She Used Me for a Dare… Now I Own Her Mother - Chapter 201

Chapter 201: The Undercover
“Ngh— ”

Alex rolled his shoulders back, the movement accompanied by a soft crack of tension releasing from muscles held too still for too long.

He stretched his arms overhead, fingers interlacing as he arched slightly, feeling his spine realign with a series of small pops that would have been satisfying under different circumstances.

Instead, they just reminded him how long he’d been standing here.

Almost an hour.

His arms dropped back to his sides, and he couldn’t help the small exhale of frustration that escaped.

Nobody’s coming.

The thought settled with uncomfortable weight.

Had they forgotten about him? Left him standing in this parking area while Catherine and Victoria discussed… what? Politics? Security protocols? Whether allowing an unknown Enhanced into Catherine’s private office was worth the risk?

Or worse… had Victoria forgotten about him entirely?

Alex’s jaw tightened at the possibility.

No.

He dismissed it immediately.

Victoria wouldn’t do that. Wouldn’t bring him all the way here, position everything so carefully, invest so much in this meeting just to abandon him without explanation.

Her words surfaced in his memory, clear and certain:

“I’ll do my best. You just have to be bold when the time comes. Don’t hesitate.”

Alex’s expression softened slightly.

Right.

Victoria was inside working on their plan. Setting the stage. Making sure everything aligned perfectly for when Alex finally met Catherine face-to-face.

That’s what was taking so long.

Not abandonment. Not failure.

Preparation.

‘I can do this much,’ Alex thought, forcing his shoulders to relax. ‘Wait. Be patient. Trust that she’s handling her part.’

His mind drifted… almost unconsciously… to the woman he was here to meet.

Catherine Blackwood.

Future Head of House Blackwood, if succession politics broke her way.

Brilliant, strategic, politically sophisticated beyond her years.

And according to Victoria… gorgeous.

“No less beautiful than me,” Victoria had said with that particular smile that suggested she knew exactly how distracting that information would be.

Alex’s lips curved fractionally.

He’d never seen Catherine Blackwood in person.

Well… not properly.

Alex’s jaw tightened as the memory surfaced, sharp and vivid despite his best efforts to suppress it.

The bathroom.

Victoria pressed against him, her breath coming in soft gasps as his hands…

Then the soft click of her heels echoed.

Catherine Blackwood walking in without warning, and Alex had frozen in that single terrible moment of absolute panic.

The thrill of it… adrenaline spiking so hard his Enhanced perception had sharpened to painful clarity.

The fear of getting caught… genuine, visceral terror that everything he’d built with Victoria would detonate right there in a bathroom at a political function.

He still remembered every detail with uncomfortable precision.

The way Catherine’s footsteps had paused… just for a heartbeat… before continuing as if nothing were unusual.

Had she known?

Alex still wasn’t sure.

But there had been something in that pause.

Some quality to the silence that suggested awareness.

Suspicion, at minimum.

Which meant this meeting… if it actually happened… would carry weight beyond simple political introduction.

The thought was barely formed when movement caught his attention.

Alex’s Enhanced perception sharpened immediately, focus snapping toward the main entrance where two figures had just emerged.

Two people walking together… one man, one woman… moving with coordinated precision that suggested professional partnership.

The woman was striking. Dark hair pulled back, posture that managed both elegance and readiness, features that would make most men look twice.

Beautiful, undeniably.

The man beside her was built like a fortress… broad shoulders, solid stance, the kind of physical presence that announced capability without needing to demonstrate it.

And behind them, walking with posture that somehow managed to convey superiority despite technically following the other two…

Adrian Blackwell.

What the fuck is he up to now?

The thought formed with genuine bewilderment.

Adrian moved like he owned the entire manor grounds. Not professional security… more like… royalty conducting an inspection.

His shoulders were set. His chin lifted. Every step deliberate and weighted with self-importance.

‘Look at him. Like he’s here to show authority or something.’

Alex couldn’t help it… a quiet laugh escaped.

‘Too insecure.’

The display was almost embarrassing. Peak Enhanced prowess wrapped in such obvious need to demonstrate dominance that it undermined the very authority Adrian was trying to project.

But Alex dismissed him from his thoughts, focusing instead on the two people ahead of him.

They moved with different energy. Professional. Controlled. Actually confident rather than performing confidence.

They look like the other two bodyguards.

Alex’s memory supplied names from Viktor’s briefing.

Seraphine Vale. Lucan Graves.

Both Peak Enhanced, according to intelligence reports. Catherine’s personal security detail alongside Adrian, forming a three-person protective unit at the highest cultivation realm.

Alex’s Enhanced perception engaged automatically, scanning the man first.

[Analysis: Lucan Graves – Peak Enhanced Realm]

Exactly as reported.

Powerful. Experienced. Dangerous in any confrontation.

Alex’s attention shifted to the woman.

[Scanning…]

[Analysis: Seraphine Vale – Early Stage Apex Realm]

Alex froze.

His breath caught for just a fraction of a second before training reasserted control over his expression.

Early Apex.

Not Peak Enhanced.

Apex.

His mind raced, recalculating everything with mechanical speed.

The intelligence briefing had listed her as Late Enhanced, possibly approaching Peak but not confirmed.

There was a problem with the report.

The realization settled like ice in his chest.

Viktor’s team… fifteen years of experience, comprehensive intelligence gathering, resources that bordered on absurd… had missed an entire realm’s difference.

Which meant either their sources were compromised, or…

Or she’s hiding it.

Alex’s eyes narrowed fractionally, studying Seraphine Vale with renewed intensity.

She moved with the same professional competence as Lucan. Same coordinated awareness. Same tactical positioning.

Nothing in her demeanor suggested she was operating at a fundamentally different power level than her companion.

Why is she following Adrian?

The question formed with genuine confusion.

The briefing had identified Adrian Blackwell as the security captain. The leader of Catherine’s protective detail. The one who made tactical decisions and commanded the other guards.

But if Seraphine was Early Apex…

She outranked everyone. By a margin so significant it wasn’t even comparable.

Peak Enhanced to Apex wasn’t just a step up. It was a different category of existence entirely.

So why was she positioned behind Adrian? Why was an Apex-realm practitioner playing subordinate to Peak Enhanced guards?

Is she undercover?

The possibility sent Alex’s tactical calculations into overdrive.

Do they not know about her realm? Is Catherine aware she has an Apex practitioner on her security detail? Or is Seraphine hiding her capabilities deliberately?

Too many unknowns.

Too many variables that didn’t match the intelligence he’d walked in with.

Alex’s expression remained carefully neutral, but his mind churned with implications.

An Apex practitioner at Thornhaven Manor changed everything.

Not just the tactical assessment of what confrontation would look like… though that was terrifying enough.

But the political implications. The strategic weight. The sheer power differential between what Alex had prepared for and what actually existed behind these walls.

And if Viktor’s team missed this…

What else had they missed?

What other assumptions was Alex operating under that might be completely wrong?

His eyes tracked the three figures as they moved across the grounds, Adrian still projecting that insufferable superiority, Lucan maintaining professional alertness, and Seraphine…

Seraphine moved like someone who had nothing to prove because she was so far beyond needing to prove anything that the concept itself was irrelevant.

Alex forced his breathing to remain steady.

Calm. Process. Adapt.

The situation was more complicated than anticipated.

The power structure more dangerous.

The intelligence less reliable.

But he was here. Committed. With too much invested to back out now.

Adrian’s boots crunched against gravel as he approached, each step deliberate, weighted with intention that made Alex’s Enhanced perception sharpen involuntarily.

He stopped perhaps six feet away… close enough to establish dominance, far enough to maintain plausible professionalism.

His expression held something that might have been amusement if it weren’t wrapped in such obvious contempt.

“Well, well,” Adrian said, voice carrying that particular tone people used when they believed they’d already won. “Still here, I see.”

Alex’s eyes shifted from Seraphine to the man in front of him, expression neutral.

“Was there somewhere else I should be?”

Adrian’s smile widened fractionally.

“Most people would have left by now. An hour’s a long time to stand in a parking lot like some…” He paused, as if considering the perfect word. “…delivery boy waiting for instruction.”

The mockery was deliberate. Calculated.

Alex remained silent, watching Adrian with the kind of patience usually reserved for observing insects.

“But not you,” Adrian continued, circling slightly… not threatening, just… establishing territory. “You stayed exactly where you were told. Good boy.”

Good boy.

The words hung in the air like a bad smell.

Alex’s lips didn’t move, but something in his eyes shifted… amusement, maybe, or the kind of pity reserved for people who didn’t realize how badly they were embarrassing themselves.

“Obedient,” Adrian added, warming to his theme. “I appreciate that in people who understand their place. Makes security so much simpler when visitors know to wait until they’re actually wanted.”