Chapter 851 Please Don't Tell Him
"I've already shown you my worst side, haven't I?" Francis gave a bitter smile. "Maybe it's a good thing you overheard our argument tonight. I desperately need someone to help me, but the last person I want that to be is Antonio."
"So when I saw you, I was actually relieved. Even though you haven't agreed to help, I should thank you. Thank you for not letting Antonio come out."
Although Sarah's gaze still held scrutiny, her attitude had softened considerably.
She was also straightforward. "I need to make sure you won't harm Antonio. So, I recorded our conversation earlier. You don't mind, do you?"
Francis gave a wry smile, "It's fine, as it should be." He pulled out his phone from his suit jacket and dialed Roy's number right in front of her.
Three seconds later, the call connected, "Mr. Valencia."
"Roy, what did I tell you to do once the major development project was confirmed?" Francis said.
Roy paused, seemingly surprised by the late-night call, then relaxed and said, "You told me to secretly insert some unexpected elements into the project without harming the company's interests, so that any major incidents later wouldn't seem so abrupt."
After saying this, he cautiously asked, "Mr. Valencia, has the plan changed?"
Francis's expression remained unchanged, "No, I was just worried you'd forget."
"Rest assured, Mr. Valencia, I wouldn't dare forget anything you seriously instructed. I'll start preparing as soon as we confirm the plan."
"Alright, get some rest." Francis hung up and looked up.
"Sarah." He called her name seriously, putting away his phone, "You recorded that call too, right? This is all my planning so far, but I don't have many people I can use. Roy is a former subordinate from the Valencia Group. I had him stay hidden for now to avoid Guadalupe's surveillance."
"You can verify this with Antonio. Roy was originally in a branch office. A few days ago, I asked Antonio to transfer a former subordinate to my side, which was him, but Guadalupe sent someone to follow me instead. He said it was to support me, but it was actually to monitor me."
Francis's smile was somewhat self-deprecating, or perhaps desolate.
"Because of this, Roy can't appear openly. If you're still not reassured, you can set up a timed email. If I do anything to harm Antonio or the company, you can send the entire recorded conversation to everyone. Can you accept this condition?"
Sarah was silent, but she suddenly felt a bit awkward and touched her ear.
Indeed, Francis had laid all his cards on the table. He loathed his relationship with Guadalupe, even finding it disgusting and shameful, to the point where he didn't want to reveal it to his family.
Sarah had occasionally heard Antonio mention that Francis was a man of integrity who valued his dignity. What he feared most now was probably this "scandal" being exposed.
But now he had personally handed this matter over to Sarah as a bargaining chip.
At least for now, Sarah's doubts were dispelled.
It wasn't that she was overly cautious; being cautious was never a bad thing. Although Francis seemed harmless now, in such situations, one could never be too careful. She didn't want to see Antonio get hurt again.
Sarah temporarily accepted his explanation, feeling both relaxed and sympathetic.
"Francis, I really didn't expect you to go through so much." She sighed and sincerely said, "Things will get better."
Francis shook his head with a smile, "Yeah, it will pass."
This was also what he had been telling himself countless times, as if this simple declaration could help him endure anything.
"There's one more thing I want to ask of you," Francis added.
"What is it?"
"Can you not tell Antonio about this?" Francis's eyes showed obvious discomfort and pain, "I don't want him to know that the person he admired as a child has become like this. He used to say he wanted to grow up to be like me. But what's so good about someone like me? I don't even have the basic dignity of a man anymore."
"Even so, I still want to preserve Antonio's admiration and respect for me. Can you do this for Antonio? Can you promise me?" A hint of pleading appeared on his face.
Sarah understood completely and nodded, but just as she was about to respond, she caught sight of a figure in the distance and was startled. "What are you doing out here?"
At the door, Antonio's puzzled gaze shifted between the two of them, "Oh, you two were out here for so long, I had to come to check. I saw you talking from a distance, and you both looked pretty serious. What were you talking about? Let me in on it."
"Ah, nothing." Sarah suddenly felt guilty and glanced at Francis. "Guadalupe had to leave for something, so I was just chatting with Francis. We're done now, let's go back."
Francis caught her look and, facing Antonio, also felt a strange sense of guilt. He awkwardly touched his nose, "Yeah, Sarah's right. Nothing special. It's cold out here, let's go inside."
Antonio gave them a strange look.
He sensed that Sarah's address to Guadalupe had turned into a less respectful way of calling him.
Did Guadalupe and Sarah have a conflict just now? Why wouldn't they tell him? After all, none of them had a good impression of Guadalupe.
And no matter how he looked at it, these two seemed off.
But since they were both his family and said it was nothing, he didn't think much more of it and went to push Francis's wheelchair, "Francis, you didn't eat much earlier. Do you want to go back and eat something?"
"No need." Having just had an open conversation with Sarah, Francis really wasn't in the mood to eat. He forced a smile, "It's late. Take me home."
"Alright."
Antonio turned to look at the silent Sarah, feeling even more uneasy.
Meanwhile, Guadalupe was on his way to the company.
His stern face reflected in the dim car window, exuding an unapproachable chill.
The earlier interaction hadn't been pleasant. Had Francis calmed down?
Thinking of this, Guadalupe inexplicably smiled and took out his phone to call the subordinate monitoring Francis, "What did he do after I left?"
"Mr. Diaz, shortly after you left, Ms. Miller came out of the villa. They walked in the garden for nearly half an hour, but we couldn't hear what they talked about..." The subordinate's voice carried a hint of fear, "We were lurking outside the yard and couldn't hear anything."
Hearing that, Guadalupe's brow instantly furrowed.
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
