CHAPTER 214: BEFRIENDING

Anna was back on set, resuming her shoot. Despite the buzz swirling around her name, she felt strangely at ease. No one brought up her personal life; everyone was focused on their work, and that alone grounded her.

But across the room, someone was burning holes into her back with pure rage.

Fiona.

Her expression was stiff, her jaw clenched so tightly it looked painful. She had been digging nonstop ever since Venus—her manager whispered that Daniel had once come to pick Anna up and the two had left together in his car.

Since then, Fiona had tried everything—snooping through rumors, digging online, bribing people on set, and even stalking social media but she found nothing concrete. Not a single detail she could use to confirm something was happening between Anna and Daniel.

And then the internet exploded with the photos of Anna’s mysterious boyfriend, making her even more popular overnight.

Fiona’s nails dug into her palm.

How? How could this plain-faced duckling attract every man around her?

She sneered internally, watching as Anna smiled politely while speaking with a staff member, with everyone treating her far too kindly for Fiona’s liking.

Jealousy twisted in her gut like a blade.

She’s not even that pretty

, Fiona thought bitterly. So why does everyone look at her like she’s something special?

Her fury simmered, threatening to spill over the longer she watched Anna simply... shine.

But then something clicked in Fiona’s mind, and she snatched her phone for what felt like the hundredth time.

"Why isn’t he replying?" She muttered, glaring at the username DarkKnight_07.

He was online and had read her messages. And yet... nothing. Not a single reply.

His silence only made her more restless—and more curious.

Fiona might have failed to dig up solid proof about Anna and Daniel, but she hadn’t missed one important detail: the person who had once stirred chaos around Anna by boldly claiming she was taken.

DarkKnight_07. The same user the internet had convinced itself was Anna’s mysterious boyfriend. And even though the man had denied it, the rumors had never fully died.

So when getting information became increasingly difficult, Fiona went straight to the one person who seemed unusually invested in Anna’s life.

Someone who paid attention to Anna, who knew more than he should and who might slip something... if pushed right.

And yet, the moment she needed him the most, he was ignoring her.

Fiona’s jaw clenched as she stared at her phone screen, irritation simmering beneath her smile.

"Come on," she whispered sharply. "I know you know something... so why won’t you talk?"

Meanwhile, inside Daniel’s office, the man sat behind his desk, staring at his phone with an unreadable expression as he scrolled through Fiona’s messages—sent from a spare account she probably assumed was untraceable.

Unfortunately for her, Daniel Clafford didn’t do untraceable.

When he learned about Fiona’s so-called "friendship" with Anna, he had already begun digging. In minutes, he mapped out her behavior, her habits, and her online patterns. That was how he discovered this alternate account—the one she used solely to monitor gossip pages, stalk her own fame, and keep up with what her fans were saying about her.

She wasn’t just nosy; she was desperate.

Desperate to stay relevant. Desperate to pry into Anna’s life.

And now she had the nerve to message him, DarkKnight_07, asking if he could be friends with her, as she’s also a fan of Anna.

"So she wants to befriend me just so she can use Anna to her advantage?" Daniel muttered, his voice dropping into a low, dangerous growl.

The darkness in his eyes deepened—cold, lethal but then the corner of his lips lifted in a sharp, wicked curve.

He looked like the devil reincarnated. A devil with a new toy handed to him on a silver platter.

Henry, sitting across from him, felt a sudden chill race down his spine.

"Ow—" he shivered involuntarily, rubbing his arms. Whatever Daniel was planning... it wasn’t going to be pretty.

Daniel typed a short, deliberate message, something that made his smirk widen, before setting his phone aside and focusing back on Henry.

"So," he drawled, as if nothing had happened. "What were you saying about Katherine?"

Henry swallowed, instantly switching gears to the topic that actually mattered—because Daniel’s attention was razor-sharp now, and there was no room for anything less than the truth.

"I’m sorry, boss... but this is all our men could find," Henry said as he placed a folded note on Daniel’s desk. "There wasn’t much to recover from the site where the accident happened. Just this."

Daniel picked it up with two fingers, unfolding it slowly.

Henry continued, choosing his words carefully. "Someone is trying to lure Katherine using your name."

Daniel’s expression shifted—barely, but dangerously. His eyes darkened, his jaw turning sharp as stone. Any hint of emotion drained from his face, leaving only a deadpan coldness.

Henry swallowed. "Boss... we think whoever orchestrated the hit knew exactly how to manipulate her. Using your name makes it look like they know about you."

Henry was right, and the air inside the office grew heavier—thick enough to choke on.

If there was one thing Daniel Claford despised, it was being double-crossed. But what infuriated him even more was the fact that someone had used his name to lure Katherine.

Someone out there was pulling strings in the dark, someone bold enough to interfere with his plans yet careful enough to remain hidden.

His jaw tightened.

"So this is what you’ve been up to, Katherine..." Daniel murmured.

A slow smile curved across his lips, but it wasn’t one of amusement.

It was lethal.

The kind of smile that warned everyone to run. Even Henry felt the same.

His eyes burned with a rage so sharp Henry felt a shiver crawl up his spine. Sweat dotted his forehead as he watched his boss lean back, fingertips lightly drumming on the note—as if already plotting seven different ways to skin the person behind it.

Henry swallowed.

Whenever Boss wore that kind of smile... someone, somewhere, was about to regret breathing.