Page 98 of Game of Revenge

“You wouldn’t do that to me!”

“Yes, I would, and so would Richard.” He paused and grabbed my hands.

“How about…” he said, feeling suddenly victorious, “we head back to the dinner and pretend this conversation never happened? It’s normal for you to be a little confused right now, baby, but sleep on it. You will see how wrong you are. You’re just confused.”

I pretended to accept defeat and grabbed the hand he was offering me, a smirk on his face. I knew I had the last card to play, but I would let him think he won—for now.

We headed directly to the dining room, hand and hand, as we had noticed some of the guests proceeding in that direction. I took my usual seat to the right of Richard, with George next to me. Alejandro was seated across from me with Elena. Alejandro was not taking his eyes off me, but I chose to pretend he wasn’t there and feign some interest in George's incessant business chatter with Richard.

George was quite annoying and frankly clingy. He wouldn’t stop grabbing my hand, hugging me, touching my hair. If this was his attempt to convince me to stay with him after that “romantic” plea, he had another thing coming.

Alejandro loudly scratched his throat, his eyes fixed on me. I diplomatically moved a little further from George.

“So, Rick, when is the wedding?” asked Richard, clearly trying to get George to shut up and turning his focus on his guest of honor.

“Next August,” answered Elena as she caressed Alejandro’s arm.

He flinched slightly. I noticed it, now that I was all too familiar with his most faint facial expressions, but he confirmed what she had said with a smile. My imagination was misleading me. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. I felt like I was going to pass out.

“Amelia and I are thinking about next year as well,” said George, grabbing my hand. I could have stabbed him with the daggers shooting from my eyes.

“Are you now?” asked Alejandro, a brow raised, menace in his eyes, as he glared at George's hand on mine. I quickly removed my hand from the table.

“I am glad you guys are finally talking about a date!” said Richard. “I was starting to wonder. Congratulations to both couples! This is great!” he said as he raised his glass.

We all cheered, my cheeks feeling flushed with embarrassment, as Alejandro gave Richard a death stare. This was more than my heart could take. Alejandro seemed at the brink of blowing our cover, and I wanted to do the same.

“I need to use the ladies’ room,” I told George and Richard with my best smile as I slowly got up and left the room.

It was now or never, I concluded.

I headed in the direction of the bathroom, and when I was sure no one had followed me, I changed course as soon as I was out of sight. I walked as fast as I could while looking like I was taking a casual stroll, avoiding windows as much as possible so none of his guards saw me. I couldn't afford to raise any suspicions.

My heart was beating so fast I could hear it. I kept looking behind me to make sure no one had seen me.

I snuck into Richard’s office, locking the door behind me. My legs were shaking, but it had to be done. I checked to make sure Richard hadn’t added any cameras. With the increase of security guards in the house, I had to be quick, and I couldn’t make any noise.

I kept the light turned off, using my phone as a flashlight. I slowly moved the small plant in the corner next to the couch. It was quite a clever hiding place as the safe was actually behind the plant, with a door the exact same color as the wall. One would only know it was there if they had seen it opened in front of them. But kids saw everything.

I used to play hide-and-seek with Iris all the time, and the space under Richard’s desk was one of my favorite hiding spots because Iris was always too scared of Richard to look for me there. While in my hiding spot, I had seen Richard put precious items in that safe multiple times. I had never bothered to look, but I had memorized the code for it as well. And now it was paying off.

With trembling hands, I put the code in. The door did not budge. I almost panicked and ran out, but I had to try again. I took a deep breath and slowly put in the numbers, pausing after each one. I pulled the door again, and it opened. I should have felt relieved, but all it did was make me even more scared.

But there it was—the bag of diamonds that had changed my life forever.

It was very heavy. I quickly removed the diamonds from their current bag and put them in the replacement one I had brought with me, arranging them between Kleenex so they wouldn’t make any clunking noise. I added some rocks I had taken from the beach years ago to the MFG bag and put it back in the safe where I had found it. It would either buy me time or piss off Richard if he went looking for it. A win-win.

I closed the safe and put everything back where it was. I now had to find the courage to leave the room. I slowly opened the door to make sure there was no one.

The coast was clear. I closed the door behind me, walking as nonchalantly as I could, trying to act normal even if fear was gnawing at my stomach. I decided to head to the smaller library. It was far enough from Richard’s office. As I was about to open the door, I held in a scream when I realized someone was behind me. Thankfully, it was Alejandro. I entered, and he followed, locking the door behind us.

“Are you following me?” I whispered with frustration.

“I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“Well, as you can see, never been better,” I answered sarcastically.

I was staring into stormy eyes, his face looking contorted.