Chapter 178 - The Mastermind (1)
"He is quite lucky." Zaria laughed.
"Why would you say so?" Ximena did not understand her logic. Wasn't she supposed to laugh a Liam for being unlucky?
"Not everyone gets the chance to pique your interest in such a manner." Zaria laughed, enjoying the situation a little too much.
"There is something wrong with your imagination." Ximena frowned. What part of their argument looked like Liam had piqued her interest? Even if she was going to be interested in a man, it was definitely not going to be that insane scatterbrain.
Zaria smiled. "There is no telling what might happen in future."
" What? You…" Ximena was speechless when she caught on Zaria's meaning. She massaged her temples. "Listen, not everyone is like you and Desmond, the enemies who hated each other so much that they ended up having sex and falling in love out of fury."
"Hey!" Zaria complained. Why was she being attacked out of the blue?
"You started it." Ximena laughed dryly. "Anyway, where are we meeting the lawyer?"
Zaria knew that she was changing the topic but she smiled. "We are here."
They entered the restaurant and not too long after, Desmond arrived with a man beside him. Zaria thought that he had hired the same lawyer who represented Alyssa in court before. To her surprise, it was Eugine Preston? Eugine was Liam's elder brother and was one of the best laywers in Olphire, having failed none of the cases he took.
They sat down as soon as Desmond introduced them.
"So this is your girlfriend. Have I seen her before?" Eugine scanned her face.
"On my phone." Desmond dismissed him.
"That's right. She is your phone's wallpaper." Eugine smiled and stopped looking at Zaria, sensing jealous fireballs threatening to burn him to death. Soon after he finished speaking, he realized why he found Zaria familiar. Wasn't this the woman that Liam was so obsessed with that his house was filled with secretly taken pictures of her?
It turned out to be his best friend's woman. This was quite thrilling to watch. He giggled. "Let's talk about the case."
When she finished explaining, Eugine seemed to be in a tight spot. "Honestly, you should prepare for the worst. I will do my best to ensure he gets a lower sentence."
"But he is not guilty." Zaria tried to explain for the umpteenth time.
"That's what you believe." Eugine tapped the table lightly.
"And it's your job to make sure the courts believes it too." Desmond glared at him.
Eugine shot a glare back at Desmond before focusing his gaze on Zaria. "Based on what you said, the mastermind behind this is someone powerful, and he wants your father out of the picture. Is he perhaps in anyone's way?"
"None that I know of." She tried to think hard but couldn't come up with any possibility.
"Tell me about his hobbies." Eugine asked.
"Perhaps he is in someone's way." Ximena interrupted. "F&P Media's competitors?"
"I don't think so. How many media agencies exist in the country? Would the culprit kill all of them just to avoid competition?" Eugine dismissed Ximena.
Zaria explained Theodore's hobbies even though she didn't know its relevance to the case. When she was done, she ran a hand through her hair. "I need to see him. Perhaps he is willing to tell me something more concrete this time."
"I will drop you off." Desmond took her hand and stood, throwing his car keys at Eugine. "Drop Ximena off."
Before Ximena could process it, Desmond had already left with Zaria. "Annoying! How could he drag her away without my consent? We were supposed to have lunch together!"
Eugine found her comical. "You sound protective over your friend. Don't tell me you are in love with her?"
"You scumbag! What did you say?" She grabbed a fork and pointed it at him threateningly.
"Did I say something wrong?" He slipped away.
She could only follow him to Desmond's car. She wanted to give Liam a call but realized that she didn't have his contact number. She could only turn to Eugine. "You are that asshole's brother, aren't you? Have him send my car to my home."
Eugine burst into laughter when he realized who she was talking about. "Did you just call Liam an asshole? Finally there is someone brave enough to insult him and order him around."
Were the Prestons all crazy? She gave him her work address and ignored him.
___
Zaria wanted to get changed before going to the police station but to her surprise, she found out that he had been released!
"Dad!" She hugged him emotionally. "I knew you couldn't have done anything wrong."
He tousled her hair but was confused. What did she mean by that? Didn't the Qins withdraw the lawsuit after making a deal with her? This was what he guessed when he was released, but he was uncertain after seeing her reaction.
"I'm afraid it's not that simple." He sighed.
"What do you mean?" Her heart sank, the relief she had felt upon seeing him flying out through the window.
"Are you hungry? I will prepare lunch now." He pulled away to go to the kitchen.
"Dad." She grabbed his arm. "I know what's going on. I know that you were forced." His expression changed slightly, but he had no intention to admit that she was right.
"Dad, I know you don't want me to worry about you. But not knowing anything is making me even more worried. Can you please not keep me in the dark anymore?"
Her eyes glistened with moisture at the corners. He would never say no no matter how much he wanted to keep her out of it. He sighed helplessly. "Why don't you get your boyfriend something to drink first?"
She jolted, realizing that she had forgotten all about Desmond. She dashed to the kitchen and returned with three glasses of juice. She sat next to Desmond. "Don't worry, dad. We can trust him."
Theodore nodded. "Princess, I don't know who is threatening me either. I have only been receiving their calls. However, you may find this unbelievable but as soon as the call ended, the log would disappear from my phone. I was unable to track them down. Whoever it is must have hired a proficient hacker."
Zaria's heart sank when the first lead went down the drain even before they could grasp it. Even so, she did not lose hope. "What did they tell you?"
"They gave me the details about the banquet and instructed me when to appear. I didn't expect to meet you there. All I had to do was shoot Amanda Black in the head."
Zaria was terrified when she heard it.
"He threatened me with your life." Theodore continued. "I knew my daughter's life might be in danger but killing a human being in exchange… It was too much. I went for her shoulder at the last moment."
Zaria pictured the scene and trembled just thinking about it.
"And then what happened?" Desmond probed, knowing that it wasn't all there was to it.
"I did not follow instructions, so a microbomb appeared in your hair." He explained to Zaria. "It was a warning."
"What?" Zaria froze. She had almost forgotten all about the microbomb and it turned out that it was a threat? "Is that why you kidnapped Laia?"
"I had to." Theodore admitted, not daring to look at his daughter. Would she hate him now?
Zaria processed his words and was still in shock at such a twist. How could anyone be so cruel? "Was it also their idea to publish the news as soon as possible, and admit to the police that you did it because you wanted to be the first to publish explosive news?"
He nodded, and she shut her eyes. "We will investigate this, dad. Trust me."
Desmond studied Theodore's expression. "Being threatened is one thing. But how were you able to execute the job perfectly?" He asked skeptically.
Theodore let out a bitter smile. "If it's about the person who means the world to you, you can successfully perform a surgery without medical experience. Besides, I learnt how to operate firearms many years ago as a form of self defense."
Desmond looked at Zaria as though to confirm whether she knew about it. Seeing as she didn't react, he concluded that it was not news to her.
He stood to contact Skeleton. While he spoke to him a few meters away from them, Zaria asked the question that had been bugging her the most. "Dad, do you have any enemies, someone who wouldn't back down unless you perished?"
Hearing this question, Theodore was unwilling to answer it. However, he knew that silence would only make her worried. He took her hand. "This is only my speculation. Based on their abilities, they could have killed me without a trace. However, they don't want my life. They only want to destroy my reputation and considering where this was headed… the main point was to make you hate me. Your trust is all I would have lost from this. "
"What are you saying?" She squinted her eyes.
"The only person I can think about who would gain from this, is Lucy Roatta—your mother." He concluded.
She found it ridiculous. "Why would she do that?"
"For revenge." Theodore sounded certain. "I once told her that I would never allow my daughter to be brought up by a criminal."
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