Chapter 75 Chapter 75
STANLEY'S POV
She uttered it like she was asking for extra cream in her coffee. It was so effortless and smooth.
"So what's the plan?" The line hit me like a slap, unexpected and rough. I blinked. My body froze halfway through its movement, hand in mid-air as I tried to push the table a little further. I had spent the last half-hour trying to make amends for my transgressions, wearing my guilt like a crown, hoping she would see remorse shining through every word I spoke.
But this? I wasn't sure this was forgiveness. This smelt of strategy. I seethed at her. Her face was calm and vacant, but her eyes, they blazed with something else. Determination. Revenge. A craving to regain power.
"What?" I breathed, not quite certain I'd heard right.
Liana's lips formed a tiny smile, but her words sliced like glass. "You heard me, Stanley. What's the plan?"
Slowly, I lowered my hand and rested back into the booth, gazing at her face. I forgot how to breathe for a moment. There she was, the same woman who once regarded me with laughter and trust. Now she resembled a chess master. Unfazed, calculating, serene. I should have known she wouldn't come here without her own plans.
I exhaled. "You're serious."
She folded her arms. "Isn't it what you wanted? I'm making you the offer. But if we do this, you'd better have something real, Stanley. Something tangible."
I nodded, hesitantly. My voice dropped low as I went on. "Dominic saw me leave your office last week."
Her brows furrowed. "And a few days back, someone, a source I trust contacted me and said there's been a bit of spying. People making inquiries about me. About my connections and my movements and it seems to be a high profile person. That got me wonderering who would be coming for me but my instincts tell me Dominic's digging."
Her face went pale. "He thinks you're involved with me."
I nooded "And if he confirms it, Liana? It is going to be harder to achieve this."
She didn't blink. "Then we give him a diversion,we need to be sleek."
I leaned forward. "No. We build a firewall first. You remember that paper he signed? The one from your meeting with him and his lawyer in person."
She nodded smiling. "It wasn't just an agreement… It gets him implicated offshore if we present it just right. I had our lawyers go over it again. We can blackmail him with that if he does anything." His expression grew serious. "We can add that to what Serena has against him. He didn't treat her well, hit her a few times and she is also emotionally traumatised.”
I hesitated. "You seriously believe she's being honest about Elia Torres?"
Liana looked away. "I know she is, or she wouldn't have done all she did. And Dominic believed it when she said it. He hasn't made any fuss so it's definitely true. Last I heard, he's digging. That means something."
I tapped my fingers against the table. "Then this is what we do. We keep Dominic under our watch. Observe where he goes, whom he talks to just like he's doing to you. When we see him trying to destroy evidence or bribe somebody, we move. Use Serena and all we have and burn it all to the ground. But we have to make sure he makes the first move, that gives us public sympathy."
She tilted her head. "And what if he goes overboard?"
"He won't. The odds are against him, he doesn't know what we have but we know what he has. It gives us the advantage. When he tries to play martyr, we make him a villain. It is that simple."
Her jaw tightened but she said nothing. "We must be ruthless, Liana, If you're really into this."
She looked at me then, eyes glassy but hard. "He took everything from me once. I will gladly do that right back."
We sat in silence after that, our plan hanging between us like smoke.
Then I stood. "Come on. Let me walk you to your car."
Outside, it was cold. The car park was dark but not empty. I kept my hands in my pockets, I really wanted to reach out to her, hold her troubled face and reassure her that everything will be okay but I couldn't, not yet.
She reached for the door of the car went in. The engine light blinked slowly. I could hear her breathing. Still relaxed but she was obviously deep in thought.
I faced her one more time. "Liana. Seriously. Thank you. Thanks for showing up and for giving me another chance."
She didn't blink. "Who said anything about giving you a second chance?" I stiffened. She unlocked the door and looked up at me. "I just want to make sure Dominic is not in my way. That's it."
The door slammed shut, the engine road and she zoomed off into the dark. And yet, even though the taillights vanished into the night, my heart never stopped pounding.
Liana's Pov
I didn't know where the courage to say it came from. It's been simmering in me since I he made that offer but I have been too overwhelmed by anger to succumb. And now, here I was asking the one person whom I didn't want anything to do with what the plan was. Immediately I saw the shock in Stanley's face and the unmistakable warmth in his eyes, I knew it was worth it. But I wasn't at this restaurant to extend forgiveness or loiter in anger. I was there to find meaning in madness. To take control and to stop Dominic from being one step ahead. Since Stanley was his brother, he definitely had his own experiences and it could help.
Stanley surprised me not because he had an actual plan but because it was good. Too good. Trust me, if this was Dominic, there wouldn't be a concrete plan until I had agreed. He had a bit of nonchalance that wasn't too good for him.
Every word he spoke in that booth cinched tighter the knot in my stomach. People were asking questions, trailing him. It was worse than I had imagined. And if we weren't careful, rhe desperate devil would swallow up the two of us whole.
I hated that I still cared when Stanley talked. I hated that I could feel the way his eyes loosened when he talked about Cam. That I wanted to believe that he really did miss her. That I wanted to believe that he even missed me. But I was smarter now. This was not about feelings, it was about control.
Dominic had stolen mine once, and I was not going to let him take it again. Not with whatever secretive war he was waging in the darkness so I had to do whatever I could.
As Stanley walked me to the car, I felt that timeless moment that once had held so much significance.