Chapter 35 Chapter 35
Liana's Pov
I was finishing breakfast when the phone rang. Only a few people called my work number, and none would try calling before 8 a.m. unless there was an emergency so this made me a bit fidgety but on getting to the phone, the caller was nobody I would have guessed right.
Dominic.
His name flashed across the screen like a curse. The acid slid up the back of my throat, and I reached for it, my pulse was steady. If he was on the phone this early, then the drama had gotten to him. Good.
"What in the name of God do you think you're doing, Liana?" His voice was rough with rage the moment I picked. I leaned back in my chair, smoothing an imaginary crease of lint from my sleeve. "Good morning to you too, Dominic."
"Don't play games with me. You put out the prenup? The company deals, the transactions… everything. Are you insane? Are you out of your goddamn mind?"
I smiled with ice. "No, Dominic. For the first time in three years, I'm absolutely sane. And I didn't put up the company's transactions, I put up your transactions. And this? This is only the beginning."
There was an extended silence on the phone. I could almost hear his breathing seething through his teeth. "You think this is a game?" he growled. "Before it gets out of hand Liana, I'm giving you the choice to back away."
I rose from my seat, walking towards the window, watching the city stir in golden light. "Back away? No. I've kept my silence for three years. You can't silence me anymore."
"Do your worst then," he sneered. "But I need you to understand this, you're opening a door you can't close."
I turned around, eyes drawing in close. "Do your worst too, Dominic. I have all I need to bring you down. Documents, witnesses, timelines—you thought you could erase my name from your business dealings and life and in so doing, erase my power? No. It just made me patient."
He laughed, a bitter, dark sound. "How far can you get, Liana? You really think it's over with some sensational headlines and court appearances? You're going to lose it all, just watch and see"
I balled my hands into fists around the phone. He had done the one thing he should have avoided. "Threaten me once more, and I will bury you so deep your lawyers won't have the daylight to find you. This isn't revenge anymore. This is justice. I will watch you crawl on your knees, begging for mercy the same way I did. I will pull you down from your high horse and roll you in the mud. Only then will I know peace."
"You will do no such thing. You think you'll win, but you have secrets too. I'll find your weakness, and when I do…"
I hung up. No more of his poison, I wasn't interested in his bullshit.
Just as I turned away, the phone rang again. That basted, didn't he get it? Picking the phone with all the anger in me, I blurted out the venom. "Dominic, don't you fuckin' call me again! If you even think about it, I swear on my life I'll pull out every last skeleton from your closet. If you even breathe in my direction—"
"Liana."
The voice wasn't Dominic's. It was softer, calmer. And I froze.
I blinked and looked down at the screen. Stanley.
"Oh my God," I sighed. "Stanley, I… I'm so sorry. I was thinking of someone else."
A low laugh escaped him. "I guessed. You're okay, though? You sound like a hungry lioness. "
I covered my forehead with a hand. "Yeah…I'm fine. It's just been a crazy morning."
"I've been catching up on the news," he said softly. "All of it. I just wanted to call and see how you're doing. Make sure you're okay…"
My heart hardened further. Of all the people I had wanted to hear from today, Stanley wasn't on the list. But his voice somehow grounded me in a place I hadn't been in days.
"Thank you," I replied, sincerely. "That means a lot."
A moment of silence hung between us. I had nothing to say, considering how I left him hanging on the night of.the gala.
"Uhmm…I know I am probably saying this at the wrong time," I began, "but… I should have acted better the last time we were together. You've been nothing but sweet to me but I should have done better."
"No," he interrupted gently. "You don't owe it to me. That was the wrong time to make a move so I was in the wrong too."
Silence hung again. Not strained, but uncertain.
"Are you free tomorrow evening?" he finally asked.
I blinked. "Tomorrow?"
"Dinner," he said. "A quiet one. Maybe a little wine too. You could use a bit of that I guess."
I hesitated, but another part of me longed for normalcy. For human connection. For someone who did not see me as a threat or a game piece.
"Sure," I said before I could stop myself. "What time?"
"I'll pick you up at seven."
A slow smile spread over my lips. "Okay. I'll be ready." We bid our goodbyes and hung up, and I lingered there a bit longer, phone still clutched in my hand, heart somehow unencumbered.
Facing toward the kitchen, Camellia poked her head around the corner. "Mommy, who was that?"
I ruffled her curls. "An old friend, baby."
Tomorrow, I would do something else that was out of my style. But not war, or schemes this time. Just dinner, with someone. I don't particularly like.
And surprisingly, I was actually anticipating it.