Chapter 92: Out Of My Way

Evening soon arrived and both Damian and Vanessa found themselves waiting inside the Copper Hound, something that never occurred in their past meetings with Lillian.She was usually the one waiting excitedly on them, to share any new ideas she had come up with.

How the tables have turned...

But it didn’t matter, they only needed her for her use again, so waiting a few hours meant nothing.

"Where the hell is she?" well, maybe it did mean something, especially to Vanessa.

"Calm down," Damian muttered, though his own knee bounced restlessly under the table.

He swirled the glass of whiskey in his hand, his eyes moving to the entrance every few seconds.

Vanessa scoffed, folding her arms. "She’s late on purpose. She was always desperate for our approval, but now she thinks she can keep us waiting?"

"It’s fine," Damian said, still keeping his calm facade, "besides, it’s not even eight yet."

Vanessa let out a small huff but said nothing else as they waited for Lillian to arrive. Eight came and went but there was still no sign of Lillian.

By eight-fifteen, Vanessa was practically vibrating with irritation. Her manicured nails drummed against the table, creating a sound that seemed to irritate Damian judging by the twitch of his brows.

"She’s doing this on purpose," Vanessa muttered under her breath, "maybe as a revenge for the past."

Damian didn’t answer, though the way he downed the rest of his whiskey said enough.

At eight-twenty, Vanessa’s patience finally snapped. She pushed her chair back slightly, as if ready to storm out. "If she doesn’t show in the next five minutes, I’m—"

That’s when the door opened.

Both Damian and Vanessa instinctively turned, the words dying in their throats.

In walked Lillian, completely different from what the two remembered. Yes they had gotten her picture from Dmitri and they had also seen her during the live stream of Sentinel’s launch but seeing her walk towards them really let the reality sink in.

This wasn’t the Lillian they once knew.

She was dressed in a midnight black dress, one that fell just past her knees with a slit on the side that revealed enough to draw the eye without being gaudy.

Even Damian couldn’t help but gawk, only to have his toes stepped on by a massively displeased Vanessa.

He turned to her and was faced with a frown before they both turned back to Lillian who was taking her time as she walked towards them.

Behind Lillian came a lady the two didn’t recognize, but by her proximity, it seems they came together.

The lady was equally beautiful and modestly dressed as it the spotlight was only meant to focus on Lillian.

Her looks weren’t the only thing different about her, even the looks in her green eyes had completely changed.

The naiveness that had once been there was now completely gone, replaced by coldness.

If she wasn’t wearing a face they could recognize, they’d have doubted that this really was Lillian.

Vanessa was the first to recover, her lips curving into a smile so quick and wide it almost looked painful.

She stood, brushing invisible dust from her dress before spreading her arms like she was welcoming back a long-lost sister.

"Lillian!" she exclaimed, voice syrupy sweet. "Oh my God, it’s been ages! Look at you—you’ve... wow, you’ve really blossomed."

Lillian stopped at the table, her expression perfectly unreadable as she ignored Vanessa’s widely open arms. Her gaze moved from Vanessa’s too-bright smile to Damian’s guarded stare, then back again.

Finally, she pulled the chair out and slowly sat down.

"Vanessa," she said flatly, giving no hint of warmth in return. "Damian."

The lady she had arrived with, Aria, took a seat beside her not even bothering with an introduction before she signalled for the waiter.

Vanessa frowned at how she was ignored but quickly masked it and sat beside Damian who responded first.

"You really have changed, Lilly." Damian said, a certain glint passing through his eyes, a glint Vanessa didn’t like, not one bit.

"The same couldn’t be said for you two," Lillian responded with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

There was an obvious meaning hidden underneath that statement and the two understood it perfectly,

She knew they reason they were back in Atlanta.

Aria, on the other hand, had a proud smile on her face as she placed an order for both her and Lillian, it seems her coaching hadn’t gone to waste.

Vanessa’s nails dug into her palm beneath the tablecloth, though her expression remained stretched into that brittle smile.

"What do you—" before she could complete her words, Aria cut in, "cut the crap and get to the point, what do you want?"

They finally recognized her...well, at least, her voice anyway. She was the guard dog that had previously spoken to Damian on the phone.

"Guess there’s no use hiding behind a nice facade," Damian said, completely dropping the nice tone, "it was getting exhausting anyway."

There was no surprise at his change in tone, not from Lillian and definitely not from Aria. They both had a neutral expression on their faces as they looked at the two.

"Now then, Lillian," Vanessa started, "we’re here for a simple reason, introduce us to your boss."

Lillian almost laughed at the ridiculousness of their request, introduce them to Ethan? Not in a million years.

"Why exactly do you think I’ll do that?" Lillian leaned forward a bit, "especially after what you two pulled in the past."

"Naive little Lily," Damian chuckled, "when will you realize you have no other option?"

"It’s either that or," Vanessa continued, pausing a bit for dramatic effect, "we just release your past to the public."

"You wouldn’t want that now, would you?" She continued, "especially not since your company is about to launch its very first product."

"Think about how it’d affect your reputation," Damian added, "Lillian Hayes, the COO of OmniTech Corp, was accused of stealing someone else’s idea."

"Even if you prove yourself innocent again," he continued, "the seed of doubt would have been planted so deep that your and your company’s every action would be questioned."

They pause for a while, waiting to see the reaction of Lillian, and like they expected, there was a slight trembling of her shoulders or so they thought, before they could add anything else, she burst out laughing.

She calmly looked at them after getting it all out and leaned in, her voice dropping lower, the coldness in her tone cutting deeper than a shout could.

"You see, the old Lillian would’ve been scared of threats like that, maybe I would’ve even given in."

She paused savoring in the confusion on their faces before continuing, "but I’m different now, I’m not the same old, naive Lillian you used to knew, she’s gone.."

"Oh and about the past," extending her hand towards Aria, she was handed a folder before she passed it to the two, "you two might want to read this."

Damian hesitated a bit before taking it and opening it, his face immediately turned pale as she read through, confusing Vanessa, who was by his side, even more.

Snatching the file folder from Damian’s hand, she also opened it to read and her face took on the same color as Damian’s.

"Pretty interesting, isn’t it?" Lillian said with a small smile on her face, "I was pretty surprised myself when I ’stumbled’ upon these."

Aria resisted the urge to laugh as she watched the tables turn. If it was up to her, she would’ve swung a fist or two but this much was also satisfying.

She loved seeing her friend psychologically break the two. Though, it was also a bit scary since before this, Lillian seemed hesitant to even face them.

"W-what t-the hell Lillian?" Vanessa said, "I-I th-thought we were friends, what’s all this?"

"Oh," Lillian tilted her head, "isn’t this the friendly thing to do? Y’know, friends should know everything about each other."

"What do you want?" Damian said with a frown on his face and his fists clenched.

"There it is," Lillian smiled in satisfaction, "we’re finally asking the right questions."

Aria leaned back in her chair, sipping her drink, her expression the picture of smug amusement. She didn’t need to say anything—Lillian was handling this beautifully.

Damian’s jaw tightened. "What do you want?" he repeated, his voice low and dangerous.

Lillian’s fingers tapped against the table, once, twice, before she spoke. "It’s simple. You’ll stay out of my way and out of OmniTech’s way."

Her eyes glittered when she said that last word, and both Damian and Vanessa stiffened.

Vanessa leaned forward, her mask cracking, desperation leaking into her tone. "And if we don’t?"

Lillian’s smile widened just slightly, a predator baring teeth. "Then this—" she tapped the folder now lying between them on the table, "—goes public. Every shady deal, every stolen penny, every falsified record tied to your names. I made copies, of course. Multiple. Sent to places where even I can’t touch them anymore. One signal from me, and your reputations, your careers, your lives..." She shrugged delicately. "Gone."