Chapter 332
Standing Before Love
She should have been the one to be in Tonyâs arms, but Myra had to come along and take everything away from her. In retrospect, she should have followed him back to Bradfort City months ago, but she hadnât thought that he would fall head over heels for another woman within such a short span of time.
Gemma wanted to clench her fists, but a sharp ache tore through her arms whenever she moved her fingers. The injuries on her hands were already grave on their own, but any movement that required so much as an ounce of strength was enough to send a paralyzing pain through her bones.
She gritted her teeth. If he hadnât provoked her the other day, she wouldnât have lost control and rammed into him with her car, thereafter crashing into the oncoming truck. She wouldnât have ended up in such a sorry state.
A fire burned in her eyes as she dwelled on those and at the thought of the video she had just received, she grew even more outraged.
â¦
Tony and Myra had kept their evening stroll brief and before long, they headed back into the room.
Along the way, she brought up the incident with Elsie from earlier that day. âDo you think Elsie was the one who gave Kris the drug? And if that was the case, does that mean the secretary in my office suffered a miscarriage after accidentally taking the drug that was meant for me?â
Tony hadnât wanted to let Myra learn the truth, given how traumatizing it could be for her to learn that someone was coming after her and the child she was carrying. Heaving a sigh of resignation, he squeezed her hand gently and replied, âI didnât want you to know about it, but now that you do, please donât be afraid or stressed out by it.â
He paused, then added softly, âWe found Krisâ fingerprints on the lemon and the reason why I havenât exposed her yet is because Iâm saving this information for future occasions.â Worried that she would read too much into the situation, he kissed her forehead and continued speaking. âThereâs nothing for you to worry about. I wonât let Kris get away so easily after all the things sheâs done. Besides, even if I donât go after her, fate has a way of getting rid of the wicked. When all these come to an end, Iâll make sure she pays for all her crimes.â
A harsh gleam flashed in the pitch black of his eyes as he said that.
Tony thought about how Myra had so narrowly dodged a bullet. If the timing had been off by a second, she would have been the one to ingest the spiked lemonade and she would have been the one to suffer the miscarriage instead of her secretary. The child that they had only just conceived would be lost and at that thought, he simply could not contain his rage.
He wanted nothing more than to kill Kris wherever she stood, but knowing that she could still be of use, he decided to spare her for now.
Myra, on the other hand, nodded after hearing what he had said. âI trust you.â
She agreed that there was no reason for her to worry. After all, Tony had his own way of dealing with those things and he had the brains to make sure things turned out just as he had planned. âBut, what if Elsie refuses to leave Bradfort City?â she asked hesitantly.
âShe has to leave,â he answered stoically before he frowned. His expression softened when he turned to look at Myra. âSheâs not like Sasha. If we spare her, sheâs only going to bite back even harder and we wonât know what sheâs going to do next. I can promise to spare Sasha, but I canât do the same for Elsie. She must leave Bradfort City, no matter what.â
He looked grim as he thought, Iâve had enough sleepless nights and itâs time to put an end to her shenanigans.
When Myra heard how resolute Tony sounded, she decided to let the matter drop. She knew that he had a knack for getting what he wanted.
Presently, as they walked past Gemmaâs suite, they could no longer hear her shrill cries and hysterical ramblings, which meant she had given up after failing to get her way.
Not long after they had returned to the suite, Leo hurried into the room to set up Tonyâs work documents and laptop. Apparently, Tony was insistent on taking care of things at work despite his injuries.
As he set himself to work in what had quickly become his makeshift office, Myra reached out to take her phone from him. Following her pregnancy, he had been keeping her phone away from her on the days when they were together. She was about to unlock her phone to text Estelle when it rang with an incoming call.
Myra couldnât react in time to answer the sudden call, but it ended within seconds.
As she frowned, she couldnât help but feel as though something was off. Calls from unfamiliar numbers had been recently pestering her, but she had never been the type to entertain those calls. Presently, as though the person knew that she would not answer, the stranger who had called her texted her instead after hanging up, in which there was a video that had to be downloaded.
Myra clicked into the video and downloaded it using the Wi-Fi in the hospital.
She glanced over at Tony, who was buried in his work. Leo, on the other hand, was reporting information to him every once in a while. Upon seeing that, Myra rose from her seat and headed out of the door before she walked toward one of the windows that ran along the corridor as she clicked into the downloaded video.
As soon as the video was pulled up, she immediately recognized the two persons in the footageâTony and Gemma.
The two appeared to be in conflict and from the looks of it, things were taking a hostile turn. Within seconds, he reached out to clasp his hand around her throat and there was an obvious strength in his hold as he choked her. He was regarding her with an icy look, impassive despite the ferocity in his grip while her face scrunched up with pain as she struggled to breathe.
Myra watched the video with widened eyes, her own breath hitching even though she knew that Gemma was currently fine and resting in the room at the other end of the hallway. Nonetheless, it wasnât until she saw Tony release Gemma that she slowly let out a sigh of relief.
After watching the short clip, she found that she had broken into cold sweat within the brief minute during which the video had played.
She drew in a deep breath, and after what seemed like a long while, her heart began to slow into a steady pace once more.
However, the next moment, her phone rang once more. This time, she did not evade it, and instead picked it up with a steely look in her eyes.
âIâm assuming youâve seen the video.â Gemmaâs mocking voice was filled with hatred as she sneered at Myra from the other end of the line.
Myraâs grip tightened on her phone. âWhat the hell do you want?â
âNothing at all. Iâm just really angry about what happened to me and Iâm planning to forward this video to the press. I think they would be very intrigued to see what that man did to me before he threatened to press charges against me for reckless driving,â Gemma answered insouciantly, sounding as though she couldnât care less about this. Myra, on the other hand, was bridling at her words.
She gritted her teeth as she hissed, âTony only did what he needed to get you to back off, Gemma. He didnât even hurt you. Even if you were to send that video to the press, itâs not going to affect him in any way!â
âWell, why are you getting so worked up then?â Gemma shrieked.
Myra flinched as the girlâs shrill voice painfully pierced her eardrums. Having walked a bit of distance away from Tonyâs ward, she lowered her voice and asked through gritted teeth, âSo, what the hell is it that you want?â
âWhat do I want?â Gemma repeated, her voice raising to a sharp octave. âDonât you know what I want?
I want you to leave Tony and get rid of that child youâre carrying! I want you to stay away from him for good!â she screamed maniacally and Myra could hear the echo that followed. From the sound of it, the girl was shouting at her from within a restroom.
âWhat you want is impossible!â Myra retorted without hesitation.
âImpossible?â Gemma was outraged at Myraâs refusal. âIt looks like you donât love Tony that much after all! Youâre only after his familyâs wealth and status because you donât even love him enough to make this sacrifice for him! And yet there you are, acting as though youâve fallen deep for him! I knew it! How could you be in love with him after knowing him for less than a few months?â
âYouâre wrong,â Myra answered, suddenly seized with an odd sense of calm. âGemma, if I truly love Tony, I would stick with him through thick and thin. I know how much I mean to him. If I leave him, itâs only going to break his heart. Why would I put him through that kind of pain?â