Reborn Heiress Is Remarrying
Chapter 71: The Trap Is Set

Chapter 71: The Trap Is Set

Chapter 71: The Trap Is Set

When Diane woke up the next morning, the discomfort in her aching back and between her legs made her grit her teeth a little.

"Why am I like this...?" She muttered to herself while looking in the mirror.

She needed to go to the office, but felt too tired to be walking now.

"I guess, I could take today off?" Diane mumbled again.

The freshly brewed coffee suppressed the air, but Diane barely noticed.

She was by the counter, fingers gripped her mug a little too tightly, her eyes somehow weirdly fixed on the steaming liquid inside.

She could feel Gabriel near her before he even spoke.

"You’re unusually quiet," he mused, pouring himself a cup of coffee.

He leaned against the counter, watching her with a smile.

Diane didn’t look at him. "I’m always quiet in the morning."

Gabriel chuckled. "No, you’re grumpy in the morning. This is different."

’Damn him.’

She kept her focus on her mug. "There’s a camping event coming up."

Gabriel raised an eyebrow. "Camping?"

"Yes."

He sipped his coffee, waiting for her. "And you’re telling me this because...?"

Diane exhaled, still avoiding eye contact. "Because I need you to come with me."

That caught his interest.

He set his cup down. "Why the sudden interest in bonding with nature?"

"It’s something my father does often," she admitted, shifting slightly.

"It’s an annual thing. Everyone expects me to be there, and considering our situation—" She hesitated before finally glancing at him. "You need to be there, too."

Gabriel smirked. "Ah. So this is a performance."

Diane clenched her jaw. "More or less."

He looked at her for a long moment, then shrugged. "Alright. I’ll go."

Just like that. No teasing, no negotiating. Diane blinked, caught off guard by how easy that was.

Gabriel smirked at her confused face. "Surprised?"

She quickly schooled her features. "Not really."

"Liar."

She turned back to the counter, picking up her coffee again, but before she could take a sip—

Gabriel moved.

One moment he was standing by the counter, the next he was right in front of her.

Before she could react, he tilted her chin up and pressed a slow, gentle kiss against her lips.

Diane froze.

It wasn’t rough or possessive like last night—it was softer, teasing, like he was savoring her shock.

By the time her brain caught up, Gabriel was already stepping back, his smirk returned to usual.

"See you later, wife."

And just like that, he was gone, leaving her standing in the kitchen, heart pounding, coffee forgotten.

Diane swore under her breath.

She was so screwed.

Across the city, Evelyn tapped her nails against the edge of a table, her glare was as sharp as she looked at the map laid out before her.

Beside her, Adrian leaned back in his chair, arms crossed.

"We need to hit them soon," Evelyn murmured, dragging a finger along the map. "Diane and Gabriel have more money than they know what to do with. And I want it."

Adrian raised an eyebrow. "You’re awfully ambitious."

Evelyn smirked. "I’m realistic. And I know how to take what I want."

Adrian exhaled, studying her. "You do realize who you’re messing with, right? Gabriel isn’t an idiot. And Diane—"

"Is predictable," Evelyn interrupted. "She acts tough, but she still follows a routine. She’s easy to manipulate."

Adrian frowned. "I wouldn’t underestimate her."

Evelyn leaned in, smoothening her voice. "Oh, I’m counting on her to fight back. That makes it fun."

Adrian sighed. "And the plan?"

"We wait for the camping trip. While they’re distracted, we make our move. Clean. Quick. And before they even realise what happened, we’ll be long gone."

Adrian hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Fine. But if this goes wrong—"

"It won’t," Evelyn cut in smoothly. "Now, let’s get to work."

Evelyn leaned back in her chair, tapping a pen against her lower lip as she thought. Adrian was watching her carefully, waiting.

"We’re not just stealing from them," she finally said in a measured tone. "We’re going to make it personal."

Adrian frowned. "How personal?"

She smirked. "We’re going to kidnap Diane."

Adrian let out a sharp breath. "That’s risky. Gabriel won’t just let that slide."

"That’s the point," Evelyn said simply.

She reached for a folder on the table, pulling out several photographs—Diane’s usual haunts, her house, security footage from places she frequented.

"She’s always surrounded by people. Gabriel, Leom, that pain-in-the-ass Riot. But during the camping trip, she’s going to be vulnerable. No security, no walls, no cameras."

Adrian’s brow furrowed.

"Even so, you’re assuming we can just snatch her and run. She’s not exactly helpless, Eve. You saw what happened last time someone underestimated her."

Evelyn smirked. "Which is why we do this smart. We don’t go in guns blazing. We wait. We let her guard down."

She pointed to a spot on the map—an isolated area deep in the forest.

"The campgrounds are here. But this area—" she dragged her finger over a narrow, winding trail leading away from the main site "—this is where we make our move. Diane is her father’s daughter. She won’t just sit around roasting marshmallows. At some point, she’ll wander off. Maybe to check the perimeter, maybe for some air. That’s when we strike."

Adrian glanced at the map, his jaw tightening. "And once we have her?"

Evelyn’s eyes gleamed. "We make Gabriel pay."

She flipped open another file—bank statements, assets, financial records connected to Gabriel and Diane.

"Gabriel has offshore accounts, properties under fake names. He’s careful, but not careful enough. If we make the ransom high enough, he’ll have no choice but to pay."

"And you think he’ll just hand over the money?"

Evelyn let out a low laugh.

"Oh, he won’t want to. He’ll play games. He’ll try to be clever. But at the end of the day, Gabriel would burn the world down for Diane. We’re going to exploit that."

Adrian exhaled. "And if he comes after us?"

Evelyn shrugged. "Then we disappear before he gets the chance."

Adrian crossed his arms. "What about Diane? We can’t keep her forever."

Evelyn’s smile turned strict again.

"No, but we can make her suffer just long enough for Gabriel to give us exactly what we want."

Adrian looked at her, something flashed in his eyes.

"You really hate her, don’t you?"

"Let’s just say I enjoy making her life difficult."

Adrian didn’t respond right away.

He had known Evelyn now long enough to understand that there was more to her obsession with Diane than money.

There was something personal, something deeper. But he wasn’t foolish enough to press.

Instead, he sighed and picked up the map again.

"Fine. Let’s say we pull this off. How do we get her out without raising alarms?"

Evelyn tapped the map again.

"We’ll have a van parked about a mile from the site. Tranquilizers if necessary, but I doubt we’ll need them. Once we have her, we drive straight to the safe house."

Adrian frowned. "Safe house?"

Evelyn reached into another folder, pulling out a grainy picture of an abandoned cabin, hidden deep in the woods.

"This place. No one goes near it anymore. It’s isolated, no cell service. The perfect spot to keep her while we negotiate."

Adrian looked at the image, then back at her. "And what if Gabriel does track us down?"

Evelyn’s smirk was cold. "Then we make sure he regrets it."

Adrian stared at her for a long moment, then finally nodded. "Alright. Let’s do it."

Evelyn’s grin widened. There was something strange about it that Gabriel couldn’t quite understand yet.

Evelyn seemed smarter than Diane or Richard.

The plan was airtight, but something about it still nagged at him.

"This safe house," he said, tapping the picture of the abandoned cabin. "Are you sure no one knows about it?"

Evelyn rolled her eyes. "It’s been empty for years. The last owner disappeared under mysterious circumstances." She smirked. "People don’t go looking for answers in places like that."

Adrian grunted. "Fine. But I need backup. Someone to help with transport."

"I already have someone in mind." Evelyn leaned back, crossing her arms. "A contact in the city. He’s good at making people disappear."

Adrian frowned. "I don’t like working with unknowns."

Evelyn smirked. "You don’t have to like it. You just have to trust me."

He didn’t, not fully, but he knew better than to argue now.

Evelyn checked her watch. "We move in two days. Diane won’t be prepared."

Adrian nodded, but a part of him still felt weird.

Gabriel wasn’t the type to let something like this slide. If they miscalculated—if anything went wrong—this wouldn’t just be about money anymore.

It would be war.

Just then, Evelyn’s phone rang. She picked it up, glancing at the screen.

A single message flashed across it:

"We have a problem. Gabriel knows."

Her smirk vanished.

Adrian tensed. "What is it?"

Evelyn clenched her jaw. "We might need to move faster."

The trap was set—but had they just walked into one themselves?