Chapter 79 A SOFT PLACE TO LAND
LUCIEN
"And you are telling me that you told her that your name was Timothy Verlice because...?" Theo sounded more uninterested than I would have thought him to be, which was strange.
"I did not want you to be shiced when you come home to her calling me Timothy," I replied, smacking my lips joyfully. She had been the one to pull away from the kiss, and when she walked away, even though it was quickly, I could tell she was just overwhelmed and did not mean to escape.
"And you had to call me over at work because?" He asked, taking his earlier tone, and I am confused. "I mean, you could have waited for me to get back first, he added, and I can imagine him rolling his eyes.
"I just wanted you to know," I add lowly and slowly. Why was he reacting this way? Wasn't he the one who had been pushing for us to end up together? What then was this again?
"Okay, got it," he was snappy as if something had happened. He wanted to talk, but it was almost as if he was holding himself back.
"Theo," I called, and he made a sound at the back of his throat. "Do you want to explain what is going on?" I asked, and silence filled the line.
"Cassian is bidding on the new project." His saying this was now giving light to the reason he was acting this way. It made sense for him to react that way to me calling about random facts about my day when he was out there fighting off Cassian Wolfe. "He one-upped us," he added, and it made no sense.
"But he does not do construction," I murmur, and he sighs again.
"Bought a failing construction business and pumped in money to revive it in under a week," he explains.
"How the hell did we not hear about this?" I ask, and Theo sucks air in.
"I might have heard about it and dismissed it because the company was too close to bankruptcy. I was sure there was no redemption; that was why I was so quiet about it." His explanation made his reaction pretty clear now. He was angry at himself for allowing it to slip right underneath his nose.
"But he has shown us otherwise." I pause and then continue. "Let us raise our offer."
"All he would do is raise his offer as well. I don't think we want to engage in a battle with him, and we aren't even sure if it is worth it."
"We should prove fraud in some way. Something that would make him give up."
"I have a few documents, something that is little but would do a lot of harm," he mutters.
"Do we have something bigger?"
"If we use that now, what would we use when we finally want to throw him into jail?" he asked, and I nodded. Cassian had to suffer the humiliation of the public first, and that would start by leaking little facts about him, the ones he thought no one knew about, including his family. He had been so used to tucking away information about him that this would be a blow to him.
"What are you thinking?"
"Drug use, possession and sale"
"That is a big one."
"Well, let's see how he would wiggle his way out of this with all the evidence I have on him. The best he can do is take it off the media outlets, but a few media houses would continue to push and stop just right before the start of the bid," he explained.
"What were you going to do if I did not help you?"
"Yeah, right," he responded mockingly, and I could tell that he was back to his old self. "I will get started on it, and I will see you later," he said, ready to cut off the call.
"Remember to raise the stakes so high that he would feel the impact."
"Is it finally starting?"
"Huh huh," I nod. We have been planning the perfect revenge for years now, and now that it was in motion, all I could think of was how to protect Nirelle so she did not get hurt more than she should.
“I’m happy for you, man… even if I’m about to lose my mind over Cassian.” He pauses and then adds lightly. "Have a nice day with your wife," he said and cut off the call before I could respond. I drop the phone on the table and sway around. I knew that one of these days I was going to have to come out to the public, and with the way things began to move speedily, I was sure that it would be sooner than I had planned.
"Mr. Vexley," a knock came from the door. I looked up, wondering who it could be. "Mr. Vexxley,' the sound came again when I did not respond.
"Come in," I said, and the door opened to a staff member standing by the frame. He bowed his head slightly and then looked up at me. "What is it?"
"Mrs. Vexley insisted on making lunch herself and is currently in the kitchen..." I stood up immediately. I had made sure to tell them that house chores were one thing she could never do, and yet they still allowed her to lift a finger in the kitchen.
"Why didn't you stop her?"
"She was adamant and commanded all of us to let her be, and we could..." He trailed off fearfully, and I frowned. She had the power to do whatever she wanted in the house, and yet all she wanted was to cook? I pick up my phone and slip it in my pocket before walking to the door. The staff member gave way at the door for me to go through, and I walked at a pace until I reached the kitchen.
The door is securely closed, and as I stand at the other side of the door, I can't help but think of the last time I had been here by myself. I open the door and see her walking back and forth in the kitchen with all the staff huddled up in a corner by themselves.
"What is happening here?" I asked, and everyone turned to me. They all bowed to me, and Nirelle smiled at me. I mean, if she had smiled like this at them, then maybe that was why they were all possessed and allowed this to happen.
"Don't scream at them or threaten to fire them because I forced them to allow me to do this," she said, dropping the spoon in her hand. She had an apron tied securely around her waist. "I was bored, so I came in here to keep my mind alive," she adds.
I look at the group of people who were shaking in intense fear. "You can leave," I say, and they are all already scrambling away in fear.
"I asked them for your favourite meal, but they did not know, so I made my favourite meal," she says, and I walk over to the pot to see what was inside. "One-pot rice," she said excitedly. "Do you not like it? I can make something else," she says, already scrambling to the fridge. I take her hand and spin her back to me, her body hitting my chest slightly.
"Timothy," my name rolled off her tongue gently, and she looked at me weirdly. "What are you doing?"
"Stopping you from making another meal," I say, and then shake my head. "Wait, no, kissing you," I correct myself, dropping my head until our lips meet.