The Queen || ✔

Chapter 39: Willingly Blackmailed

Charles

"Are you alone?" I asked her, hearing through the phone how nervous she was.

She must've realised who it was from my voice because in an instant, she started panting. She wasn't alone, though no-one was speaking, I could hear more than one breath rushing out of someone's lungs. "I want to speak to you only, it's important. Make sure you're alone." I said the last part as a threat, wanting her to understand how serious I was.

Immediately after speaking, I heard footsteps scurrying and the door closing. She inhaled in deeply and exhaled finally, wasting my time, and spoke up.

"How are you calling me? M-Ma dis-disconnected all of our phones." She stated the obvious. Honestly, how slow were people these days?

"I also don't know how I did. I guess it's magic." I said, dripping with sarcasm, not wanting to waste my time explaining to her since that was not why I called. "Don't ask me questions. That's not why I called."

"Why did you call?" She asked with a firmer tone. She had finally pulled herself together which happened faster than I expected.

"I want you to come to me." I smirked.

"What?" She sounded utterly confused.

"I. Want. You. To. Come. To. Me." I spelt out in frustration.

This girl was wasting my time. I didn't have the time nor the patience to have to spell things out for her. She had to learn to follow where my words were leading, that way we would be at a great understanding with each other. She wasn't making anything easier for me. How the hell did she expect to make it into Harvard with her short level of understanding?

"Why? What do you want with me?"

Now we were back on track. I just had to lure her in slowly but surely, and soon I would have what I want.

"Have you ever heard of the Criminal Organisation Prosecutors? Kind of like the FBI, but they specialise in busting large criminal empires, like the one your mother is in, and sending them straight to court. They also act as bounty hunters when the members of these organisations try to escape. I have to admit that their line of work is quite exciting."

"No. I've never heard of them. And even if I have, what do they have to do with me?"

"Not you my dear, Queen Claudia King. She's a criminal and the C.O.P. bust criminals. And now, they want to bust your mother. They seem to have taken a very strong liking towards her, she's very well-known, you know?"

"I don't understand. What do they want from my mother? They probably don't even have proof of anything."

"In Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, there is a certain man named Julio Jesús. That man is unfortunately an assassin. He wants to kill the deputy president of Brazil, who is also part of the empire your mother has a hand in, and unfortunately the deputy president is the esteemed treasury of that empire. All the money that goes in and all the money that goes out is guarded by him."

"What..."

"You aren't following, are you?" I rubbed my temples in frustration. "What happens after someone dies? Police check the scene of the crime. And at the scene of the crime will be..."

"... accounting books..."

"... correct. Books of the government's expenditure, books of his public and private expenditure and secret books of a secret organisation run by the highest ranked people in the world which consists of ten countries in total. USA of course has two members, since we are such a big country. It's the president's secretary and..."

"... my mother." She whispered in shock. I had her just where I wanted her.

"Good girl. Now my friend JJ doesn't like to wait, that's why we get along so well. He likes killing, just like your mother..." I waited for a reaction, but she was gripping herself tightly I presumed. The princess didn't like it when people insulted the Queen. "... and well he told me that I have thirty minutes to give him orders or else he will just do as he pleases. I don't want to hurt anyone, believe me. But once time is over, I will have no say in what happens next."

"You want to kidnap me by luring me to come to you." She said, teasing my ego. I loved how she realised how my plan was going. It wasn't going to be a secret anyway, Hera was technically an adult. She could whatever the hell she wanted.

"Precisely. Oh... and you know the drill, tell anyone and more than one person gets hurt. If you think about it clearly, more than ten lives are at risk. All those lives are in your hands so... tick tock."

I almost brought the phone from my ear when I heard her exclaim for me to wait. I snarled. I didn't have time for any 'waits', I had things to do and people to take my revenge on.

"What?" I snarled in annoyance.

"You're also part of the empire. You introduced Ma to it. You will also be incriminated. Why put yourself at risk like that?" She really was smart. I saw no reason in hiding the truth from her, she wouldn't dare to tell anyone.

"Because only putting one parent at risk is dangerous enough for you. But two parents... that's going to make sure that you dance only to my tunes. Not to mention how I could easily worm myself out of the mess if it blows up back in my face. I'll have more time to prepare myself whilst your mother has time to prepare for a life sentence. She has done some serious criminal offences you know, she's no better than Pablo Escobar, if not worse. At least Pablo had a heart."

"My mother has a heart!" She bursted out of nowhere, pleasuring me immensely. I laughed at how pathetic she sounded, Ma's little bodyguard.

"Your mother's heart is no bigger than a speck of rice. I should know, she has been capable of pointing her gun at me, her husband, for more than a million times. She's supposed to love me."

"You have done nothing but hurt her, Daddy, and you know it! You hurt her to the point where she can't ever be happy again. She's a shell of her former self because of you! But she still has a heart, and a big one at that. She loves her family, a member of which you could've been apart of, but you don't deserve it, and you know it." The last part made me flinch at how senile it sounded.

All of the anger she was feeling sounded like it had a pang of hatred in it. Hatred which was planted only by Queen Claudia King herself. She was always accusing me of vilifying her when in fact she was making my children hate me. It wasn't fair.

"All of this is your mother's fault and you know it!" I lost my calmness for a minute but I quickly held myself back together. "Hera, your time is running out."

"You're blackmailing me." She said in a whisper. She sounded emotionless, for an emotional person. I couldn't have cared less even if I tried.

"I know. And I'm not sorry."

I hung up, breathing in heavily from the heated conversation I just had with my daughter.