked to the window, my hands clasped behind my back. "Tell me, little ghost, do you truly want revenge? Or have you gotten soft after all these years?"

"I want nothing more than to see them destroyed." Her voice was sharp even through the distortion. "Everything they’ve built, everything they’ve taken, I want it all to burn."

"Then why the hesitation?"

"I’m not hesitating. I’m being strategic. There’s a difference."

I turned to look at her. She’d been working for me for seven years, ever since I’d found her broken and desperate and hungry for vengeance. She’d been my best operative, my little ghost who could slip in and out of places without being seen, who could kill without leaving traces, who could gather secrets that others couldn’t touch. And now, finally, she was free. Her contract fulfilled. She could ask for anything as repayment for her services.

She’d only asked for one thing. The destruction of the Blackwoods.

I wasn’t surprised. Given her history with them, it made perfect sense. The only surprising thing was that she’d waited this long.

"You’ve earned your freedom," I said. "And I’ll honor our agreement. The Blackwoods will fall. But I need you to move faster."

She took a step closer, and I could see the calculation in her eyes. "You’re moving suspiciously too. All this interest in them, all these resources you’re pouring into taking them down. This isn’t just business for you either, is it?"

"Business is always personal for me."

"Why do you want Alicia?"

The question hit exactly where she’d aimed it. I kept my expression neutral, but my mind flashed with images I’d buried for years.

A little girl running down the hallway of my father’s mansion. Silver hair catching the light. Laughter that echoed off expensive walls. I’d hated her. Hated everything about her. Her hair, her eyes, her smile, the way my father looked at her mother with something that might have been kindness. I was his son and he looked at me with disappointment, but this servant’s daughter got smiles.

I’d made her life hell whenever I could. Small cruelties that children excel at. Until one day her mother died and she disappeared, taken away by someone, and I never saw her again.

Never saw her until years later when I was digging up dirt on the Blackwoods and found her there. Alicia. That same girl with the silver hair. All grown up and married into the family I was planning to destroy.

The universe had a sense of humor.

"She has something I want," I said simply.

Little ghost studied me for a long moment. "I won’t pry. Your reasons are your own, just as mine are mine."

"Good. Then we understand each other."

"I’ve made Malachi aware that someone is targeting them," she said. "Deliberately. He knows it’s not random accidents anymore." 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

I felt a flicker of irritation. "That wasn’t part of the plan."

"It’s necessary. He needs to know he’s being hunted. It makes the game more interesting."

"You’re playing a dangerous game with a dangerous man."

"I’m aware." There was something like amusement in her voice. "But he won’t catch me. I’m too good at hiding. You taught me that."

She moved toward the door, melting back into the shadows she’d emerged from. I didn’t try to stop her. She’d earned the right to move freely, to handle this her way.

"Little ghost," I called out before she disappeared completely.

She paused.

"Don’t get attached. When this is over, they all burn. No exceptions."

"I know."

Then she was gone, like she’d never been there at all.

I turned back to my desk, picked up the photo I’d been studying before she arrived. Alicia Blackwood. Silver hair, though she’d tried to hide it for years. Those same eyes I remembered from childhood, though harder now, older, marked by experiences I could only guess at.

I’d hated her once. That uncomplicated childhood hatred born from jealousy and resentment. Now? Now I felt something else entirely. Something more complex. More dangerous.

She had something I wanted. Something I needed. And I would have it, no matter what I had to destroy to get it.

I smiled at her photo, raising my glass in a mock toast.

"Let the games begin."

The Blackwoods had no idea what was coming for them. They thought they were untouchable, protected by their money and power and Pa Wood’s connections.

They were wrong.

And Alicia was at the center of it all, whether she knew it or not. The girl I’d once tormented was now the key to everything I’d been planning.

I took another sip of whiskey and stared out at the city below.

Soon. Very soon.

Everything would fall into place.