Chapter 211 Paying a small fortune for trash

Chapter 211: Chapter 211 Paying a small fortune for trash

_Ezekiel’s POV_

Pierre didn’t say much over the phone, only giving me the address of where he’s been and telling me to be at my private hotel penthouse in twenty minutes.

By the time I reached the suite, heavy rain was pounding heavily against the floor-to-ceiling glass windows, blurring the bright city lights. I stood near the door, my heart pounding loudly in my chest as I waited.

When the knock finally came, I opened it immediately.

Pierre was standing in the hallway, he looked thoroughly exhausted, his coat damp from the rain, and his eyes dull and heavy with stress. He was going through so much.

Without being told, I knew the endless political pressure from his pack elders was clearly taking a massive toll on him.

"Come inside," I murmured softly, stepping back to let him pass.

He walked into the penthouse without saying a word, tossing his wet coat onto a chair. I had already ordered a meal from room service, setting the dishes out on the dining table.

We sat down across from each other and ate in total, suffocating silence. Neither of us mentioned the leaked photograph, the pack council, or the endless rumors swirling through the capital.

Once the plates were cleared, I couldn’t take the heavy tension in the room any longer. I leaned back against the edge of the table, clutching my hands together tightly.

"Why did you come here tonight, Pierre?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. "Your elders are watching your every move. If someone saw you coming to my hotel—"

Before I could even finish my sentence, Pierre closed the distance between us in two long strides. He grabbed me roughly by my shirt collar, pulling my body forward and slamming his lips against mine in a desperate, hard kiss.

My breath caught in my throat, my mind going completely blank for a second before I melted into his touch, wrapping my arms around his shoulders. The kiss was rough, needy, and filled with a raw unspoken pain that made my chest ache.

When he finally pulled back slightly, his forehead rested against mine, his hot breath fanning across my skin. His eyes were burning with intense emotion as he gripped my waist with trembling fingers.

"You big fool," Pierre growled softly, his voice raspy and shaking. "You total idiot."

I blinked, confused. "Pierre...”

"I heard you were planning to leave the capital," he cut me off, his grip tightening so hard it almost hurt. "You were just going to pack your bags and run away to another city without telling me? Did you really think I would just let you walk out of my life?"

"I thought it would be easier for you," I admitted, my voice wavering. "With your family pushing for an official mate, I thought my presence was just ruining your future."

"Never leave me," Pierre commanded, staring dead into my eyes with an intensity that shook me to my core. "Do you hear me, Ezekiel? Never try to run away from me again. I hate you for making my life so complicated... but I swear to the goddess, I love you too much to ever let you go. I cannot live without you."

Hearing those words spill straight from his lips, my heart softened completely. All my built-up doubts, fears, and anger dissolved into thin air. I buried my face into the crook of his neck, holding him tight as the rain continued to pour against the windowpane.

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_Rowena’s POV_

Down in my private study, I sat beside Alaric’s sleeping form on the sofa, gently picking up my vibrating phone from the small table. I unlocked the screen to see a screenshot Ezekiel had forwarded to me a few minutes ago.

It was a screenshot of a desperate forum post from an anonymous user offering money for a complete mechanical leg blueprint.

A soft amused chuckle escaped my lips. I looked down at the image, recognizing the hidden IP tag format immediately. It had to be Brielle. The proud, arrogant doctor who had publicly claimed she could outperform me was now secretly begging underground engineers online to do her entire project for her.

A clever idea struck my mind. Why not play a little game with her and make some extra money in the process?

I opened a burner browser application on my phone, setting up a temporary, completely untraceable online profile. I typed out a direct message to Brielle’s anonymous forum account.

“I saw your post,” I messaged her. “I happen to have a high precision, fully functional biomechanical limb blueprint ready right now. But my price is non negotiable. $60,000 cash upfront before I send the full file.”

Less than ten seconds passed before my screen lit up with her reply.

“Are you insane?!” Brielle typed back, her anger visible right through the text screen. “$60,000 for a simple set of drawings?! You are nothing but a shameless thief trying to take advantage of my situation! I can get a regular engineer to do it for five thousand!”

I smiled calmly, my fingers tapping against the screen as I prepared my trap.

“Then go hire a regular engineer and watch the nonsense they create for you,” I replied smoothly. “You know as well as I do that standard engineering cannot connect artificial joints to real wolf nerves. Only my design can pull that off.”

To prove my point and fully hook her, I attached a small, low resolution screenshot of an old, abandoned prototype draft I had drawn up two days back. It was a rough concept design that I had already discarded because I felt it was too basic, but to an amateur like Brielle of course, it looked like a masterpiece of medical engineering.

For three long minutes, no messages came through. I could practically picture Brielle sitting in her lab, staring at the detailed blueprint snippet with her jaw dropping in shock.

Finally, her message popped up on the screen.

“Fine!” Brielle typed frantically, completely taking the bait. “I will pay the $60,000! Send me your secure account transfer details right now, and send the full blueprint file the second the money clears at $80,000!”

I let out a satisfied laugh, carefully copying down a temporary offshore account code to send to her. Brielle was so desperate to save her fake reputation that she was willingly handing over a small fortune for a design I didn’t even want anymore.