Chapter 394 It Does Seem to Be a Bentley
Gabriel drawled, "If a sharp sword, it should either be useful to me or be thrown away. Too bad she didn't work for me and ended up being someone else's weapon."
"What are you getting at?"
Stanley stayed on guard.
Mr. Harriman's words seemed like a trap to make him surrender, but Gabriel was cool as a cucumber. Years of prison life had taught Stanley that the guy in front of him was no pushover.
Especially since Gabriel had walked right up to him, speaking in a voice that was soft but sent shivers down his spine.
Stanley's early dance training had stunted his growth, leaving him at just 5'9". He had to tilt his head up a bit to look Gabriel in the eye.
Gabriel stared at him, like he was sizing him up, and repeated in a low, indifferent tone, "You know Jessica's killing it in the entertainment world and has become a target for big money. Since she won't work for me, she's gotta be ready to be in the crosshairs."
As he spoke, Gabriel handed Stanley a gold card, "One million bucks, for all the dirt you got from seven years ago, including why Jessica went abroad to have her kid."
Stanley was floored, staring at the gold card in disbelief.
A million dollars?
He looked up, "How'd you find me?"
Gabriel didn't bother answering, clearly in control of the situation.
Stanley glanced at the card again, "Your people have been tailing me since I got out of the slammer? Just 'cause you knew I had some history with Jessica, you wanna dig up dirt to trash her?"
Gabriel smirked, "So, Mr. Rogers, you in or out?"
The card was too tempting.
Especially now.
After a deep breath, he said, "How do I know it's legit? If you use what I tell you for something shady and it blows back on me, what then? I need some solid guarantees."
Gabriel sneered, "It won't touch you. If I wanted to throw you back in for another decade or two, it wouldn't be hard. What leverage do you think you have here? Illegal?"
He took a few steps back, still holding the card, "From the moment you sought a reduced sentence, you've been planning your life after release. You think Jessica's the root of all your problems. If you hadn't had bad intentions towards her, you wouldn't have spiraled into more evil thoughts and wrecked your life. You wanted to come out and ruin her, but the world changed while you were inside. Jessica's in the spotlight, surrounded by people. You can't even get close to her, let alone disguise yourself like your younger self could. You're too old now. All you can do is sit in an internet cafe, obsess over news about Jessica, hate her, but do nothing."
Stanley suddenly gritted his teeth, glaring at Gabriel with hatred, "You know what happened to me inside?"
"Not much, just read a few of your own applications."
Stanley's face went pale.
Who the hell was this guy?
He could dig into stuff inside the Department of Justice?
Facing such a powerful and obviously rich guy, it seemed like there was only one way forward.
Stanley mulled it over, thinking about his broke days since getting out, thinking about all the stuff he found online about Jessica. She was living the high life, and he had no shot at getting close to her, especially since he could barely scrape together enough for a meal, and his room was a favor from an old buddy. Even if he wanted to do something, he didn't have the cash or the means.
If he could use Mr. Harriman to mess with Jessica, it might not be a bad move.
Stanley knew that once he got tangled up with big money, he'd be a slave to it. But walking into this estate, the gap between rich and poor hit him hard. Even the fruit plate in this lounge was something he craved.
"Are you sure there's a million bucks on that card?" Stanley hesitated, eyeing the gold card in Gabriel's hand, his hidden greed and desperation starting to show.
"Believe it or not, it's your call. Whether you do it or not, that's on you." Gabriel's voice was cold and clear, no pressure, just calm and unreadable.
The more unreadable, the more Stanley believed in the cutthroat nature of business types like Gabriel. Mr. Harriman must really hate Jessica to go this far for dirt on her.
Stanley took a deep breath, "All the stuff I found about Jessica lately is pretty positive. I know she's married and has a daughter, but from the timeline, there's no way she got married when she first went abroad. In her state back then, she couldn't have had a normal love life."
"Is that so? What happened before she went abroad? You mentioned something about Jessica in your application, a short line, but it hinted at some trauma she went through seven years ago." Gabriel stepped closer, his gaze steady, "On the night of May 11th, seven years ago, after you 'failed to assault' her, did she escape to near Maple Avenue?"
Stanley had mentioned this briefly in his confession, showing that Gabriel had really read his stuff.
Stanley stopped resisting, "Yeah, I still have the video from that house. Even though she jumped out the window and ran, her dazed state curled up on the bed is enough to stir up imaginations. If it got out, it would hit her hard. I planned to use it to blackmail her when I got close. If you want it, you'll have to pay extra."
Stanley licked his lips and held up three fingers, "Another three hundred grand."
Gabriel's face stayed blank, "Okay."
Stanley couldn't believe he agreed so easily, eyeing him suspiciously, "What other conditions you got?"
Gabriel replied, "Describe everything you saw that night in detail. After she escaped to near Maple Avenue, where did she go?"
Stanley didn't get why he was asking but instinctively recalled, "You asked the right guy. I was chasing her, so only I saw it. Jessica ran to the roadside and got into a car. I wanted to wait for her to get kicked out, but she never did. Later, the Jenner family showed up, so I bailed."
"A car? What car? The Bentley near the Maple Avenue pharmacy?"
"Yeah, it looked like a Bentley, black, pretty slick, definitely not cheap." Stanley suddenly snapped out of his memory, staring at Gabriel's now dark eyes, "How do you know?!"
The room fell into a tense silence, making Stanley super uneasy.
Gabriel pulled back the gold card, not letting Stanley touch it, "Landon, take him away."
Stanley was shocked, "What the hell? You playing me?"
Landon walked in, hearing Gabriel's next cold words, "Clean it up."
That line.
Gabriel hadn't said it since he got back from M Country years ago.
Landon's eyes sharpened, nodding, "Got it."
