THE VALENTINE PROPOSAL

Chapter 20 Agreement

DIELLA

"Is that so?" he muttered, the edges of his lips curving into a wide smile.

There was intrigue in his eyes, just the kind of expression I needed to see on his face before I would shatter it.

"We both know you were the one who leaked that contract to the press in order to sabotage Everett, so I'm going to go ahead and lay out my offer."

I noticed as the smile on his face quickly vanished for a second before appearing again.

"Hold on, is this why you're here, to beg on behalf of a man who ditched you for someone else?" he chuckled mockingly. "You know what, I think I'll pass on whatever deal you're offering."

I clutched the glass in my hands tightly, trying to suppress my anger.

"I wonder what the press will say if they found out you were the one who leaked that document."

The smile dropped from his face, replaced by a wrinkled frown.

"What proof do you have? The press feeds on facts, not mere gossip."

"Oh, trust me, I have proof." My hand dipped into my bag to retrieve two separate files.

I gave one of them to him, patiently watching with a pleased look as he slowly opened it.

His expression shifted when he saw the contents of the paper.

Within just a few hours, I'd managed to track down the blogger he first sent the documents to and gathered enough evidence tracing it back to him.

"So what do you think? Do you think the press will buy that? Mr Ballamy stealing and leaking a young billionaire's private information to sabotage a new upcoming merger. I would love to write that story."

His jaw clenched as he tossed the papers to the floor.

"What do you want?"

That was exactly what I wanted to hear.

"I don't care how you're going to do it, but find a way to twist this story around. I don't care if you find someone to take the fall for this, and also delete every single copy of the contract on the internet."

I knew my conditions were nearly impossible to achieve, and even if he could, it would require a lot of effort and funding to get hackers with the right set of skills to completely scrub every trace of the contract from the internet, but I didn't care.

"To hell with your conditions!" he snapped. "Go ahead and release that evidence you have, I'll find a way to defend myself."

That was all I needed to hear to bring forth my second playing card.

"Catch." I threw the second file at him.

He didn't move to catch it, and it dropped at his feet. He glanced down at the file, then at me.

"And what is this now? Another blackmail attempt?"

I chuckled.

"Blackmail? Oh no, Mr Ballamy. That one right there is just karma." My face turned serious. "Pick it up."

He hesitated for some seconds before bending to pick up the file, but suddenly stopped when he noticed some photos peeking out from it.

He finally opened the file.

The colour completely drained from his face when he saw the full photos.

"How did you get this?"

Fear dripped from his voice.

"Looks familiar, right? Remember last year when your company was accused of producing toxic fumes? You did your best to cover things up, and you succeeded. No one even talked about it again, and it was like nothing happened. Well, I had someone investigate the matter last year, and what they found was shocking even for someone like me."

He began sweating the longer I spoke, his fingers trembling. But I wasn't done yet, I continued.

"Your company's activities poisoned an entire town's water system and killed people. Now, Mr Ballamy, you have two options. Let karma take its course. Let your business and everything you've worked hard to build crumble… or you can be my business partner and do exactly what I want."

At this point, he only had one single option, one single choice to make.

He rose to his feet, holding the photos tightly.

"Fine… you've got yourself a deal."

"Perfect." A slow, satisfied smile spread across my lips.

"I guess we should have a toast then," he said, raising his glass in the air. "A toast to burying secrets and a new partnership. Though I'm not sure what I really stand to gain from this deal."

"I'm keeping your secret. That's as much gain as you're going to get."

I glanced at the drink in my hands before placing the glass down.

"I don't drink, Mr Ballamy."

"Suit yourself." He gulped down his drink.

"Call me once you've done your part. I left my card with your assistant," I said as I began walking away.

"Tell me something, why are you even doing this? What do you care if he falls?"

His question made me halt mid-step.

"Because he is about to become completely mine," I responded without looking back as I resumed my stride.

I have already spoken to my father, so all that was left was Mr Ballamy's part, and then I would make Everett an offer he wouldn't dare refuse.

Everything is working out in my favour. Every single part of my plan was going through.

*****

LIORA~

I added the final finishing touch to my makeup before standing up to fully admire my dress. It was a sand-coloured, off-shoulder gown, simply beautiful.

I exhaled, trying to calm my nerves. My palms were sweaty, and for some reason my throat felt dry.

Why was I even this nervous?

It was just a date, and it wasn't like we'd be going out.

"Breathe, Liora, breathe," I muttered to myself. "It's just a simple date."

There was a knock at the door. I quickly went to answer it. I was just about to turn the knob when I noticed a note on the floor by the door.

I picked it up.

'Come to the rooftop.'

It was from Everett.