The CEO's Secret Obsession-Chapter 121: Blackmail

[Jack’s Room]

The message came at 1:17 a.m.

Unknown Number: You should answer. We need to talk.

Jack stared at the screen, his pulse immediately spiking.

He didn’t answer.

The phone buzzed again.

Unknown Number: Will you answer or should I call your father?

Cold spread through his chest.

Jack sat up slowly, every muscle in his body going rigid.

The room felt smaller and the air heavier. He typed, deleted, typed again before finally answering the call.

"What do you want?" he snapped, keeping his voice low.

A man chuckled softly on the other end. He wasn’t nervous, not rushed but relaxed.

"You hired me to loosen a few things," the man said calmly. "But you didn’t say anything about nearly killing the CEO of Reid Enterprise."

Jack’s jaw clenched. "You were told to keep it minimal."

"I did what you paid for," the man replied. "Someone else messed with the rest. Or maybe the car reacted worse than expected." A pause. "Either way, that’s not my problem."

"It will be," Jack hissed. "If you don’t shut up."

There was another chuckle. "You are not in a position to threaten anyone right now."

Jack stood, pacing. "You said no one would trace it back."

"They won’t," the man agreed easily. "Unless I help them."

Jack stopped pacing.

"How much?" he asked flatly.

"Smart boy," the man said. "I need ten million."

Jack laughed sharply. "You are insane."

"Am I?" the man countered. "You are the one whose father is already circling. The brake report is clean, precise—someone professional did it. That narrows the list fast."

Jack swallowed.

"Ten million," the man repeated. "Cash or routed clean. Otherwise, I walk into a police station or a journalist’s office or your father’s."

Jack’s grip tightened on the phone.

"You won’t," he said.

"I will," the man replied calmly. "Because I don’t lose sleep over people like you."

Then the line went dead.

Jack stood there, staring at nothing with his heart slamming violently against his ribs. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Ten million.

There was only one place he could get that kind of money quickly and that was his discretionary corporate access.

And that was the problem.

A withdrawal that large right now, with scrutiny already on the company would be a flare in the dark.

Benjamin would notice because he always did.

Jack dragged a hand through his hair, panic crawling up his spine.

If he paid, his father would start asking questions. If he didn’t, the man would talk.

Either way, he was cornered.

There was no clean way out of a quiet escape.

Only one person could move money without raising suspicion, the only one person who knew how to erase trails.

Jack clenched his jaw and opened his contacts.

Olivia.

....

[Olivia’s Suite — Late Night]

Jack didn’t knock.

He slipped inside Olivia’s suite like a shadow, shutting the door behind him with shaking hands.

His breathing was uneven and his face pale under the soft golden light.

Olivia looked up from the couch immediately.

One look at him and her expression changed.

"Jack?" She stood at once. "What happened?"

He crossed the room in long, restless strides, dragging a hand through his hair. "We have a problem."

Her chest tightened. "How big?"

"The man," Jack said, voice low and frantic. "The one who messed with Alexander’s car. He is asking for more money."

Olivia froze. "More?"

"He knows," Jack continued, panic spilling through now. "He knows I can’t go to the police. He knows I won’t dare say anything. He is threatening to talk if I don’t pay."

Her face drained of color.

"How much?" she asked carefully.

Jack swallowed. "Enough that I can’t move it quietly. If I touch my company fund, Dad will notice."

Silence crashed between them.

Olivia closed her eyes for a brief second — just long enough to steady herself — then crossed the room and grabbed his arms.

"Jack," she said sharply. "Look at me."

He did.

Her voice softened, but it was tight with urgency. "You promised me this was contained."

"I thought it was," he snapped back, then immediately lowered his voice. "I didn’t think he would get greedy."

Olivia released him and turned away, pacing now.

"This is exactly why I warned you," she said, anger flaring. "You don’t hire desperate people for delicate jobs. Desperate people talk."

Jack’s voice cracked. "I didn’t mean for it to go this far."

She spun around. "Intent doesn’t matter anymore!"

Her eyes glistened not with sympathy but with fear.

"Do you understand what you have done?" she demanded. "Alexander survives an accident, your father suddenly turns into a bloodhound and now you have a loose end waving a confession over your head?"

Jack ran a hand down his face. "I just needed Alexander to slow down."

"And now you might end up destroying yourself," Olivia said harshly.

He looked at her helplessly. "I need you."

That stopped her.

For a moment, something raw flickered across her face — attachment, possessiveness, calculation all tangled together.

She exhaled slowly. "I already saved you once," she said quietly. "With Heinberg."

Realization hit him hard. "Then help me again."

Olivia stared at him for a long moment.

"No," she said.

The word landed like a slap.

Jack staggered back slightly. "What?"

"I cannot fix this the same way," she continued with her voice steady but strained. "This time it’s personal. This time it’s blood."

She stepped closer, lowering her voice. "If I interfere again and Benjamin finds out, I lose everything and so do you."

Jack’s eyes burned. "So you are just going to let him destroy me?"

Her expression softened just a little.

"No," she said. "I am going to keep you alive."

She placed a hand on his shoulder.

"You will not touch your funds. You will not panic and you will not make another move without thinking."

"Then what do I do?" he whispered.

Olivia leaned in, her voice turning coldly practical.

"You buy time, you stall him and you make him feel safe enough to wait."

"And if he doesn’t?"

Her lips curved slightly. "Then we make sure he never gets the chance to talk."

Jack’s breath caught.

She pulled back, eyes dark. "But if you do anything reckless again," she warned, "I won’t protect you."

He nodded slowly, fear settling deep in his bones.

"Good," Olivia said, straightening. "Now go and remember that silence is survival."

Jack turned toward the door, shoulders heavy.

As he left, Olivia sank back onto the couch, pressing her fingers to her temples.

This had gone too far and for the first time, even she wasn’t sure she could control the fallout.

....