Love's Redemption (Chris and Maddie) novel Chapter 823

Chapter 823 

I rolled my eyes so hard they almost got stuck. Hayden really had way too much time on his hands. Decorating an urn and stashing a data sync device in a jewelry box? Was this some kind of cosmic joke? 

Then again, maybe he’d done it to throw people off–make them think it was just a random trinket and not something insanely valuable. 

“What the hell is this?” Cole snapped, reaching for the box. 

I smacked his hand away. “Chill, Drago. What’s the rush? Don’t you afraid there’s a scorpion inside or something?” 

He gave me an annoyed side–eye. “Just open it already. Hayden’s brain must be a circus to come up with this nonsense.” 

Ignoring him, I pulled the tiny red box from its fluffy nest of white feathers. 

It was way too light. No way it held the device. 

Still, I flipped it open–and, of course, my eyes nearly popped out of my head. 

“A ring?” Cole said, his voice somewhere between disbelief and irritation. 

Yup. A diamond ring. And judging by the size of that rock, it could probably pay off a small country’s debt. 

Seriously, Hayden? Another ring? First, it was those weird high–tech matching rings, and now this bling. What was his deal? 

I reached for it, but Cole snatched it before I could, holding it up like he expected it to transform into a secret gadget or something. 

I ignored his theatrics and focused on the jewelry box itself, poking around its insides. Empty. Totally bare. 

Meanwhile, Cole was flipping the ring over, inspecting it like a jeweler on a mission. When that turned up nothing, he grabbed the box and started ripping it apart. Lining, inserts, every layer–it all got shredded. 

Nothing. 

His smirk vanished, replaced with a stormy glare. 

He wasn’t done. Grabbing the urn, he dumped its contents onto the ground, sifting through the mess with a feverish determination Still, zilch. 

Finally, with a growl, he kicked the urn toward his men. “Smash it. Now. 

He refused to give up. 

Chapter 823 

+25 BONUS 

One of the goons swung a shovel, shattering the urn into jagged shards. But even broken into pieces, it revealed no hidden compartments, no secrets. 

Cole’s fists clenched at his sides, the tension rolling off him like a storm. Months of chasing me, following leads, and this was all he had to show for it? 

I almost felt bad for him. 

Almost. 

He had no choice but to accept the truth, no matter how much it stung. 

As for me, I was reeling too. Hayden had told me the urn held the device. If it wasn’t here, where had it gone?