Blackmail

After the wedding incident, Jiang Meng Meng became the hot topic of conversation in her social circle. No matter where she went, whispers followed her, and the event was always brought up with a mix of gossip and judgment. With her reputation in tatters, she found it impossible to hang out with the same crowd as before.

Nowadays, she would stay in her room scrolling through her social media feeds. She was also looking forward to seeing Lily on the headlines once her plan succeeds. 

Jiang Meng Meng scrolled through the messages on her phone with a smug smile as she imagined Lily's beaten face. She kept refreshing her messages, afraid of overlooking any updates about her plan. After all, she did instruct them to take a video of Lily's beaten figure once the job is completed.

As she waited, she kicked her legs impatiently. "For them to take this long...they better show me a good video. I wonder how Grandpa would react later when he sees this video? Maybe he would change his will and have me inherit everything. Hahahah....Lily, who told you to compete with me and take everything I ever wanted?" 

Meng Meng could almost taste her sweet victory when the alarming ringtone interrupted her thoughts. Smiling, she answered the call and asked, "Job done?"

The caller let out a scoff. "I say, this privileged princess. I'm afraid we have some bad news. Your plan backfired."

"What do you mean? Did the plan fail?! Are your men that f*cking useless they can't even handle a woman?" Meng Meng immediately sat up straight and combed through her hair. She couldn't believe his words.

"One of our men was close to completing the job, but the girls were rescued by authorities. Because of this job, we had to take care of our buddy. With this said, you better pay up the two hundred thousand dollars. If not, I think the police will receive some very crucial evidence to help resolve this case."

Her heart sank from his threat. The tone of his voice sent chills down her spine. She could barely breathe when she heard the amount he was demanding from her. "Dude, I said one hundred thousand dollars! Why is it doubled now?! This is extortion! This is blackmail!"

"Hahaha, for someone who made us sacrifice one of our best for your lame plan, you really think one hundred thousand is enough for us to even pick our teeth? A majority of that chunk will be sent to our buddy's family. After all, someone lost their husband, and some kids lost their father. It is only right to compensate. This is the rule, so suck it. I've already given you a discount on the price."

Her mind raced, panic clawing at her chest as she started pacing around the room. The small apartment walls made her feel as if the walls were closing in on her. She felt trapped, suffocated and struggled to think clearly. The voice on the call echoed in her ears, each word being a sharp reminder of how precarious her situation had become. 

"No, this can't be." She whispered to herself. Her head shook, trying to dispel these thoughts. "She can't be alive...no."

Then, she raised her head and asked. "How injured is she? Did she become a cripple? You at least broke her limbs and tossed her into the trash right? Or did you guys bang her head to the wall so her brain is damaged enough to not run the company?!"

"Oh, our poor privileged princess. When I told you our plan failed, obviously it meant that she was saved before much harm could've been done to her. You can check on her condition yourself. It was her friend who was severely injured by my men."

She chewed her bottom lip when she processed his words. "Hah.. Hahaha.. You guys dare to still ask me for money when you haven't completed even one percent of the job I ask you to do?! How dare you have the audacity to make such a demanding request for two hundred thousand dollars when you failed miserably at even ripping out her hair?!" 

Hatred flooded her eyes when she thought of how fortunate Lily had always been compared to herself. 'Why is she always this damn lucky?! Why is she always getting away unscathed while I have to lose what I have?'

"I don't have the time to waste on you. Bring the cash or be prepared to have authorities banging on your door to arrest you. Choose wisely." He clicked his tongue. His patience was tossed out the window after she started panicking from his words. He thought she would be more rational, but he was wrong. 

She gritted her teeth and replied before he hung up the call. "Fine. Two hundred thousand? I'll give you what you want, so you better have the evidence and show it to me. If I don't see what I want, then forget about the money. I will turn all of us in!" 

"Alright, then let's meet up. I'm not a patient man, so you have two days to gather the cash. I'm quite generous to even give you time to get the cash. For the Jiang family, two hundred thousand dollars is like using a box of tissues. Easy." 

After the call ended, Meng Meng continued pacing around her room. She chewed her nails as she thought about the huge sum of money she had to collect in two days. 

As she walked back and forth, she heard noises from a nearby construction site. The loudness disrupted her thoughts, annoying her greatly. It was at this moment that she paused and held back the words she wanted to lash out. 

'Wait'

'Dad was part of one of the construction site projects for Grandpa a few months ago. The project is on pause and never continued after that. Grandpa gave him a credit card for purchasing materials...'

With this thought in mind, she quickly ran out of her room and started rummaging through her parent's room. Finally, under a stack of neatly folded clothes, she found the credit card she was looking for. 

'I found it!'