Stealing the Heart of Mr. Steele

* Chapter 127 Chapter 127

[Angelical

Seeing this whining little girl on the news broadcast makes me want to scream and break things. The way she simpers as the newscaster asks her questions is so cringe. Every part of the way she moves and the way she speaks makes me want to vomit.

Especially her face. Her cute, perky, innocent-seeming face with her honest hazel eyes and glowing blonde waves cascading to her shoulders. He couldn't even be original when seeking out my replacement. He found someone who looked exactly like me. My family home line rings. Three times and then hangs up. Two times.© 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

I'm not surprised Magnus wants to talk to me. This whole situation stinks like him.

"What kind of sick game are you playing at, Magnus?" growl as I grab the phone in the kitchen and take it out into the main gardens so that nobody would overhear us.

"Reinforcements," he replies smoothly, as if blissfully unaware of the chaos his actions created. "Sydney is the girl I found when you decided to not return. The best part is, she doesn't even know she's working for me, she thinks all of her orders are coming from her father," he chuckles. "I won't have to worry about this one running away. She's desperately in love with the target. It also helps that Mr. Bryant is easy to manipulate. He just thinks I'm a friend with connections to useful pharmaceuticals."

How long has he had this plan in place? Didn't he believe me when I told him I could get results before the New Year?

"I told you I had the situation under control," I huff, insulted by his lack of confidence. "Everyone, including Atlas, thinks I have amnesia. I'm using that to get closer to him. He feels so guilty he's willing to forgive me anything."

"Then explain why you are currently living with your mother," he demands. The phone line goes silent except for the sound of my anxious breathing as he scolds me. "Why are you there while your sister is in his house and his bed? If he is so enamored with you, why is he making out with her in broad daylight on street corners while you sit in your old childhood bedroom?"

How did he know? "Are you spying on me?"

He doesn't bother to answer.

"Think of this as a competition," I can hear the smirk in his voice. "Either you or Sydney will get me the code to the cure. I don't care which of you it is. I'm tired of waiting for results. That cure is priceless."

"I understand," I sigh, my head down. I know that the only way to get into the Steele Family vaults is by being married to the heir of the Steele family fortune. That is why Magnus bankrupted my family company and set up the arranged marriage to begin with.

All I want is to please him. He's been my mentor since he found me in College and convinced me to work with him with dreams of saving the world from disease. "They have the cure," he had told me all those years ago. "They are just too stupid to know it and too stingy to share even if they did."

And so he brought me into his plan. This dashing older man with so much worldly experience swept me off my feet. I thought I was in love.

Until I met Jude. Then I knew what real love is.

This is your last chance, Angelica," he explains. "I can't wait until Christmas. Things have become more," he pauses, "urgent. I can't wait another five years while you figure out a way back into Atlas Steele's heart."

Magnus hangs up before I have a chance to say goodbye. I don't have a chance to reply, to convince him that I will do what he says, that I will prove my value to him once again.

I need to find out who this Sydney person is. Which means I need to get closer to Atlas again.

"Mom, Dad," I call after them as I reenter the house and hang up the phone.

I find them in the living room, staring at the wall-sized TV screen. The girl looks even more like me blown up the way she is. Strange that the daughter of a rival organization would look so much like me. Magnus did an excellent job finding my replacement. Atlas Steele has a type. It's a mystery why he is even with my sister. She and I look and act nothing alike.

"What is this?" I act confused. "Who is she?"

They quickly turn off the television. "Nobody dear," my mom's face is sheet white with nerves. "Nothing for you to worry about."

"Why was she saying such horrible things about us? About Cordelia? I don't understand I..." I grab my head, bending over in pain. "Call the doctor," my father demands.

"Your son-in-law fired him!" Mom huffs. My parents fight more than kiss these days, the tension of our situation tearing at their relationship.

"Then call the new one!" he shouts back.

I fall to the ground screaming. "I need Atlas! We're supposed to be married. Why aren't we married? This doesn't make sense. Who is that girl? Why Mommy and Daddy? Why? It hurts so much. Please make it stop." Closing my eyes, I let my body grow limp.

I hear my mother making a phone call as strong hands pick me up off the ground.

"Cordelia," her voice is sharp. "You need to leave Atlas alone! Now!"