Chapter 202
Back at the pawn shop, when the staff member had first brought the necklace to the back, the manager was meeting with her team. The unique antique caught her eye.
Learning it belonged to a “Ms. Watson” who was looking to pawn it, she asked for more details. “Which Ms. Watson p>
“The one sitting by the window in the waiting area p>
The manager glanced out and recognized Natalie. She was the head of the company that had partnered with their corporate headquarters on a recent auction. The necklace was a high-quality antique, easily worth ten million. Since the client was the Vice President of Billy Firth, the manager knew she couldn’t afford to make a mistake. A poor valuation could damage the relationship between her boss and Natalie.
She quickly pulled some strings, got Aaron Lee’s number, and called him to explain the situation, asking for guidance on the offer.
Aaron immediately reported the call to Alexander Ramirez. ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ
As it turned out, the largest pawn shop in Cabinda was a subsidiary of The Ramirez Group. Alexander’s expression remained unreadable as he listened. He knew that necklace and how much Natalie cherished it. The Watson family home was already sold; that necklace was the only thing she had left of her parents.
Her wanting to pawn it now had to be connected to the eighty million.
A flicker of irritation rose in him. She would rather pawn her mother’s last gift than accept his terms.
In truth, he never intended to make her pay the eighty million. The destruction of the “Baby’s Breath” tiara wasn’t even her fault. But when he remembered seeing her at the restaurant with Samuel Thompson, how close they were, he couldn’t stand it. He’d had their dinner sabotaged that night as a warning.
Samuel was his rival, yet she was associating with him. Was she trying to provoke him on purpose? He knew she would suspect him, and he’d assumed she would distance herself from Samuel afterward. Instead, he’d seen them in the parking garage, getting into the same car and driving off together.
They were divorced. He shouldn’t be paying attention to her life anymore. He had even hoped she would hate him, as it would help her move on faster. But seeing her with another man, he’d nearly lost control, consumed by the urge to drag her away and chain her to his side.
The damaged tiara gave him the perfect excuse. He could use the debt to keep her close.
It was a selfish, cruel move that would only make her despise him more, but at this point, he didn’t care.
Alexander instructed Aaron to tell the pawn shop their maximum offer was two million.
The manager was baffled when she received the order. Had her boss and the vice president had a falling out?
After delivering the report, Aaron stood by, waiting for Alexander’s next command. A long silence passed before Alexander finally spoke.
“Inform every other pawn shop in the city not to accept anything from Natalie Watson. If anyone disobeys, they’ll have me to answer to.” His face was a cold mask, his voice devoid of any warmth.
“Yes, sir. I’ll see to it right away,” Aaron said, and left.
Alexander tossed the file in his hand onto the desk, crossed his legs, and swiveled his chair to face the floor-to-ceiling window. The time he had given her to consider his offer was running out.
With the necklace proving worthless as collateral, Natalie was out of options. She had no reason to try borrowing money elsewhere.
As dusk settled over the city, she knew the day Alexander had given her was nearly over. The minutes ticked by, and she was still at a dead end.
She picked up her phone from the table, then set it down again, repeating the motion several times. But she knew she couldn’t avoid this. It had to be resolved.
Finally, Natalie dialed his number and raised the phone to her ear. With every ring, her heart beat faster.
“Hello p>
A deep, magnetic voice came through the receiver. The background was silent, and she couldn’t tell where he was.
“I Natalie managed to get one word out before the rest caught in her throat. She squeezed her eyes shut and forced herself to say it. “I agree p>
Her only hope now was to pay back the eighty million as quickly as possible. Once the debt was cleared, she would be free of him.
“Open the door p>
Instead of responding to her surrender, that was all he said.
Natalie glanced at her front door, then rose and walked towards it. When she opened it, Alexander was standing right there on her doorstep, his own phone still held to his ear.
She stared for a moment, then hung
up and put her phone away. “You
could have just said what you
needed to over the phone.” She blocked the doorway, making it clear he wasn’t welcome inside.