Genius Kids' Scheme: Claiming Daddy's Billionaire Empire Chapter 276

Champagne bubbles popped in Samantha's glass as she plastered on yet another smile that didn't reach her eyes. Five days of this circus since the engagement announcement, and the fakeness of it all made her face hurt.

"Look at you, landing a Haven boy!" A woman sidled up, martini in hand, eyes already scanning the room for someone better to talk to. "And here we all had bets on how long you'd chase Adam before giving up."

Samantha's smile twitched. "Walter and I connected. Adam's in the past."

"Right, right." The woman snorted softly. "Haven is Haven, am I right? I mean, who cares which door you use as long as you get into the mansion?"

The woman drifted away, cackling with her friend, while Samantha stood frozen, grip tight on her glass.

This week had been brutal. Her phone kept blowing up with notifications from gossip sites: *Wright Girl Takes Consolation Prize?* *Adam Said No, Cousin Said Yes!* *Trophy Wife Settles for Bronze Medal.* 

The headlines stung because they hit too close to home. Walter wasn't her choice—he was her lifeboat. A rushed engagement because Adam might discover she'd tried to scare Irene out of Silver City.

Samantha knocked back her drink and retreated to a dark corner. She checked her phone for the dozenth time—still nothing from Tommy. His silence scared her more than any threat.

* * *

Kelly hurried through the Old Quarter's tight alleys, grocery bags cutting into her fingers. Each shadow made her jump. A week on the run had turned her into a nervous wreck.

"Two more blocks," she whispered to herself, picturing Emma waiting at the motel. Poor kid hadn't stopped asking for her daddy. At five, she couldn't understand why they were hiding, why they couldn't go home, why Daddy wasn't answering his phone.

The attack came out of nowhere. 

Something rough yanked over her head. Darkness. The smell of burlap.

"Help! Get off me!" Kelly's scream tore through her throat as cans and packages scattered across the pavement. Blind panic took over as hands gripped her arms, dragging her backward.

Then—chaos. The hands disappeared. She hit the ground hard, scraping her palms. Kelly tore the sack off just in time to see bodies colliding in the darkness, the dull thud of fists connecting with flesh.

She pressed herself against the brick wall, trying to disappear. When silence finally fell, footsteps approached.

A man in a suit stood over her, two others flanking him like shadows.

"Come with us." Not a request.

Kelly shook her head wildly, tears blurring her vision. "My little girl, please, she's waiting for me—"

"We know about Emma." The man—Thomas—softened his tone a fraction. "We're taking you both to Tommy."

Her head snapped up. "Tommy? Is he—"

"Your husband's alive." Thomas's face gave nothing away. "These men weren't the first sent to find you."

"Prove it." Kelly's voice cracked. "Those other men said Tommy was taken by—"

Thomas pulled out his phone, showing her a photo timestamped today. Tommy sat at a table, tired but alive.

Kelly's legs gave out. She crumpled to the ground, clutching the phone like a lifeline. "Tommy... oh god, Tommy..."

Thomas let her cry for exactly thirty seconds before checking his watch.

"Emma's alone at the motel," he said simply. "Let's not keep her waiting."

Night had fallen by the time Thomas's team brought Kelly and Emma to the secure location. The door swung open, and Tommy froze mid-pace, his world shrinking to just two faces.

"Kelly!"

His voice broke on her name as he lunged forward, guards forgotten.

"Tommy!" Kelly crashed into him, fingers digging into his back like she'd never let go. "I thought—they said—"

"Daddy!" Emma's wail cut through everything else. She latched onto his leg, face buried against his knee.

Tommy dropped to a crouch, scooping his daughter up. The solid weight of her in his arms—real, safe, here—made his chest ache. Five days of nightmares dissolved as he breathed in the strawberry shampoo smell of her hair.

"My baby girl," he whispered, voice raw. "Daddy's right here."

He locked eyes with Kelly over Emma's head, both silently asking the same question: *Are you okay?*

From the doorway, Thomas cleared his throat. One sound that sucked all the warmth from the room.

"Tommy." Not even a question, just a reminder.

Tommy held his daughter a moment longer before setting her down. He looked at his wife, at his child, then at the man who'd reunited them. The decision had already made itself.

"I'm ready," he said, straightening his shoulders. "I'll tell Haven everything."

Adam's office felt like a tomb. Tommy stood in the center, the fight drained out of him, shoulders loose like a man who'd made peace with his fate.

"It was Samantha Wright." The words fell into the silence like stones. "She hired me for the attack in M Country."

Adam's knuckles went white against his wheelchair. A muscle jumped in his jaw.

"Everything's here." Tommy pulled out his phone. "Text messages, payment receipts, voice recordings. She wasn't careful."

Thomas scrolled through the evidence, eyebrows inching up before he gave Adam a single, confirming nod.

Adam stared at a point just past Tommy's shoulder, his breathing controlled in a way that suggested he was barely containing rage. Samantha. The woman he'd allowed at his family table. The woman he'd spared in a dozen small ways because of business ties.

Adam nodded once, his expression shifting from cold rage to something more calculated. More dangerous.

Samantha Wright had made the worst mistake of her life.

* * *

The study door banged against the wall as Samantha burst in, mascara streaking down her cheeks. Her phone trembled in her hand, screen displaying the last threat she'd sent Tommy—now twenty-six hours without response.

Her father looked up from his desk, expression hardening from concern to irritation in seconds.

"They got Tommy," she said, voice cracking. "Adam's people found him."

He set his pen down with deliberate calm. "I warned you this would happen."

"Dad, you have to—"

"What, clean up another mess?" He stood, running a hand through his thinning hair. "This whole engagement to Walter was supposed to protect you from exactly this scenario."

"I didn't think—"

"That's been your problem all along," he cut her off. "You never think. Just act. And now Adam has Tommy, which means he has everything."

A folder sailed past her ear, papers scattering like confetti.

"All my careful planning!" His face flushed dark red. "The engagement was supposed to give us leverage, make Adam think twice about coming after you. But you couldn't leave well enough alone with those threatening texts, could you?"

"I was trying to keep him quiet!"

"By leaving a paper trail?" He slammed his fist on the desk. "Every message you sent is another nail in your coffin!"

She slumped against the doorframe, tears flowing freely now. "What are we going to do?"

He pinched the bridge of his nose, inhaling deeply. When he spoke again, his voice had a forced calm that scared her more than his yelling.

"The engagement party is our only hope now. Adam won't want to embarrass the Haven family by exposing you right before you join them." He grabbed his jacket. "I'll go to him. See if I can contain this."

At the door, he paused, eyes cold with disappointment. "One more screwup, Samantha, and even I can't save you."

The door clicked shut behind him.

Samantha slid down the wall to the floor, legs too weak to hold her. She'd lost Adam to Irene. A nobody doctor with three kids. And now, in trying to eliminate her rival, she might have destroyed everything her family had built.