Trading My Ex for His Uncle

Mary's face turned pale in an instant. "What did you do to Darcy?!"

She leered at Emerald, her eyes burning with rage.

Emerald smiled. "Nothing much. Just putting him back where he belongs."

Then, with a teasing lilt, she added, "But the way you're so concerned about him makes it easy to suspect there's something more between you two."

Mary's expression grew even uglier.

"Emerald, what nonsense are you talking about?! Darcy and I are completely innocent!" she snapped.

Emerald raised an eyebrow. "No need to get so worked up. I was just making an observation. But now that Darcy is out of the picture, you should face reality— there's no one left in the Nixons to support you.

"You can forget about your little dream of Vik taking over. The only thing you should focus on now is taking care of Edward. Once he's gone, I'll give you and Vik some money so you can leave. But if you try anything foolish again, don't blame me for what happens next."

Mary ground her teeth. "Don't get too comfortable, Emerald. Once Edward recovers, he won't let you off so easily."noveldrama

Emerald didn't seem the least bit concerned. "Well, we'll just have to wait and see if he recovers, won't we?"

With that, she turned and left, her mood much lighter.

...

By the time Emerald returned to the estate, Filipe was already waiting. "Madam, Mr. Rex is here. He's in the main hall."

Emerald nodded. "Got it."

As she stepped into the hall, she immediately noticed Cortez sitting on the sofa, his expression dark. He was clearly in a foul mood.

Emerald, however, remained composed as she took a seat across from him. "Cortez, what brings you here?"

Cortez let out a cold chuckle. "Emerald, I hope you haven't forgotten our deal. If you can't get that land back or find a suitable replacement within a month, I'm pulling my support."

Emerald's face darkened slightly.

"Cortez, you should already know that Brian went south specifically to look for

land. And because of that, he got into a car accident and lost a leg!

"Not to mention, while I was away, Darcy sent people to kidnap my daughters and tried to rally support within the Nixons to push Vik as the next heir. You knew all of this, didn't you?" she challenged.

Cortez met her sharp gaze and nodded. "I did. But what does that

have to do with me? If Brianet

gotten into a conflict with the

Bumards, that land wouldn't have been lost in the first place, and he wouldn't have had to go south."

In other words, Brian losing his leg was his own doing. It had nothing to do with anyone else.

"As for the kidnapping, that's a personal feud between you and Darcy. You should've handled it yourself. Or were you expecting me to clean up your mess?

"Emerald, don't forget-I support you, but I'm not your subordinate, and I'm not your servant," Cortez emphasized.

His icy gaze was unwavering. If Emerald thought she could use these incidents to guilt-trip him, she was sorely mistaken.

He stood and adjusted his suit. "You have two weeks, Emerald. If your answer doesn't satisfy me, I'll have no problem supporting someone else. And remember-I'm not Darcy. Don't try the same tricks on me that you used on him."

With that, he turned and walked away.

Emerald's face was dark as she watched him leave. In a flash of fury, she swiped

the teacup off the table with a loud crash.