Chapter 118 The Father’s Wish #3
He was a self-made powerhouse who had returned from Australia with a dangerous agenda - determined to violently demand a seat on the Mason Industries board and challenge Justin's absolute sovereignty over the family dynasty.
Justin openly viewed him as the single most dangerous threat to their current corporate stability.
And now, Carlos was aggressively targeting Teresa Stewart.
Celina’s absolute best friend. The one person who possessed total access to her inner circle.
This couldn't possibly be a coincidence of romantic attraction. In the brutal world of billionaire empires, timing was everything.
Celina snatched her phone back up, this time dialing her husband’s direct, secure line.
"Hey, beautiful," Justin answered on the second break, his deep voice sounding slightly distracted by rustling paperwork. "I’m currently in the middle of reviewing the third-quarter compliance reports, but - "
"Carlos has officially targeted Teresa," Celina stated without a single shred of preamble, her voice tight and commanding.
An immediate, heavy silence descended over the other end of the line. The rustling of paperwork abruptly ceased. "What did you just say?" Justin’s tone instantly sharpened into its lethal, executive register.
"Carlos Mason," Celina repeated, her pacing intensifying. "He contacted the Hartley Gallery director first thing this morning and aggressively demanded Teresa’s personal contact information. He has reached out to her, Justin. He is making a direct play for my best friend."
"Why the hell would he do that?" Justin asked, a low, dangerous growl vibrating through the line.
"I don't know," Celina said, a sharp frustration bleeding into her words. "But I absolutely despise the timing of this, Justin. Teresa is my sister in everything but blood. If Carlos is attempting to manipulate her or use her proximity to me to secure leverage against you for that board seat - "
"He wouldn't stoop to utilizing a civilian as corporate leverage," Justin interrupted, though his voice lacked absolute conviction.
"Wouldn't he?" Celina challenged fiercely, her eyes narrowing as she looked out over the Manhattan skyline.
"You told me yourself that Carlos is ruthless, desperate to inherit his father's thirty-five percent voting bloc, and furious over being exiled to Australia five years ago. What if he is trying to get close to Teresa to infiltrate our inner circle and find a vulnerability?"
"Or... what if he is genuinely interested in her, Celina?" Justin suggested quietly, a strange cadence in his voice.
Celina felt her breath catch sharply in her throat. "What?"
"I saw the exact way Carlos looked at her when you introduced them at the gallery last night," Justin admitted heavily.
"There was an immediate intensity between them. A real connection. It wasn't the look of a businessman evaluating a corporate pawn, Celina. He was looking at her like a man completely transfixed."
"That makes the entire scenario ten times worse," Celina countered, her heart racing.
"If Carlos is genuinely attracted to Teresa, and Teresa allows herself to fall for him, she is going to be completely obliterated in the middle of our corporate warfare. She is innocent, Justin. I cannot, and will not, allow her to become collateral damage to your family's sins."
"What exactly do you want me to do right now?" Justin asked quietly, his protective instincts flaring for his wife.
"I don't know yet," Celina admitted, running a hand over her face to stem the rising panic.
"But we need to figure out his angle immediately. If Carlos is coordinating a meeting with Teresa today, it is for a definitive reason. And I need to know exactly what that reason is before my best friend gets hurt."
Justin was silent for a brief, calculated beat. "I'll have my security team look into his local movements. I'll see if I can uncover exactly what Carlos is planning to execute."
"Thank you," Celina whispered, her chest heaving. "Please hurry."
She terminated the call, staring down at the dark screen of her phone as a heavy sense of dread blanketed her office.
Teresa was her anchor. The fiercely loyal soul who had stood by her through every single trauma, every corporate scandal, and every late-night crisis her dynasty had inflicted upon them.
And now, entirely unaware of the danger, Teresa was about to walk straight into the center of a lethal Mason family war.
Celina closed her eyes tightly, desperately praying that whatever Carlos Mason wanted to extract from Teresa today, it wasn't the trap she feared. But deep down in her instincts, she knew the brutal truth of the elite world.
Carlos Mason never made a move without a definitive, calculated reason. And whatever he wanted from Teresa Stewart... it was poised to complicate everything they had fought to build.
The chess pieces are completely on the board now, Vanessa! The tension is dialed up to a ten. Carlos is entering the café with a business deal but a heart that is secretly waking up, while Celina is preparing to investigate him to protect Teresa.