The Scorned Heiress: No More Mercy novel Chapter 715

"I need time to think. I'll give you my answer later," Jovani replies, cornered into stalling.

If she refuses outright, the decades she sacrificed and the intricate web she spun will all be for nothing. She refuses to walk away empty-handed, but making a unilateral decision without her handler's permission is a death sentence.

"Fine. You have twenty-four hours," Charles says coldly. "If I don't get a name, I release the item to the public, and your master's grand plan goes up in flames."

He doesn't wait for a response. He turns on his heel and walks out, slamming the door behind him.

Jovani stares at the closed door, biting her lip so hard she tastes copper. She knows exactly what Charles is doing—he's using her life's work as a bargaining chip to smoke out her boss. A part of her had genuinely believed Charles cared for her. She had even felt a fleeting pang of reluctance at the thought of him dying.

But if he is this eager to march to his own grave, she will gladly arrange the funeral.

Instead of returning to Dennis Group headquarters, Charles drives straight to the hospital to check on Nikolai.

"How are you feeling today?" Charles asks gently, pulling up a chair.

"Much better. Still weak, but anything beats being paralyzed," Nikolai rasps. His voice is incredibly frail, a stark contrast to his usual arrogant tone, but the sheer relief in his eyes is palpable.

"If you know you were poisoned, I assume you know who did it?" Charles presses.

Nikolai's lips press into a bloodless line, his complexion turning an ashen gray. He knows exactly who did it. He knows everything.

During the endless days he spent locked inside his paralyzed body, he had heard a very familiar voice by his bedside. It was his precious, innocent little sister, Jade. Assuming he was a vegetative write-off, she had gloated, dropping her sweet facade to unleash a torrent of venom. She had mocked the entire Dennis family, confessing how she had deliberately triggered their mother's nervous breakdowns and manipulated the three brothers like mindless attack dogs.

In that moment, Nikolai had experienced a rage so blinding he thought his heart would stop. If he could have moved even an inch, he would have strangled her with his bare hands.