"You were merely a puppet to me, someone who I didn’t even need to ask to do anything but still did it. I had you in control for years and you didn’t even realize it, Arianna. So tell me, why would I love a woman who’s too slow and dumb minded like yourself?"

Arianna reared back as if she’d just been stabbed in the chest.

Her heart bled even though blood wasn’t evident. She clenched her heart as it rammed against her chest. The feeling was too painful.

Being betrayed was already devastating enough. Being told the reason you were betrayed, the blamed being pinned on you and told you made it too easy for you to be betrayed was another thing. And it hurts. It hurt so terribly that it felt like her heart was getting pulled out of her chest.

"Was that clear enough for you?" Logan asked, smiling in satisfaction when he saw her state.

Vivian smirked behind him, one of her hands still caressing her baby bump.

Logan reached for her but Vivian quickly held him back.

"We can’t do anything to her here. Daemon is downstairs. Although, we don’t know the kind of relationship they have, we still can’t risk it. You plan to ask him for a partnership, remember?" Vivian reminded him.

Logan quickly held himself back.

Since he’d taken over Arianna’s shares, some of the board members believed he’d done something since it was mandatory for every shareholder to physically redraw.

He’d lied that Arianna had left the country and wouldn’t be returning anytime soon.

However, they didn’t stop their doubts.

Due to the redraw of a few others who’d already sold their shares due to his insincerity, he needed to replace them immediately and keep his company in the top three of the most successful companies in the city.

Daemon Langford was Logan’s new target.

He was extremely jealous of Daemon since all his life, he’d wanted to overthrow his company as the top one more successful in the city, but he’d come to realize the best way to do that was to get daemon closer, make him a part of his own company.

What better way to get closer to your enemy if not act like you’re their friend? That was his motto.

"That’s right," he said, stepping back. "I still need to form a good relationship with him." His tone suddenly lowered, full of threat. "I’ll get back to you later, Arianna, and you’d better hide because the next time I see you, I’ll kill you with my bare hands."

With that, he turned to leave with Vivian while holding her carefully as if she was a fragile thing.

Arianna watched them leave, forcing her saliva down her throat while her fist clenched hard.

Downstairs...

Daemon glanced around the party, eyes searching for Arianna while he was called over by some guests who wanted to have a quick talk here and there.

He’d been subtly searching for her for over ten minutes already but there was not a single sign of her around.

His eyes narrowed when his eyes locked on the woman who’d asked if he was a bodyguard earlier.

The comment left him speechless but that was a talk for another day.

She was the last person he’d seen Arianna with before he’d completely lost her.

"Where’s Arianna?" He asked.

Lilian turned to look at him, her eyebrows furrowing into a frown before she glanced around.

"She’s not back yet?" She questioned back. Daemon raised one eyebrow in question. "Vivian and Logan said they needed to speak to her in person, so she went with them."

Daemon’s heart instantly dropped.

He quickly scans the crowded space once again, finally realizing that he has not spotted neither Vivian nor Logan for a while now.

Then he saw them walking down the stairs, hand in hand with smiles on their lips as if they’d just achieved something great.

He stormed up to them, ready to jump on them and demand where they’d kept Arianna when Daemon suddenly heard someone talking behind him.

It was a familiar voice, the kind that he hasn’t heard in a longest while. However, it wasn’t the kind he was pleased to hear.

Instead of feeling joyous, Daemon felt all the hair on his body stand on all ends.

"Yes, I’ll be sure to deliver the products to you," the voice continued from a close distance, his back turned to Daemon.

Daemon’s eyes hardened at the figure, his heart skipping beats after beats, hoping it wasn’t the same person he thought it was.

Then he saw the person leaving.

Without thinking, Daemon quickly followed right behind him.

However, the person didn’t go through the main exit. They walked around the house as if they owned it, passing through doors as if they knew what was behind it.

It took daemon a moment to realize that the person was walking towards the back door of the mansion.

Daemon gritted his teeth. He needed to be discreet and capture the man before he realized he was being followed.

"Daemon Langford!"

Daemon hissed when he heard his name being yelled out practically.

He turned to find an unfamiliar man walking towards him with a smile on his lips and daemon’s hands itched to wipe it off his face.

He turned back to where the man he was following was only a moment ago, but he wasn’t there anymore.

"If you don’t mind, can I have a word with you?" The man who interrupted asked.

"Get out," Daemon demanded with teeth gnashing.

The man immediately stepped back, perplexed.

"But I need to talk—" The man quickly swallowed his saliva when he received a deadly glare from Daemon.

Without uttering another word, he quickly turned on his heels and bolted out of there.

Daemon followed the trail, but didn’t find the person he was following anymore.

He gripped his hair in frustration as he cursed.

Then he quickly placed Frederick on a call.

"I want you to go through the invitation lists of the Griffin’s anniversary party. Search for his name."