Read Novel Full Chapter 432: Schemes
Chapter 432: Chapter 432: Schemes
Frank’s roar echoed through the corridors as he shouted Silas’s name, his voice thick with fury and humiliation. The walls seemed to tremble with it.
On the other hand, Silas walked out of the military base with an unmistakably triumphant expression, the late afternoon hot air brushing against his face as his subordinates followed closely behind him, their boots crunching softly against the gravel.
Henry couldn’t help but let out a chuckle, the sound light and almost amused.
"You really outdid yourself this time," he said, shaking his head with a grin and got inside the car.
"Frank must be so angry right now that he’s probably already offending you again in his head." He laughed more openly. "It suits him right. He dared to scheme against you and really thought he could walk away scot-free."
Unlike Henry, not everyone was so assured.
Scarlett sat in the backseat and looked at Silas, her brows knitting together.
Her voice low but tense. "You took a huge risk this time," she said. "Crossing Frank like that... what if he starts attacking the SiIvy Base directly?"
Silas laughed, the sound relaxed, almost carefree. "If Frank truly has the ability to fight against the SiIvy Base," he replied calmly, "then he’s welcome to try."
Scarlett frowned deeper, unease settling in her chest. "You’ve learned to be reckless," she said.
"Have you even considered the consequences? What if those angry crowds from the military march into the SiIvy Base, demanding justice and compensation?"
Silas’s expression softened, his tone lightening as if he were brushing away her worries.
"You don’t need to worry about that. We’ve already planted other people on the inside. They’ll make sure the rumors die down." His eyes glinted faintly.
"Soon enough, everyone will shift their focus to Frank. Something bigger is about to happen."
At his words, everyone turned to look at him. Someone couldn’t help but voice the question hanging in the air. "What’s going to happen?"
Silas smiled faintly. "Since Frank loves spreading rumors so much, there are plenty that even I can spread."
His gaze sharpened. "I was holding back before because I thought he might confront me directly. But now?" He shrugged. "Everything’s fine. I’ve arranged things so that he’ll regret ever using rumors as a weapon."
Aiden finally looked at Silas, his tone edged with restraint. "If that’s the case, you should’ve discussed this with us beforehand."
Jack shot Aiden a sideways glance. "Why are you getting so salty?" he muttered. "It’s not like Silas explains everything to us every time."
Aiden clenched his jaw, dissatisfaction leaking into his voice.
"We’re a team. Of course we don’t need to know everything in advance, but how are we supposed to support each other if we’re completely in the dark?"
Silas stared at Aiden for a long moment, understanding dawning in his eyes.
’So that’s what this is about,’ he thought. Over the past few days, Aiden had been pursuing Scarlett relentlessly, to the point where she had begun avoiding him altogether.
Aiden knew Scarlett liked Silas, and that dissatisfaction had slowly fermented into resentment. Now, he was dragging personal feelings into professional matters.
Silas gave a faint, controlled smile. "As a captain, I do have a responsibility to inform you beforehand," he said evenly.
"But sometimes, certain things are better left undisclosed. They require... dirty work."
With that, he turned away and continued walking. He didn’t say anything more to Aiden, but the tension in his shoulders made it clear that he was upset.
Aiden watched his back, jealousy twisting tightly in his chest. ’I can’t stop myself,’ he admitted bitterly.
Silas was truly lucky. The one girl he liked had accepted his devotion.
Compared to Scarlett, Ivy was objectively better in many ways.
Silas and Ivy were already married now, yet Scarlett was still hung up on him. ’Why?’ Aiden wondered darkly. ’Why can’t she look at me instead?’
Meanwhile, Scarlett watched Silas’s retreating figure, faint sorrow shimmering in her eyes.
The thought of Silas’s proposal to Ivy surfaced again, and tears welled up despite her efforts to hold them back.
’I thought Ivy would never accept him,’ she told herself bitterly. She had believed it with certainty.
She had even clung to the hope that, even if Silas and Ivy got together, it would remain hidden, something quiet and unannounced.
But reality had crushed that illusion.
They were already married. Silas had even proposed openly, in front of everyone, before Scarlett could extinguish her last fragile hope.
She had once thought that if Silas didn’t make it public, she could wait. Maybe wait for their relationship to fall apart. Maybe then, she would still have a chance.
Now she understood how foolish that hope had been.
There was no space left for her.
Tears burned at the corners of her eyes as she accepted the truth.
Twelve years of love, and it had borne no fruit. ’It’s time to let go,’ she thought painfully. ’Even if this love was never returned, clinging to it will only destroy me.’
As her thoughts drifted, memories surfaced unbidden. In the beginning, she hadn’t loved Silas at all.
Her first impression of him was that he was her enemy. More precisely, he was her rival.
They competed fiercely in academics. Whenever Silas ranked first, Scarlett was always just two or three points behind him.
She remained firmly in second place, until Aiden appeared and pushed her down to third, his intelligence rivaling Silas’s.
Back then, she had even liked Aiden, thinking it was a gentle, comforting feeling.
That illusion shattered the moment she learned he was already in a relationship. Her heart broke quietly, and the sadness was so real that even her academic performance began to decline.
She had been on the verge of spiraling when, one day, her path crossed with Silas’s.
He had looked at her calmly and said, "It’s pretty boring to see you acting so heartbroken."
His eyes had been sharp. "I thought you had a competitive spirit. But from the looks of it, you’re just another person who lets someone come between her dreams and herself."