'I Do' For Revenge-Chapter 68: Partners

"There’s something I need to tell you too," I said quietly.

Axel tensed slightly. "What is it?"

"Something I’ve been keeping from you." I took a shaky breath. "I have evidence against my father."

Axel’s eyes widened. "What kind of evidence?"

"Enough to put him behind bars I guess. Financial records, witness testimonies, and..." I paused, my voice catching. "My mother’s confession."

"Your mother’s confession?"

"Before she died, she recorded everything she knew about his operations. Every dirty deal, every illegal transaction, every person he destroyed along the way." The words tumbled out of me. "She left it for me, along with documents proving his crimes going back decades."

Axel stared at me in disbelief. "Layla, that’s... why didn’t you tell me sooner?"

"Because I was scared. And because I didn’t know who I could trust." I looked down at my hands. "But there’s more, Axel. Something that makes me feel incredibly stupid."

"What is it?"

"Erica."

His face went pale. "What about Erica?"

"I think she’s working with someone. I heard her on the phone one time; it was like she was reporting to someone about me, about my movements, about what I was doing."

Axel ran his hands over his face. "Oh fvcckkk..."

"I haven’t confirmed who yet, but... I feel so foolish for believing she could actually be my friend. For the first time in my life, I thought someone genuinely cared about me, and it was all fake."

"I suspected as much," Axel said quietly. "I was ready to give her the benefit of the doubt, but things have just been too much of a coincidence with her."

"It doesn’t matter now." I wiped away fresh tears. "What matters is that I’ve been gathering evidence on my own, just like you have. A moment."

I left his study, went to my room and returned with the documents my mother had left in the old treehouse for me, spreading them before us.

Axel stared at them for over five minutes, without saying a word. Then, he looked at me with something that might have been admiration. "I know you’ve been investigating him this whole time, but... wow."

There was a moment of silence between us.

"I’m sorry," he said suddenly.

"For what?"

"For underestimating you. For thinking I needed to protect you from the truth when you were already living it. For not realising how strong and capable you are."

I felt a strange sense of relief wash over me. "I want to give it to you."

"What?"

"Everything I know and have." I tapped on the spread-out documents. "I want you to use it however you see fit."

"Layla, are you sure?"

"I’m done holding onto the past, Axel. I’m done being afraid of him, done being controlled by him, done letting his words define my life." I met his eyes. "As long as the people who hurt us get what they deserve, I don’t need to be the one to deliver the final blow."

He stretched out his hand towards me. "We’ll destroy him together."

"Together," I agreed.

—

The next morning at the office, I was reviewing quarterly reports when Helena knocked on my door.

"Henry Porter is here to see you, ma," she said in a completely neutral expression.

"Your brother?" I frowned. "Wasn’t he supposed to meet with Axel?"

"Mr O’Brien redirected him to you. He said you should handle the deal."

I felt a flutter of nerves. "Send him in."

Henry walked into my office looking decidedly more humble than during our previous one-on-one encounter. His expensive suit was perfectly pressed, but there was something almost sheepish in his demeanour.

"Mrs O’Brien," he said, extending his hand. "Thank you for taking the meeting."

I gestured to the chair across from my desk, but didn’t take his hand. "Mr. Porter... Mr Henry Porter..." I drawled. "How the tables have turned."

He had the grace to look embarrassed. "Actually, before anything else, I want to apologise for how I behaved the other day."

"Apologise?" I raised an eyebrow. "That’s unexpected."

"I was completely out of line. I was rude, unprofessional, arrogant." He settled into the chair. "I have no excuse for mybehaviourior."

"Well," I said dryly, "I’m still waiting for that dry-cleaning bill you mentioned. You seemed quite insistent that I pay for the damage to your suit."

He looked genuinely sorry as he rubbed his hands over his face. "Oh, God. No, please forget about that. There’s no need for any dry-cleaning bills."

"Really? So you’re letting it go because you realised you were being a jerk that day, or because you’re trying to secure a business deal?"

"I was being a jerk," he admitted without hesitation. "A complete and total jerk."

I leaned back in my chair, studying him. "And what makes you think I do business with jerks, Mr. Henry?"

He winced. "You don’t. Which is why I’m hoping we can start over." He stood up and extended his hand again. "Henry Porter, CEO of Porter Ascend Group. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

Despite myself, I was slightly amused by his theatrics. "And what exactly are you proposing, Mr Porter?"

"A clean slate. A fresh start. The opportunity to show you that I’m not always an insufferable ass."

"You’re still being annoyingly flirty," I observed.

"It’s part of my charm," he said with a grin that was probably supposed to be winning but just made him look like a used car salesman.

Before I could respond, there was a knock on my door.

"Yes?"

The door opened, and Helena entered with a stack of files. She took one look at Henry, and her entire demeanour changed. She avoided his gaze and quickly set the files on my desk.

"I’ll just leave these here," she mumbled, practically fleeing from the room.

The tension in the air was obvious. Henry’s confident facade cracked slightly as he watched Helena’s hasty retreat.

"That’s interesting," I said slowly.

"What’s interesting?"

"Helena’s reaction to seeing you. Almost like she knows you."

Henry shifted uncomfortably. "I wouldn’t know anything about that."

"Really? Because she looked like she’d seen a ghost." I stood up and moved around my desk to face him. "How could you do what you did?"

"I’m sorry, what are you talking about?"

"Don’t play dumb, Henry. I know everything about you and Helena."

His jaw tightened. "I don’t know what you think you know..."

"I know you abandoned her. I know you left her to take care of your younger siblings while you ran off to build your empire. I know she sacrificed her entire youth to raise children that weren’t her responsibility because you couldn’t be bothered to stick around."

Henry’s face darkened. "You don’t understand the situation."

"Then explain it to me. Explain how you could leave your family like that. Explain how you could abandon Helena when she needed you most."

"It’s complicated..."

"It’s not complicated at all. You were selfish. You put your own ambitions ahead of your family’s needs."

"You think you know everything, don’t you?" Henry’s voice rose. "You think you have it all figured out from whatever sob story Helena told you."

"She didn’t have to."

Henry stood up abruptly, his chair scraping against the floor. "I think we should keep this conversation professional, Mrs O’Brien."

"Professional? You want to talk about professional? There’s nothing professional about what you did to your family."

"You’re in no position to judge me," he snapped. "You don’t know the full truth of what happened. You don’t know what I was dealing with or what choices I had to make."

"You’re right, I don’t know everything. But I know enough to see that you destroyed Helena’s life and you don’t even have the decency to feel properly guilty about it."

"This meeting is over." Henry headed for the door, then paused with his hand on the handle. "We can talk about business if you want... or not."

"I think that will be up to you, not me," I said coolly.

After he left, I sat back down at my desk, my hands shaking slightly from the confrontation. A few minutes later, I gathered myself and headed to Axel’s office.

"How did the meeting go with Mr Porter?" he asked, looking up from his computer.

"It was... inconclusive. We’ll need to reschedule."

"Reschedule? I thought he was eager to form a deal with us."

"Let’s just say there were some personal complications that got in the way of business."

Axel studied my face. "Are you okay?"

"I’m fine. Actually, has Mrs Wellington’s team reached out about scheduling that meeting? She was supposed to have her people call us this week."

"Good question." Axel reached for his phone and dialled a number. "Let me check with her assistant."

I watched as he spoke with someone on the other end, his expression growing increasingly concerned.

"I see. Thank you for letting me know." He hung up and looked at me grimly.

"What is it?"

"Mrs Wellington won’t be coming to any meetings."

"Why not? Did she change her mind about the partnership?"

"No, Layla. She was involved in an accident."