The air was tense as Tony would never have expected Heather to bring forth such a matter. At the very least, it wasn’t one for them to deal with privately.
Since it involved two families, he couldn’t make decisions on his own. However, Heather wasn’t one to be irrational either, so what on earth made her do such a thing?
“So this is the work you wished to speak to me about?” Since the relationship between Langstons and the Hart family had been hostile for the longest time, it would only continue that way. Knowing that, Tony couldn’t see the discussion going anywhere.
Disappointed, Heather frowned at Tony as his attitude made it apparent that the Hart family had no intention to reconcile with the Langstons, and the grudges they held against each other would not dissolve merely because of the Moriartys’ interference.
“I’ve heard that the Moriartys have been working with the Locke Group in secret. Given how long they have hidden in the dark, there’s no way the Langston family is their sole target.” Heather felt the need to remind Tony that the Moriartys would give the Hart family a hard time. She even added some baseless deductions of her own.
Hearing her outlining that point, Tony was slightly stupefied. Indeed, it was uncanny for an unstable corporation like the Locke Group to start a conflict with the Harts.
Having assumed that Matthias’ power was but a façade and after listening to Heather, who apparently knew much more than him, Tony felt that things weren’t as simple as he imagined.
However, he continued to stay rational so as not to make himself anxious over Heather’s baseless rumors. “Where did you hear that from?” he questioned.
“I’m still searching for evidence.” Heather was much more upfront with Tony than with Robert.
Now that he thought about it, Heather and Matthias had been close lately, so perhaps this was a fragment of her scheme. Bearing that in mind,Tony focused on Heather’s composed face.
All this time he had been underestimating her, but it seemed like she was far more formidable than he assumed. She was so skilled at hiding her emotions there was no telling if she was sincere or faking it.
“So how do I play into this?” Having figured out the general idea of Heather’s intentions, Tony assumed she had come looking for help. Since she was earnest enough with her opinions, she must have come up with certain strategies.
“You and I both know that our families aren’t exactly on good terms, so having them cooperate is near impossible. However, that doesn’t affect our capability to work hand-in-hand in private,” Heather confessed her intentions. In fact, when she was on her way to the Hart Group, she had already predicted that Tony would never agree for their families to team up. As such, she could only compromise and make her attempt with Tony.
Without voicing his agreement, he waited for Heather to continue. Since she had approached him by herself, she must have come up with a master plan.
“My company will start operating on New Year’s day so before that, I’ll have all the time I need to investigate the Moriartys,” Heather proceeded while studying every subtle change on Tony’s expression as she attempted to figure out whether he was willing to cooperate.
Unfortunately for her, Tony was as calm as a clam, indifferent even. Perhaps the incentives weren’t appealing enough for him since businessmen had always reached an agreement based on the benefits they offered each other.
“Have you watched the news today?” All of a sudden, Heather switched to a new, irrelevant topic. Since he wasn’t at all interested in what she was professing, perhaps he would be at what she was about to say next.
“I haven’t.” Knowing this was Heather’s setup, he patiently waited for her to make her move.
Pulling out her phone, she swiped to the news and presented it to Tony. The headline was about the explosion from last night.
In a flash, Tony scanned through the news. Published alongside the words was a photo of a woman’s back with Heather’s likeness. There was even a Miss Langston mentioned in the news. In that instant, Tony understood what was going on.
“Somebody set off a bomb in my apartment. It was as terrifying as it was unpredictable.” Heather knew that safety was a priority to Tony and he would hate to have the people surrounding Myra get hurt.
“And the Moriartys are behind this?” Tony curiously asked as he recalled how he and Myra were stalked back when they were overseas. That alone proved how influential and threatening the Moriarty family was.
“Honestly, it’s still unknown so I’ll have to make some time looking into it.” She was unable to provide a clear answer. After all, if she could, there wouldn’t be a need for her to approach Tony.
“Let’s talk about this again when you finally know for sure.” While Tony was still reluctant to agree, he would definitely protect Myra without slacking off for even a second.
At that, Heather helplessly blurted out, “Since when have you been so stubborn…” After so much talking, Tony was still unwavered and that made her feel perturbed.
Shaking his head, he laughingly stated, “I’m not being stubborn. I’ll lend help however I can if you need it. However, partnering up requires strategies and executions. You don’t just form an alliance through words.”
After circling around with her words, Heather still hadn’t revealed her plans on how they could work together. Evidently, it seemed like she hadn’t completely thought this through, so could anyone blame Tony for not agreeing to cooperate?
“So far, there are two unknown particulars that are stopping me from working with you.” As everything Heather had mentioned was the point of forming an alliance, how could he agree to be affiliated if she wasn’t even sure of it herself?
“Since we’re currently unable to form a real partnership, we shall wait until certain things are set in stone.” As Tony expressed that, he couldn’t figure out why she couldn’t think through the matter at hand.
Heather, on the other hand, requested for a definite answer to the question from him. “My reason for coming today is only to ask if you are willing to form a treaty with me.”
“As I said, I’ll provide assistance however I can if you wish for it,” he emphasized once again. Women and their redundancies!
At once, Heather’s tensed up face alleviated as she responded with a subtle smirk, “Take care of Myra.”
“No one in Bradfort City can lay a finger on her,” he claimed confidently, as he intended to protect Myra no matter what happened to the city.
Heather trusted his capabilities and she knew that Myra would be safe as long as the latter was under Tony’s care. Meanwhile, deep down, she was contemplating whether to see Caleb for herself. As the general of Leisfield, he must have his reasons for staying in Bradfort City for so long.
After leaving the Hart Group, Heather drove her car under the heavy downpour. Despite the raging storm going on, she somehow felt at peace.
Having completed her mission for the day, although she wasn’t able to get both the Langstons and the Harts to work together, she was able to receive Tony’s explicit consent showing his support.
So far, Heather was still clueless about Tony’s true power, except for the fact that he must still have a remarkable influence in the United States after staying there for so long.
Once Tony participated in the fight, it would be impossible for the opposite parties to trump so easily. Therefore, she should hasten the alliance to make advances on her countermeasures.
In such weather, although the number of vehicles on the road was significantly less, navigating through it was no easy feat as one was only a minor mistake away from an accident.
Fortunately, Heather was quite proficient in driving. Up until now, she had only encountered two accidents, both thanks to Matthias. While one was merely an accident, the other was purposefully planned.
As Matthias’ face popped up in her head, she subconsciously grinned, wondering what the man was up to at the time. As if they had some kind of connection, Matthias, at that moment, was also thinking about her and he was about to call her.
Staring at her ringing phone, Heather waited until the traffic light turned red before answering the call. For safety’s sake, she didn’t call while handling the steering wheel with only one hand. Furthermore, the merciless storm was restricting her vision so she couldn’t afford to be reckless. What wicked weather!
Just when Matthias was about to give up after three consecutive calls, Heather picked up at the last one. Instead of reprimanding her for missing his calls, his first words were “Heather”.
Hearing that, Heather felt rather awkward. Despite having asked him not to address her in that tone, he just wouldn’t listen. Nonetheless, after hearing it from him for so many times, she eventually got used to it as her desire to remind him waned.
“Are you at work or at home?” Receiving no response, Matthias softly inquired just in case she was in a conference meeting.
“I’m outside. Have you forgotten that I’ve stopped working at the Langston Group?” Feeling his questions were rather deliberate, Heather was somewhat baffled.
“Don’t you have a studio?” Knowing very well that Heather had been preoccupied with starting her own company, Matthias didn’t spit an ignorant question.
“Enough about that. How may I help you?” Having received his call all of a sudden, she naturally thought he called her for a specific reason.
“I just wanted to hear your voice,” he stated flirtatiously, to which Heather had goosebumps upon hearing.
“If there’s nothing else, I’m going to hang up. I’m driving right now,” she claimed, about to end the call.
As he could hear her revving engine through the call, he expressed with concern, “You should head home quickly. It’s not a good day to wander around in your car.” Worried about her safety, Matthias couldn’t fathom why she would take the risk traveling in such disastrous weather.
Then, Heather gave a light grunt and quickly hung up. Recently, Matthias hadn’t been like himself and he was constantly doing things that were rather meaningless.
Initially, she planned to head home but her mind suddenly changed. And so, she changed directions and proceeded to the hotel Leon was staying at. If it was as Leon described, he might still be in danger because as of then, no one could tell what the bomber’s intention and next move were.
When she appeared before Leon with her bare face, the man, still half asleep, extended his hand to pinch her face.
“Does it hurt?” Having not expected a bare-faced Heather to exist, Leon felt that he must still be sleeping and that was but a Heather in his dreams.
Brutally, she smacked his hand away and countered, “Does that hurt?”
It did, in fact. Leon was in so much pain that he was literally gritting his teeth as he stared at his swelling hand. Perhaps Heather had put too much force in the smack.
“Why are you here, Heather?” he questioned, feeling bewildered. Turning to the window, he could only see rain outside, which meant that Heather had overcome the storm to meet him.
“I was afraid that you might get bored being alone here,” she deflected with a fabricated excuse.
“Wow! Since when have you become a samaritan?” Skeptical, he felt that she must have come over with a purpose.
“You and your cursed mouth. Mind your words!” She replied with another smack on his head. I came all the way here because I was worried, yet I am being greeted by your foolishness. Hmph—looks like I shouldn’t have come!
