Chapter 16
Desperate Moves.
Ezekiel's POV
The walls were closing in.
Ezekiel sat in his dimly lit study, staring at the glass of whiskey in his hand. The amber liquid barely trembled, but his fingers clenched so tightly around the glass that he feared it might shatter. His mind was a battlefield, a constant war between logic and desperation.
Elijah's offer lingered in his thoughts like a noose tightening around his neck. It was tempting, dangerously tempting for him to deny. It felt like a way out, A way out, a way to secure his survival.
But he knows nothing coming from Elijah wouldn't be so simple and easy as he potrays it. And nothing with Elijah was ever simple.
Never.
Accepting meant stepping into his world, a world that didn't forgive weakness or betrayal. A world where Elijah would basically control everything both his daughter and his company.
And then there was Andrew.
Ezekiel had worked with him long enough to know that Andrew wasn't a man who tolerated uncertainty and nonsense.
He was cold, calculated, ruthless, devilish, mischievous, a brutal machine in human skin. If Andrew even suspected that there was an offer from Elijah and he was considering Elijah's deal, there would be no discussion, no second chances. There would only be consequences.
That would be so hard for him to bear, Andrew wouldn't even thi k of mercy because at that point mercy would be put of the picture.
He exhaled slowly, rubbing his temple with his free hand. The weight of his own indecision was suffocating him that he really need to make a decision badly.
He needed someone to ground him. Someone who wasn't entangled in this brutal game of power and survival. Someone that's in the middle of the game and power
Mary.
His daughter was the only person whose voice still held any sway over him. She was his last connection to something real, something untouched by the corruption that ruled his world. Maybe she wouldn't tell him what to do, but she would remind him of what mattered.
Everytime he think of the sacrifice she had put up for his legacy to stand strong heart would melt away.
But right now to his dismay, she is plunged into a deadly battle she never wished for.
Or at least, she never thought about.
Ezekiel grabbed his phone and dialed her number. It rang three times before she picked up.
"Dad?"
Her voice was steady, unreadable. She had always been hard to read, a skill she had picked up from him.
"What's it again".
"Mary," he said, forcing his voice to remain calm. "I need to talk to you. Again"
A pause. Then, "About what?"
Ezekiel hesitated. He couldn't tell her everything, not over the phone, not without knowing who might be listening to thier discussion.
"There's trouble now" he said carefully."Elijah needs his answer to his proposal to us fast and now in three days."
Another pause. Longer this time.
Her voice, when it finally came, was sharper. "Why is he in a haste?"
His grip on the glass tightened. "That's what I'm trying to figure out, why isn't he giving me time to think?."
The silence stretched between them.
She wasn't answering right away because she knew.
She always knew.
"If you're asking me whether you should trust him and answer to his request and proposal, my answer is no," Mary said finally.
Ezekiel's jaw clenched. He shouldn't have been surprised.
"Mary, you don't even know what he might do if we don't give him the right answer"
"I don't need to," she cut him off. "If you're hesitating this much, then you already know it's a bad idea. You just want someone to tell you it isn't. The fact still remain that we are in a contract with Andrew, that's the main thing."
Her words stung because they were true.
"I just…don't know what to do. I thought never wanted to accept Andrew proposal before. What changed?" His voice faltered. "I don't have many choices left."
She sighed, and for the first time, there was a trace of something softer in her voice. "Things has changed but the main thing is that I am making the right choice,so Dad, make the choice you can live with, Dad. But don't ask me to tell you it's the right one."
He didn't get a chance to respond. She ended the call.
The silence in the room felt heavier now.
He set the phone down and leaned back, staring at the ceiling. She had given him nothing. No advice. No direction. Just the harsh truth he had been trying to avoid.
But knowing something was a bad idea wasn't the same as having a better option.
And he didn't have one.
Not yet.
But maybe Andrew did.
The thought sent an uneasy chill through him. Speaking to Andrew was like standing at the edge of a cliff, one wrong step, and there was no coming back. He couldn't afford to be careless. But he needed to know where Andrew stood, how much he already knew. If Elijah had approached him too concerning what he proposed to him, or if he was still in the dark.
Slowly, deliberately, Ezekiel picked up his phone again and dialed.
Andrew answered almost immediately. His voice was cold, distant. "Ezekiel."
Ezekiel swallowed. "I need to meet with you."
A pause.
"Why?" Andrew asked.
Ezekiel hesitated, then said, "Something's come up. Something I think we should discuss privately."
Another silence. It stretched a second too long.
Ezekiel could almost hear the gears turning in Andrew's mind, analyzing every word, every hesitation.
Finally, Andrew spoke, his voice unreadable. "When?"
Ezekiel exhaled, forcing himself to stay steady. "Tomorrow night."
Another pause. Then
"Fine."
The line went dead.
Ezekiel set the phone down and exhaled slowly.
Andrew hadn't asked for details. He hadn't pressed for answers. He had simply agreed.
And that was what made Ezekiel the most nervous.
Andrew wasn't the kind of man who ignored suspicion. If he hadn't pushed for more, it meant one of two things, either he didn't care, or he already knew something was coming.
Ezekiel wasn't sure which was worse.
Tomorrow, he would have his answer.
One way or another.