The Lotus And The Billionaire

Chapter 75: Diaz’s Puppet

“Vienna is here?” I asked as I stared at the message I received from here.

How come she’s here? The last time I checked, she said she would never step inside this building. She told me she was trying to avoid someone or something, but wouldn’t disclose any information.

If I had to say, she must have found out that one of her exes lives in this building or something. It might be something else, but Vienna told me she’s trying to avoid everyone she’s had a thing with at all costs. That means if she’s here, there’s got to be a big problem.

“You seem like you’re in a hurry. Where are you going?” Alvarez asked when he saw me rushing down the stairs. He was having coffee on the countertop while browsing through something, must be documents he must deal with.

I pointed at the door. “Downstairs. Vienna came to visit.”

He tilted his head to the side. “Vienna? What for?”

“I don’t know. I just received her text.”

“That’s kind of odd. Are you sure she was the one who texted you?”

“How is it odd? Don’t you text friends for a visit?”

He chuckled. “I don’t have friends to text or visit. Either way, she wouldn’t come to visit on such short notice, right?”

Before I could roast him for not having friends, the doorbell rang. Alvarez has a device where he can see everything outside in real-time. It’s a lot more advanced than CCTV, though.

Anyway, he showed me the footage, and it really does seem to be Vienna. She’s being scanned along with her things for anything that could hurt someone.

Hmm, it really does seem to be Vienna. I doubt there is anyone out there who can impersonate her or her mannerisms when she’s keeping such a low profile.

“Done now? Can I go talk to Sapphire now?”

That sass, that's definitely Vienna. I smiled and ran to the door so that I could open it for her. When she saw me, she looked relieved.

“Hey,” she greeted me as she walked closer to me.

“Let’s go inside?” I asked as I held her hand and took her inside the house.

Alvarez shot the two of us a questioning look, but I ignored him and took Vienna somewhere private. The bedroom was way too messy, so I chose to take her to the balcony instead. Alvarez doesn’t really like this spot, so he wouldn’t dare come here, especially to eavesdrop.

“What’s up?” I asked as I sat beside her.

“I’m here to warn the two of you,” she told me as she opened a can of beer that she had brought.

I immediately turned to her. “About what?”

“Zenon Leviste is planning to make an appearance on television to frame the two of you. I’m not sure how it was made possible, but someone is trying to back him up.”

“What? I…don’t really understand. What do you mean? And how did you even get this information?”

“Calm down…” she trailed off as she took a sip of beer. “Just as your husband said, someone is backing him up and providing him with the means to ruin the two of you. That is why I have been hacking their system to track most of his actions.”

“And you found out about this through that?” I asked, still confused.

Vienna nodded and sighed. “I couldn’t pinpoint the main source of the messages because they kept on changing. However, I somehow managed to listen in to one of the phone calls he made. It was a miracle, really.”

“Couldn’t you make out who it was based on that?”

“Nope,” she replied, popping the letter p. “I tried, but it was a failure. I couldn’t tell you through simple messages because they could have tracked the messages.”

“I still don’t understand what you meant when you said that they would frame us. How?”

“The Alvarez clan may be good at hiding their crap, but with a family that big, you wouldn’t be able to tell who the rat is.”

I stiffened upon hearing what Vienna said. It’s true, the Alvarezes are not saints, so I am sure some of them are also hiding some sort of s**t. But to have one of them as a rat?

Perhaps that is why they have been avoiding each other, or at least that was what Alvarez told me. But that’s just ridiculous. What would they do that for?

Oh, right. They’re targeting Alvarez. Of course, they wouldn’t hesitate to dig up some dirt on him and then use it to their advantage.

Even so, Alvarez isn’t involved in any underground business, especially since he is the head of the clan. Or at least he hasn’t raised suspicion, even if he is. Even I, his wife, have no idea! So, how?

“It’s not Mr. Alvarez’s s**t,” Vienna told me, her face remaining grim. “But it’s easy to plant evidence if you have a powerful backer, isn’t that right?”

My mouth formed an ‘o’ after several conclusions began to form in my head. Perhaps I’m overanalyzing this and the answer might be right in front of us. But I can’t help it…

“If there’s anyone who would know the correct answer, it would be your husband.”

I nodded and sighed. “I know that, but what the hell? His own family member framing him up?”

“How is that surprising?”

Oh. Right.

“That’s still f****d up.”

Vienna nodded and crumpled the bottle of beer she was holding. “You have to warn your husband as soon as possible. He must not let that news air or it will cause a great deal of harm to both of you. Or inconvenience, at the very least.”

“Can’t you help us stop it?” I asked, scratching my head.

“Here,” she said as she threw a flash drive into my lap. “I tried to track the source of the news. It’s in there. That’s the only thing I can do, so the rest is up to the two of you.”

“But the payment—”

“Your finest alcohol. Have it delivered to our previous meeting place as soon as possible.” Vienna smiled as she started to walk out of the door.

Meanwhile, I only watched her while holding the flash drive she left with me. I don’t know what sort of information is waiting for me, but I have to somehow seize the opportunity she gave me.

Vienna’s service cost a lot. And by a lot, it means a fortune. But she keeps on doing us favors because the two of us are…yeah, friends. What a peculiar kind of friend she is.

I smiled and ran towards Alvarez, who was seemingly focused on his workload. Well, he has to put that aside for now!

“Hey, dummy,” I called as I sat on the stool beside him.

“Not now, Trouble. I have a lot of work to deal—”

“Here’s more.” I smiled as I placed the flash drive on top of his keyboard.

“What is this? Where is your…friend?” He looked around and noticed that Vienna had just left. “Oh, she left.”

I nodded and pointed at the flash drive with my lips. “You have to open that.”

“Why?”

“Vienna told me Zenon was trying to frame the two of us. We have to deal with the news before it gets aired.”

His brows furrowed. “I don’t get it.”

I sighed and told him everything Vienna had told me. Immediately after I finished talking, he ran upstairs to get a different…laptop. Oh, he was making sure his laptop was safe from viruses or something. Of course.

“What the hell…?” he muttered as he browsed across it.

“What? Why?”

“They really are trying to frame us. Me, to be specific.”

“How is that possible?”

He let out a sarcastic laugh. Damn, he really looks mad. I could see his veins popping…

“They’re trying to make it look like it was me who was transacting with these ugly assholes…” He shook his head and laughed. “Damn that Zenon. Wait here, I’ll fix this.”

After what happened yesterday and today, we set up a meeting with the Levistes so we could finally confront them. Alvarez most certainly didn’t like the idea because he wanted to wait until we had the means to exact revenge, but unfortunately, we don’t have time for that.

Besides, he was really mad after the news. He was already very pissed because of the ‘attack thing’ that Zenon spread, but now…he’s even more furious.

“We’ll leave later. I’m just working on something,” Alvarez told me as he planted a kiss on my forehead.

“Alright…”

As of now, the media has been tailing us really well. I almost felt like there were cameras everywhere we went, but more importantly, there were those shitty looks we received from everyone.

I had no idea things had gotten this bad because it felt as though everyone just casually turned their backs on us. It didn’t really surprise me anymore, but that’s still too difficult for me to process.

Of course, it will be easy to make things work the way we want them to, but Alvarez says he wants to make things a little more difficult for everyone else. I guess he’s trying to stall before placing the final card down.

“Are you seriously thinking of provoking him even more?” I asked worriedly as I stared at Alvarez.

“I am, Diaz. I have already explained it to you.”

He told me he has a plan that will anger Zenon even more. I disagreed, of course, but he told me what his actual plan was. He made it sound so simple, but he seemed a hundred percent sure about it.

Most of the time, Alvarez acts nonchalantly and just casually says things like those. But when he told me, he looked dead serious. That was how I differentiated his intention.

“You’re much too reckless,” I told him as I shook my head, trying to remain unfazed.

He chuckled as he placed his hand above mine. “I know, but will you still ride with me on this one?”

“Of course I am, you i***t,” I replied, my voice beginning to turn melancholic.

“That’s good, then. I have almost gotten hold of the thing we need the most right now.”

“What’s that?”

There was a brief silence between us, and all he did was drive quietly with a satisfied smile on his face. He seemed like he had already hit the jackpot with what he did…

“Evidence, a legitimate one.”

I tilted my head to the side, unable to keep up with the things he was saying. Although vague, I am getting the idea that he’s finished digging everything he needed to dig to turn the tides.

Well, I did my own digging…but my subject was a different person. That doesn’t matter anymore at this point, though.

Either way, all I have to do is leave everything to Alvarez just like what he said. I, on the other hand, will be watching things play out while finding my chances. I have no plans on hurting Alvarez in a physically violent way. My only plan is that I have to make him believe everything I have been handing to him perfectly.

Well, Alvarez does seem like I already have him circling around my palms. If that is indeed the case and isn’t trying to get back at me, then things will be a lot easier.

Anyway, the two of us are currently getting prepared to set off. It might have already been very apparent that we will have to do something eventually, but I can’t seem to put my finger on the most important things.

Ah, we really have to hurry and get this over with. I feel like we’re starting to neglect the thing we should be worried about the most. I can’t have that…

“Diaz? Are you okay?” he asked when he saw me spacing out.

I nodded. “Yeah.”

He sighed and cupped my cheeks. “It will all be over soon…”

And I felt as though something within me melted, ceasing its existence.