Chapter 361: Last Waiting
Everything was going perfectly well.
Gray managed to settle the issue with Alistair, and they have never been this close as ever. The man must have felt really guilty about it, that he was now openly telling Gray how much he trusted him.
And that was something that Gray wanted.
Because just 1 month was left before the election, he was in the final steps of his plan.
Isolating Alistair and making his competitors rise.
And what perfect way to do that other than sending the pictures to their own owners?
"Are you sure we’re doing this, Gray? Don’t you want to keep these pictures to ourselves? So that the issue will erupt bigger." Mara asked, her forehead creasing. She was confused why Gray wanted to let this out, when they could just keep it for themselves.
"Also, won’t they tell this to Alistair? We might be ratted out by them!" That was one of her biggest worries.
Gray leaned back slightly in his chair, completely calm compared to Mara’s obvious worry. He just smiled at her.
"Nope. I’m not worried at all," He shook his head.
"Huh?" Mara blinked at him. "What nope?"
"You’re not thinking about the bigger picture here, Mara." Gray rested his elbow on the table and tapped the multiple envelopes on top lightly with his fingers. "I know your worries."
Mara’s brows were still lined together.
"But think about it," he continued. "If they see these pictures, what’s the first thing that will happen?"
"They’ll... question the Mayor?" Mara made a face and answered uncertainly.
"Exactly." Gray nodded once. "They’ll stop trusting him."
He slid one of the photographs slightly across the table.
"What we want here is to isolate Alistair." His voice was calm as he explained their main goal to Mara. "If the people around him begin doubting him and if they start wondering whether he’s hiding things from them... then slowly, they’ll distance themselves."
Mara looked down at the pictures again.
"But what if they confront Alistair about it..." Mara worriedly asked.
"They won’t."
"How would you know that?" Mara raised one of her brows.
"Because I know their nature, Gray. I know that they wouldn’t say anything about it." Gray just smiled reassuringly at her.
"They wouldn’t want this to cause a scene, especially when the election is near. So the only thing they would do is be silent and distance themselves while they plan out. And when that happens," Gray continued, "who do you think he’ll rely on?"
"Y-you." Realization slowly crept into her eyes.
Gray only gave a small smile at that.
"Yup. So that’s what we need to do. We want to make everyone else step back," he said quietly. "So that, in the end, I’m the only one he thinks he can trust."
Mara stayed silent for a moment before slowly nodding her head. She didn’t fully understand every detail of Gray’s plan, but one thing was certain to her.
Gray always knew what he was doing. And more importantly, she trusted him.
"Alright," she muttered. "So what do we do next?"
Gray pushed the stack of envelopes toward the center of the table.
"Go call them."
Mara immediately pulled out her phone as if she already knew full well what he wanted to say.
She made a quick call, and in just a few minutes, two men entered the room. Both were tall and quiet. They carried a presence that told others not to bother them.
They were men provided by the lawyer. The lawyer said they were people who would do the job without asking anything, as long as the price was right. And right now, they were the right men to ask for help.
"Hello," Gray looked at them calmly. "We have a task for you."
"What kind of task?" One of the men nodded.
Gray tapped the envelopes that were scattered all around the table. They already sorted out whose picture was inside. They even printed out a small letter, saying that this all came from Alistair, so they should be careful.
"I got things to deliver."
The two men glanced down at the sealed envelopes.
"These need to be sent to several people," Gray continued. "Important people that has quite the influence too."
"But," Gray added, his eyes turning slightly colder, "this must be done in complete secrecy. "I want something that they would have no way to trace back."
The men exchanged a brief look before nodding.
"That can be arranged."
"Good." Gray smiled faintly before he pushed the envelopes closer to them.
"Make sure every one of them receives it." Gray watched the two men for a moment. Then, "How much?" he asked plainly.
The two men glanced at each other again, like they were silently deciding who should answer.
The one standing on the right spoke first.
"We don’t ask for payment upfront."
"What do you mean by that?" Mara tilted her head slightly at that.
Even Gray’s brows lifted a little in mild curiosity.
"We only ask for payment once the job is done," the man continued calmly. "After everything has been delivered."
The other man nodded once in agreement.
"When we’re finished, we’ll contact you," he added. "That’s when we’ll discuss the payment."
For a brief moment, the room went completely silent.
"Oh. Sure." Then Gray let out a small breath and smiled. "Okay," he said before shrugging his shoulders. "That’s fine with me."
The two men gave a short nod.
Without wasting any more time, they stepped forward and began gathering the envelopes that were spread across the table. Each one had already been carefully prepared and sealed tightly. There’s even a name and a printed address at the side so they would know whom to give it.
After gathering everything, neither of them said anything else. They simply turned around and headed toward the door. And just like that, the two men quietly left the room.
When the door closed, Mara let out a soft sigh.
"I guess we’ll just wait for it to be delivered."
"Yup, we can only wait for their call." Gray sighed too.
