Having spent years navigating the corrupt high society of the city, Bella still had connections in the criminal underworld. She might be broke, but she knew exactly how to manipulate desperate thugs with grand promises.
Armed with the powerful title of Mrs. Blake, she had no trouble spinning lies of future payouts, easily convincing the gullible thugs to do her bidding.
Even when rumors swirled that she was on the verge of divorce, Bella fiercely combated them. She spread a tactical lie that there was no prenup, insisting that even if a divorce happened, she was legally guaranteed half of Sebastian's multi-billion-dollar empire.
When that payday came, she promised, she would reward their loyalty immensely.
Lured by the scent of astronomical wealth, several hardened mercenaries eagerly took the bait.
Bella deployed her new muscle to track down Debbie. Given their street-level network, it didn't take long. Within hours, they discovered that a squad of private security had dragged Debbie to an abandoned, rundown property owned by the Blake family.
Bella drove her damaged Rolls-Royce to the location to scope it out. The perimeter of the dilapidated house was heavily guarded by muscular men in black suits.
She recognized several faces from Sebastian's private detail. It was definitely a Blake family operation.
Debbie was undoubtedly trapped inside.
Even now, Bella still couldn't fathom exactly why Old Mr. Blake and Sebastian harbor such violent, unyielding hatred for Debbie. But she did know one absolute truth: Debbie was a deeply vile woman with an uncontrollable gambling addiction.
Just thinking about that old hag made Bella want to grind her teeth into dust.
But she couldn't afford to abandon her completely. Regardless of Sebastian's hatred, Debbie was still his biological mother.
If Bella kept Debbie tightly leashed, she could undoubtedly use the older woman as a hostage to extort Sebastian.
Now that she had pinpointed Debbie's location, Bella felt a rare surge of calm.
Furthermore, while tracking Debbie, Bella had accidentally stumbled onto a massive clue regarding Sebastian's whereabouts.
Her informants had uncovered the fact that on the night of the disastrous wedding, an intoxicated Sebastian had been involved in a severe car crash.
A drunk driving crash? And the route was a direct line back to the main Blake Estate!

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