Chapter 166 Nathan’s underhanded games
Author’s POV
At noon, Nathan arrived at Vanessa’s hospital room carrying an expensive fruit basket.
Vanessa lay on her side, staring blankly out the window. She looked completely drained, like all the fight had left her body.
Early that morning, she’d waited until her family was asleep before taking a blade to her wrists.
Blood had soaked through the sheets. If the night nurse hadn’t found her during rounds, she wouldn’t have made it.
The incident had shattered her mother’s nerves. After stationing several guards and nurses to watch Vanessa around the clock, Luna Crane had finally gone home to rest.
"Giving up already?" Nathan’s voice was casual as he wedged his fruit basket among the mountain of gifts already crowding the room. "We’ve barely started."
His eyes swept over the other arrangements. He recognized the expensive supplements from both Aria and Damian.
"Even after all this... he didn’t come," Nathan murmured, almost to himself. He felt a flicker of genuine surprise. "Damian Blackwood really is ruthless. I’ll give him that."
Vanessa didn’t respond. Her gaze remained fixed on the window.
"Miss Crane, do you know what it takes to lose a war?" Nathan asked.
She didn’t answer, but he continued anyway.
"A war is only lost when one side surrenders. As long as you’re still fighting, you haven’t lost anything."
The words seemed to penetrate her fog. Slowly, Vanessa turned her head to look at him.
Nathan picked up a pastry from the bedside table, took a bite, then offered it to her.
"You should eat something," he said. "Your body is your weapon. If you break before the battle’s over, then it really is finished."
Vanessa stared at the pastry but didn’t take it. Nathan finished it in a few bites.
When he was done, he brushed the crumbs from his hands and stood.
"You know exactly what Damian values in Aria," he said quietly. "A fortress doesn’t fall in a day, Miss Crane. And just because he didn’t come doesn’t mean he doesn’t care."
Nathan saw the shift in her expression, the dangerous flicker of renewed hope, and knew his words had landed.
He left with a polite farewell.
After he was gone, Vanessa finally reached for one of the pastries on the table. She bit into it mechanically, chewing without tasting.
Nathan Smith had a gift for manipulation, that much was undeniable.
Vanessa had refused food all day. Her family and the doctors had tried everything, finally resorting to IV nutrition. They’d expected her to hold out for days.
But by evening, her condition had stabilized.
The next day, she was released from the hospital.
---
Vanessa posted to social media immediately after leaving. A simple message thanking everyone who’d reached out, assuring them she was safe.
The response was instant and overwhelming. Her followers flooded the comments, begging her to return to the entertainment industry.
The media firestorm that had just begun to die down roared back to life.
This time, Vanessa went live. She announced she was rebuilding her career, not in entertainment, but in investigative journalism. She’d be focusing on charity work and public interest stories.
The Riverside Pack already had connections with several major foundations.
Within hours, collaboration offers poured in. Vanessa gained hundreds of thousands of new followers overnight.
Watching the livestream from his office, Nathan smiled.
*A woman focused on her career is far more attractive than one pining after a man,* he thought. *Vanessa’s smarter than I gave her credit for.*
The suicide attempt had been brutal. But it had earned her sympathy from both Damian and the public. The returns were already showing.
Nathan picked up his phone and called Sylvia.
The man who’d attacked Aria was dead. Damian was investigating, of course.
But no matter how deep he dug, he’d never trace it back to them.
The attacker had been one of Sylvia’s old admirers, a man who’d harbored feelings for her for years. He’d also despised Vincent Smith for personal reasons.
All Nathan had to do was mention Sylvia’s troubles, and the man had acted on his own. Obsession was a powerful motivator.
Now, the Riverside Pack’s business partnerships would fall into Nathan and Sylvia’s hands. And Aria had made an enemy of one of the most influential Packs in the Kingdom.
V&A Group controlled the most of the Kingdom’s industries. On the surface, antagonizing the Cranes seemed insignificant.
But Nathan knew better.
Behind the Riverside Pack stood an entire network of charitable foundations and nonprofit organizations. The kind of power that rivaled government influence.
Sylvia’s style was direct, forceful. She preferred to take what she wanted.
Nathan was more patient. He had the kind of mind that saw every angle, every weakness. He was a hunter who waited for the perfect moment to strike.
And when it came to handling messy Pack business, his approach was far more effective.
After ending the call with Sylvia, Nathan opened his laptop and checked the encrypted email from Holt Corporation that had arrived the day before.
Since his investment, several of Holt’s struggling projects had been revived.
The company was clearly trying to curry favor. They’d offered Nathan access to their top-tier strategic initiatives, hoping to bind V&A Group even closer.
Nathan’s lips curved into a cold smile.
He skimmed the project proposal, then fired off a meeting request.
*I wonder what Aria’s expression will be,* he thought, *when she sees her ex-husband show up at V&A Group.*