Chapter 1957

Fiona tilted her head, meeting Esther's eyes with a quiet, assessing look.

She was definitely checking her out, no question.

"Anything at all?" Fiona let out a soft laugh, her gaze turning a little playful, a little mysterious.

For a second, Esther was caught off guard, completely lost for words. It took her a moment to recover, and when she finally did, she nodded hard.

"Alright." Fiona motioned to the empty seat next to her. "Sit."

Esther didn't totally get what Fiona was up to, but as soon as she heard that invitation, she knew it-Fiona was on board.

"Ms. Fiona, do you have any conditions?" Esther asked, her voice barely able to hide her excitement.

Across the room, Amy watched every move between the two women, her stare never wavering. When she saw Fiona invite Esther to sit, panic shot through her. Esther had always wanted to partner with Fiona. If Fiona replaced her, Amy would have nothing left-she'd be tossed aside without a thought.

She'd worked too hard to get here. There was no way she'd let anyone, especially Fiona, take it all away.

"Ms. Fiona, what are you thinking?" Esther asked, flashing a friendly smile.

Fiona just shrugged. "Nothing much. I'm just curious-what exactly do you want to work on with me?"

Esther slipped into her business mode, smiling confidently. "Our company in Country M is about to launch some new meds-they're great for treating trauma. The problem is, we don't have much presence in the States. We need your network, Ms. Fiona, to help sell them. And of course, the profit split is negotiable."

Fiona smiled knowingly-she was a businesswoman too, and she knew a good deal when she saw one.

"Sounds interesting," she said, her lips curling into a half-smile.

She hadn't agreed outright, but to Esther, it already felt like a win.

"If you'll sign with us, Ms. Fiona, I can sort out everything with the Gregory family for you. We'll even announce publicly that you're our exclusive partner." Esther glanced at Amy, lowering her voice. "And if you want, I can make Amy disappear." Fiona narrowed her eyes, puzzled by the wording. "Disappear?"

There was a flash of panic in Esther's eyes, but she quickly covered it up. "You know what I mean, Ms. Fiona."

Fiona looked thoughtful, turning the ring on her finger. "Tempting, but that's not what I want." She turned, her voice low and steady. "I need to know-do you have Jackson's parents?"

Esther froze.

That was all the answer Fiona needed.

Things would be simple here. In the States, there were rules and red tape, but out here on this island, if you wanted someone gone, all it took was a rope and the open sea.

"So you do have them. And those old stories with the Woods family-your people from Country M were behind that too, weren't they?" Fiona leaned forward, elbows on her knees, her eyes cutting right through Esther.

"How did you know?"

Fiona didn't reply. She just looked away.

She'd known the moment she saw Josie again.

The second Josie was responsible for Jasmine's death, it all clicked. And that weird parasite Josie carried? That was just another one of Esther's failed experiments. Updates are released by find⁂novel.net