The CEO's Secret Baby

CHAPTER 8

After Ava was gone, the silence was smothering. Emily turned to Daniel, searching his face for some semblance of consolation, but his jaw was clenched, his eyes far away.

You okay? Emily asked softly.

Daniel didn't respond for a moment. He paced the office, his every step riddled with tension. "She's not bluffing," he said almost to himself.

Emily frowned. "You said she wouldn't follow through. She may be stopped by you.

"I thought myself able." He passed a hand over his face and halted, looking out the window. She is more desperate than I had realised, however.

Emily approached him, gently stroking his arm. "What are we supposed to do now?

His phone rang on the desk, breaking the silence before Daniel could answer. He glared at the TV and his face clouded.

"What is it?"?. Emily asked with her heart skipping a beat.

As Daniel read the message, his face turned icy. "From my lawyer here comes. Ava has begun already. She has released something-not something big but enough to create hype.

Emily started feeling her stomach plummet. "How bad?

"Just a hint of financial problems," Daniel gritted out. "She's playing this smart, giving the press enough to get them sniffing out the story but not so much that it burns me completely. Not yet.

All this weighed on Emily's conscience. Ava was jeopardizing everything and not just acting out of personal grudges-the company, their future-everything around.

"She's trying to wear us down," Emily said. She'll just keep pushing little by little until we are too tired to fight anymore.

Daniel's eyes suddenly brightened up in irritation. She wants me to start sweating and force me to buckle before she lets the whole storm blow.

There was a sudden knock at the office door. Emily and Daniel looked at each other. Neither of them was anyone they were expecting.

Daniel called, his voice cautioning, "Come in."

Emily was shocked when the door opened and a guy she had not seen in years entered.

"Liam?" Emily spoke a little above a whisper. She had not even known he was back in the nation, much less that he would show up here.

Liam stood there, as effortlessly handsome as she remembered, yet with more restraint now; his black hair was trimmed and the crisp suit fitted him to perfection. He sucked the air out of the room just by being there.

He greeted Emily in a voice low in timber before his eyes came to rest on Daniel. And Daniel. Long long absence.

Daniel tensed, narrowing his eyes. "What are you, Liam, doing here?"

Emily's mind was racing. Liam and Daniel had a past coloured by bitter feelings. Before their split became caustic, they were business partners. Liam had seemingly vanished into thin air, leaving Daniel to pick up the pieces of a disastrous deal that almost ruined him in every way.

"I heard you were in some kind of trouble," Liam said, stepping further into the room. "Thought I would come to check whether you needed assistance."

Daniel's face darkened. Said, "We don't need your help".

Liam raised an eyebrow and swivelled briefly to Emily, his eyes resting on her. Really? As far as I can gather, Ava finds you under very circumscribed conditions. Financial scandals, ancient bones in the closet—things you go to a lot of trouble to conceal.

Emily's chest seized up. How in the world did Liam know all this?

Daniel spoke with icy frigid clarity. "What are you seeking, Liam?"

reposts,

Though there was no warmth in it, Liam grinned. Let us suppose I have been monitoring things. I know how to stop Ava and what she is up to.

Emily's pulse throbbed. "How?.

Something she couldn't quite place fluttering in Liam's eyes. "I still have access to some of the old people who owe me favours, people who can make difficulties vanish."

Daniel began to fold his arms. And what then would the cost be to me?

Though it didn't reach his eyes, Liam's smile grew wider. " Everything."

The word seemed to hang in the air like an explosion. Emily's breath caught in her throat. Anger flashing in his eyes, Daniel took a step closer to Liam.

"You think I would give you anything after what you did to me?" Daniel shouted.

Liam's face didn't change. "Daniel, I am offering you an exit strategy here. Ava will not stop until she destroys you, just like I do. And when she does, there will be nothing left for you to protect.

Emily's heart was racing wildly. There was, of course, something else there, a dark undercurrent she wasn't sure she was reading right, but the tension in the room was thick, heavy.

Daniel spoke in a tight tone. "I don't believe a word you do, Liam."

"You don't have to believe me," Liam said smoothly. You need me, though.

Emily blushed it out before she could catch herself. A sudden thought flashed across her mind. Still waiting. How much of Ava's plan do you know?

Liam's eyes turned back to hers, a strange look in them. "I have my ways."

Emily's stomach would still be full of abiding scepticism, however. Something about this did not make sense.

She asked softly, "Liam, are you working with Ava?"

Something cold and calculated altered Liam's countenance for the briefest of moments, but it was gone just that fast. He smiled again, more with edge. "That's an interesting idea, Emily."

Daniel's hands clasped together. "Answer the question."

Liam shrugged, his casual manner masking the menace in the air. "Let's just say. I am not the only one wishing to have this play staged."

Emily's blood ran cold. It was a betrayal, even though she could have predicted it. Liam was here to play both sides, to turn the knife further, not to help them.

Emily said, her voice shaking, "You're working with her.

Liam didn't argue. Ava has her goal; mine is another. But our goals complement one another.

Daniel's face darkened, and then he took another step forward, his voice low and snarling. "Leave."

Again, Liam smiled, but this time, his eyes were bright with warning. "Daniel, you will one day regret this. You will wish you to have accepted my offer once Ava is done with you.

Liam turned without saying anything more and left the door wide open behind him.

Emily's legs buckled, and she slipped onto the nearest chair, her head spinning away from him.

She said, "Daniel, what are we going to do?"

Daniel's eyes were aflame with resolution. "We fight. Ava, Liam ends here. But we are going to need more than just strategies.

Emily's heart bucked against her ribcage with the weight of what they were up against as she looked up at him.

Daniel merely stared back at her, and for the first time, something almost like fear fluttered across his eyes.