Chapter 574

Chapter 574

Harper also showed Noah the Taylor family's position on the matter.

Dennis's mother Nellie now trusted Harper, and with Dennis pushing for it too, the Taylor family would definitely side with Harper.

That was another card in their favor.

With the companies under Caden and Harper, plus Molly already tied to the Wright family, and now the Taylor family on board — they wouldn't be at a disadvantage going up against the Davis family.

Noah read through everything quietly, then said without any particular reaction, "But this only proves you can handle the Davis family. You're not seeing the real threat."

He'd taken a serious hit from Dominic before, so what he cared about now was whether Harper had any way to protect against a sudden move from Dominic down the line.

Looking at the Taylor family's contract, Noah remained noncommittal. "Dominic is the one who's really hard to deal with. You can't be shortsighted enough to focus on Arthur while ignoring Dominic — the actual threat."

Harper shook her head and laughed a little.

Looks like the Wright family really took a bad hit from Dominic this time — bad enough to make Noah this wary of him.

Then again, the fact that a family as powerful and deep-rooted as the Wrights was this worried said a lot. Dominic, as a minister, held real power. In this city, he might not be completely untouchable, but he was about as close to it as you could get. Pull one thread and everything else moves with it.

Harper nodded, acknowledging Noah's concern first. "Mr. Wright is right. Dominic is the biggest problem."

Dominic had ties to Alex, and later got tangled up with Arthur too. He was the biggest backer behind both of them. Without taking care of Dominic, they could never truly finish off Alex and Arthur — as long as Dominic was there, those two could always come back. And there'd be nothing Harper's side could do but watch.

Caden followed up, "But it's not as complicated as we think."

"What do you mean?" Lucas asked.

"Simple — if Dominic is the biggest problem, then someone out there can deal with Dominic. There's always someone above him. We just need to find whoever can keep Dominic in check."

Get a line to that person, and everything else gets a lot easier.

Lucas scoffed. "That's basically saying nothing. Everyone knows that rank beats rank, but the real question is — is there actually anyone in this city who can truly keep Dominic under control?"

"True," Harper said, thinking back. "From what I know, Dominic is still in the middle of a campaign. He clearly feels his current power isn't enough and wants to keep climbing."

If that happened, his reach would go well beyond this city, up to an even bigger stage — and even harder to handle.

As for right now...

Harper frowned, shaking her head. "Finding someone he'd actually be afraid of sounds easy but isn't, because in this city, there's almost no one who fits."

"So what I'm thinking is..." Caden hesitated, which was unusual for him.

He looked at Harper and sighed. "There's no one here, but we could look outside the city. Cross-regional influence doesn't always have a direct effect, but if the rank is high enough, it can still put some pressure on Dominic."

Harper could tell from Caden's expression that he already had someone in mind — he was just finding it hard to bring up.

She had the same person in mind, so she told him, "Go ahead and say it. As long as it's someone in our network, I'll do whatever it takes."

Caden sighed and reminded her, "Don't forget — the Cruz family runs Harbor City, and Harbor City has strong official ties to where we are. For someone high up in Harbor City, putting pressure on Dominic might not be that hard."

Harper went quiet, thinking it over.

Caden had landed on exactly the same idea.

It was still a tall order though. Their relationship with the Cruz family was just a basic business arrangement at this point. Even with Mason as a connection, she couldn't guarantee that whoever was actually running the Cruz family would do them such a big favor.

But it was the only shot they had right now.

So Harper followed the thought further. "Dominic helping Arthur and his people — that's not out of the goodness of his heart. There has to be something in it for him."

"If Dominic needs money, then the officials in Harbor City who could rein him in might need money too. We put up enough, and someone will be willing to get involved."

Money talks.

They all believed that with enough incentive on the table, the plan could work.

With a direction in mind, Harper moved fast and pulled up the Cruz family's current network.

"The only concern right now is Mason. I'm not sure how much of the Cruz family's operations he's taken over, but he's way too led by his emotions. I don't really want to use him."

Though for Mason, Harper asking a favor probably wouldn't feel like being used.

Caden pulled out his research to put her at ease. "Don't worry, I already looked into it. The Cruz family is still run by Mason's father. Mason hasn't inherited much power yet, so it won't get too complicated for us."

That settled it for Harper. "Good. That's a relief."

The last concern was gone.

Harper turned to Noah. "What are your thoughts, Mr. Wright?"

Since they'd brought up reaching out to the neighboring Harbor City and using the Wright family as a go-between, Noah had gone noticeably quiet.

Faced with Harper's question, he said with a bit of resignation, "I don't really have ties to Harbor City, and I'm not familiar with the Cruz family. This one's going to have to be on you."

Harper nodded, accepting that.

The final call was that Harper and Caden would lead on this, but since the benefits would go to both sides, the Wright family would need to pull their weight when it came time to put in money and effort.

With the plan set, Harper reached out to the Cruz family.

What she didn't expect was that even though Arthur had been completely quiet during this time — no threats, no visible moves — he'd been watching Harper's every step from the shadows.

The very next day after Harper contacted the Cruz family, Stephen passed along a message: "Someone gave Arthur a report last night. He probably already knows you reached out to the Cruz family."

Harper's brow tightened slightly.

Arthur really just wouldn't go away.

Stephen continued, "We've already figured out who leaked it — a security guard at the complex who does regular patrols. Should we take care of him now?"

"Not yet," Harper said, unbothered. "Arthur can't change anything at this point. No need to tip our hand. Let him keep thinking he's got the upper hand."