Yours, Until Needed
Chapter 96: Creature of Habit

Chapter 96: Creature of Habit

ELIANA

All we could do was wait while someone we knew fought for her life inside that room. That did not sit well with me. Even when I could see snippets of what was happening from the mini cam we gave her, it couldn’t replicate the sheer terror she must’ve felt while she fended off that perverted bastard.

"We can’t stay here for long. We’ll wait by the hotel for reconnaissance." Lucian said as he ordered Mr. Jim to leave for now.

Our initial plan was to follow his trail to get evidence of his infidelity. We just did not count on it to end up like this.

Alexa’s gone too far.

It was one thing to bully people, but this was an actual crime very worthy of a lengthy jail sentence. But what’s even more regrettable was how she’d been using her brain for things like this instead of using it on more productive things like honestly earning a living.

Ugh, seriously.

Thankfully, we decided to follow her, as Lucian’s tails may not easily recognize a girl who hasn’t been seen in a while. They would have just thought her to be one of his typical trysts.

There were many things that could have gone wrong, but thankfully, Rina always carried her emergency ring. As a daughter and heir to pharmaceutical magnates, Rina would have access to such things. In fact, even I do. And with such a thing happening, I probably ought to carry around my emergency stash.

Untraceable and leaves a clean bill of health. It was discovered accidentally and was only produced for self-defense in extremely small quantities. In fact, none of it would ever leave our hands.

But to be on the safe side, our security team dispatched cleaners. Yes, cleaners.

Just because we haven’t needed them does not mean we did not have them. Intent on cleaning after rebellious heirs, cleaners have long existed to check surveillance cameras and DNA remnants. Though their most common task was to clean traces of alcohol and drugs.

It’s just that we weren’t the type to get into dangerous activities, nor did we fancy senseless violence. Technological advancements have made it so that people could fix surveillance issues from a distance. However, as the same technology advanced, people also developed more powerful tools to go around them.

I looked over to see Alyssa silently watching over Belle. We had all quieted down, afraid of waking up the easily spooked woman. Alyssa wanted to take out her anger on Joseph right then and there but stopped when we explained to her that it wasn’t as easy anymore. I remember her indignation at being told that the police wouldn’t be able to do much for Belle.

We weren’t kidding when we said it would end far worse if we swooped in like a couple of adventure heroes. We would be able to grab her, but she’d end up tied down by the shackles Alexa had prepared for her.

So, my idea was to replicate his typical schedule.

Joseph Roa was a creature of habit, and part of that habit was keeping tabs on the girls he slept with. Some were for blackmail, while most were probably to cater to his perverted kinks. He used the same recorder like a psychopath and checked on it in the morning. Part of the plan was to copy over the recordings while changing tonight’s footage.

Jasper wasn’t the only one who could fabricate evidence. The idiot just didn’t know what my actual body looked like, missing out on the most important similarities he could’ve used.

The guy would also wake up as if he just finished a night of gallivanting. The room would be dirtied enough for him to believe that.

Lastly, we’d send over a message to Alexa. So that when this conceited prick checks it, he’d just assume he had a night so blissful he passed out. After all, it was not uncommon for him, who regularly took Viagra, to pass out after about four hours. And even if he wanted to verify some things, the guy wouldn’t go around getting tested when his political enemies could use it against him.

Several people slept soundly that night, but some of us remained awake, compiling the little gift we intended to leave behind.

__

We could have gone back earlier, as there was no need to stay when our plan would unravel by itself once the time was right, but we stayed because of Alyssa and Belle.

The cleaners took out all the items they deemed dangerous to be left behind, like Belle’s necklace. As per their standard operating procedure, all items were to be checked for listening or recording devices.

Lo and behold, when we showed Belle the remnants of her necklace, she was so shocked she nearly fell off.

I caught her as she slid down, only for her to exclaim, "Is this how they kept on finding me?"

Belle looked at me, and all I could do was nod because I knew where and how she got this necklace. She was so happy, finally getting a gift from her mother after all those years of promises.

The girl treasured it, but I guess we should’ve gleaned something when Alexa let her have it peacefully. She never tried prying that thing out of her.

We just thought she had forgotten or found its clunky design ugly. But now, I think it was because she purposely gave this to her through her nanny, and the poor girl was so happy she never took it off.

It took a while before the cleaners handed this to us because once we found out about it, we had to let it sit there for the entire duration so that Alexa wouldn’t be alerted to her location.

We even decided to let it travel to small clinics to make it appear that she had to visit due to minor injuries. We received the deactivated original only after it had been digitally replicated.

Not like we would like her to keep it, but as someone who has experienced a similar betrayal, sometimes, seeing it is finally believing it.

Belle needed to move forward, but she could only do so by letting go of the wrong people.

"We plan on running a simulation of this tracker across your new school since they all know about your intentions to go there. But I suggest you actually attend another school."

"But how will I do that?" Belle asked, much calmer than the girl who broke down just a few moments ago.

"We’ll take care of it. With your permission, we’ll send you somewhere safe. And if you’re not happy with that, you can return once we’ve handled the whole thing properly." I consoled her because this was as much as we could do for now.

"Are you planning on catching her?" She asked, surprise tinging her sniffling face.

"Definitely, but we’ll need something very concrete to nail her. It has to be a blow big enough that there wouldn’t be any way for her to return."

Belle looked at me with her big eyes as if she were about to cry again.

"Hey! Don’t cry anymore. She’s not worth your tears. Save it for something that actually matters."