Suddenly, she missed Anthony. She wanted to be with him, right now, no waiting.
Charlotte closed her eyes, drew in a deep breath, and when she opened them again, her gaze was clear, cold, and razor-sharp.
After she finished getting ready, she pulled up the group chat, Family Ties. Three minutes ago, Jackson had sent a message.
Charlotte, the B20 supplier finally agreed to meet us. It’s set for three this afternoon.
They’d tried to land a meeting so many times before and always got shut out. If the supplier was this quick to say yes now, it only meant one thing. They weren’t the only ones invited.
Someone else would be there too. A strong competitor, someone who wanted B20 just as badly.
This meeting wasn’t about polite conversation. It was a pressure cooker, a face-to-face anxiety match to force both sides to drive up the price. Whoever bid highest would get what they came for.
Nine: Got it. Bring weapons.
After lunch, Charlotte drove Jackson and Adonis to the supplier’s territory. Adonis clung to the door handle like his life depended on it, barely daring to move.
Watching him freak out, Charlotte’s lips curled into a small smile. Her mood actually lightened. If everything went well today and they secured the rights to B20, they’d be on a plane back to Cabinda by evening.
...
Charlotte had to take a lot of back roads to dodge the X Organization’s people. They ended up burning an extra hour before finally reaching the supplier’s place.
The supplier’s empire was massive, sitting right at the southern edge of Apex, with a thick forest rising up behind it. That prime location let them harvest some of the rarest medicines in the world from those mountains. Their trade network stretched everywhere.
Once upon a time, they’d nearly rivaled the X Organization in wealth and influence, almost toppling them for control of Apex. In the end, though, they still lost.
Charlotte parked the car, grabbed her electronic pass, and led Jackson and Adonis through layer after layer of security. Finally, they made it into the so-called Kingdom of Medicine. Even the air here smelled faintly of herbs.
A servant showed them to a quiet waiting room.



VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABEL
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: The Mocked Miss’s Hidden Crowns