His Wicked Obsession (Archer and Virginia) novel Chapter 117

"Find out exactly who tampered with Virginia's drink at the party last night."

A rustling sound came through the receiver, followed instantly by Zachary's forced-awake, strictly professional voice. "Understood, Boss."

By that very afternoon, a piece of breaking news took the internet by storm.

Rupert Finch, the youngest son of the Finch family, had been implicated in multiple illegal activities. All evidence had already been handed over to the police.

The accompanying photos showed him being shoved into a police cruiser by two officers, decked out in designer clothes but looking completely humiliated and terrified.

Reading through the headlines, Archer indifferently set his iPad down and opened the quarterly financial reports in front of him, skimming the pages.

Right then, his phone buzzed.

The name flashing on the screen made his finger pause. It was Virginia.

He answered the call. Her slightly hoarse voice came through the speaker.

"Mr. Vanderbilt, thank you for last night. As for your suit... I'll buy you a replacement."

It was a few short sentences, delivered in a strictly professional tone, as if she were discussing a business transaction.

Yet, unbidden, the images from the night before flooded his mind... her scalding face pressed against his stomach... her wild, tangled hair... and that desperate, breathy plea—please, help me.

His throat suddenly felt incredibly dry. Offering a terse hum, he ended the call.

The next second, he slapped the phone face-down onto his desk with a loud smack.

He tugged at his tie, loosening it by an inch, then grabbed his coffee and took a massive gulp before forcing himself to focus on the financial reports once more.

Staring at the disconnected call screen, Virginia offered a bitter smile, though she quickly brushed it off.

She changed into the clothes Zachary had sent over, checked out of the hotel, and headed straight to Archer's usual custom tailor.

The moment the shop assistant heard the name "Mr. Vanderbilt," she instantly knew what to do, pulling out several high-end, dark-toned suits for her to choose from.

"Wrap this one up."

The auction was held at the city's largest art center. The attendees were mostly familiar faces from the elite social circle.

Virginia rarely dressed up this much, but today she wore a strapless, pearlescent gown, her hair pinned up loosely with a simple diamond clip.

Clementine linked arms with her, and the pair drew quite a few admiring glances the moment they walked in.

Then, Virginia spotted two familiar figures sitting dead center in the front row. It was Archer.

Archer wore a sharp dark gray suit, while Chloe Caldwell sat right beside him in an ivory cocktail dress.

Chloe was leaning intimately into his personal space, whispering something in his ear.

Clementine obviously saw them too. She shot a fierce glare at the back of their heads and yanked Virginia toward the rear of the hall. "We're sitting in the back. Out of sight, out of mind."

Virginia looked away, her face a mask of absolute calm, and took a seat beside her friend in the back row.

The first half of the auction was unremarkable. It wasn't until the midway mark that a jade bracelet from the Republican era was brought out onto the stage.