The surveillance footage showed just who the man who bought the necklace was. James recognized him immediately. He was none other than Samson Lohan, Stephen’s assistant.

James had indeed been deceived.

Stephen had ended things with Tessa only to keep her out of their conflict.

James sat on the couch as his eyes glinted with cold menace.

The wine glass shattered in his hands.

“How interesting,” James murmured, ignoring his bleeding hand. There was a smile on his face, but it made him look nothing but sinister.

He muttered to himself, “Stephen, you love her so dearly, don’t you? I wonder… are you willing to trade your life for hers?”

“What did you say? They abducted Tessa?” The veins on Zachary’s forehead bulged in his agitation.

In contrast to Zachary’s distress, Jacqueline appeared exceedingly calm.

If anything, there was a smile on her lips as she sat on the couch. It was clear that she was in a good mood.

“Yes,” Jacqueline replied happily as she looked straight into Zachary’s eyes. “When I learned that Stephen only broke up with Tessa to protect her… God, how I wanted her dead. Now, I’m finally going to get my wish. There’s no way Tessa’s getting out of James’ hands alive.”

Zachary’s eyes turned bloodshot with anger. His temper got the best of him as he grabbed Jacqueline by the collar and lifted her in the air.

He was so furious that he bellowed at Jacqueline, “You said you wanted me to work with you just to break Tess and Stephen apart! You promised me you wouldn’t hurt Tess!”

Before Jacqueline could choke out a reply, a bodyguard who had been standing guard nearby rushed over to rescue her and promptly duked it out with Zachary.

Zachary and the bodyguard fought each other.

Unfortunately, the Jacobson family’s bodyguards were all professionally trained and, thus, highly skilled. As a result, Zachary was no match for them. All it took was a few moves, and Zachary was down for the count.

Jacqueline straightened her messed-up clothes and looked at Zachary with undisguised disdain. “I said I wouldn’t hurt her, and I kept my word. I wasn’t the one who abducted Tessa, was I? So, why are you taking it out on me?”

Zachary struggled to get up from the ground.

His face was bruised, and his body ached in multiple places. However, he didn’t give a damn about his injuries. Instead, he was only worried about Tessa. “What have they done to Tess? Where is she now?”

Jacquline shot him a cold glare. “How am I supposed to know? If you’re so worried, you should find her yourself.”

Zachary’s grim gaze remained fixated on Jacqueline as he growled through gritted teeth, “I’ll make sure every single one of you suffers if anything happens to Tess.”

Jacqueline couldn’t help but chortle at his threat. Get real, Zachary. Don’t forget just why Gomez Group managed to drag itself out of the gutter Have you forgotten who’s the largest shareholder of your company? Yet, here you are, threatening me? Who do you think you are?”

Zachary clenched his fists, the veins on the back of his hands bulging.

When Gomez Group fell into a

financial crisis and faced bankruptcy, he tried everything he could to convince people to invest in his company. Alas, no one was willing to lend him a hand because he had offended both the Yates and the Jacobson families.

Later, Jacqueline had sought him out and given him a business card.

At his wits’ end, he agreed to cooperate with Jacqueline and finally made that call, seeking aid from Cayden.

He only found out after the fact that Cayden and Jacqueline were mere pawns.

Zachary had never seen just who they were working for. He didn’t even know their superior’s full name. All he knew was a first name-James.

Now, Gomez Group no longer belonged to just the Gomez family.

In fact, the company’s largest shareholder was one of James’ many subordinates. That being said, that person was merely a nominal shareholder, managing those shares on James’ behalf. In other words, the person who had the most sway over the Gomez Group was the James they spoke of.