Page 65 of The Revenge Plan

Her eyes widened. “What are you going to do?”

I leaned over to her and whispered in her ear, “Be careful. A storm is coming.” I stepped back and gave her a look over. She truly was beautiful. She was even more beautiful tonight. It must have been her dress or makeup. Whatever it is, she glowed with something that felt like it came from deep inside. I thrust my hands and my pockets and strolled back to the party.

“I’m no longer with my family, if that’s what you’re referring to,” she shouted just as I was about to leave her, “I don’t care what you do to them.” She could say whatever she wanted to make herself feel better than them. I didn’t care.

I returned to the party. It was like any other fundraiser. The idea of wasting my time with them was no longer palatable. I had seen what I wanted to see. “Caiden,” Rachel called out as I was about to leave. “You must give a speech!”

I grimaced. I don’t know why I ever insisted on being on a first name basis with her. An excuse formed on my tongue, but she grabbed my hand and was already dragging me in the direction of the podium before I could say anything.

“We were looking for you until someone mentioned you were with your wife.” She nudged me playfully, “I saw you with Hailey,” her eyes gleamed, “first years of a marriage can be filled with so much passion,” she said wistfully. She spoke as if she was some old wizened woman, but she didn’t look that old. I thought she was in her thirties, now I was doubting her age. She drew me to a young woman in a blue silk gown who was speaking to a Chinese diplomat. I recognized her. Hailey’s friend.

“Alicia,” Rachel said, “please show Caiden to the stage and bring that special gift we had planned.”

I almost rolled my eyes. Alicia, on the other hand, tolerated me even less. Her tone was icy, and she glared at me the entire time. She dragged me to my seat at one of the best tables in the room and almost knocked me down when she pulled out the chair had I not jumped in time. She gave me a small apology that didn’t even try to sound sincere. Team Hailey, it seems. I wondered what lies Hailey told her. I took my seat and thanked her. A few moments later, I saw Hailey coming over. Of course. The name plate next to me said Hailey Lyndell. She glided like an angel. When she met Alicia, Alicia whispered something to her. Alicia pointed in my direction. Her face changed. Then Alicia hugged her. I couldn’t help wondering what they were talking about. She came and took her seat. The Chinese diplomat and her wife were the other people who we sat with.

The dinner began and we most ate in silence, letting the other couple do most of the talking.

In the middle of the main course I heard, “There’s something I need to tell you,” beside me. It was Hailey. She was in the middle of eating her main course. Not eating, rather, her fork was playing with the asparagus. It struck me as odd. This was the first time I had seen her deliberately not eating. However, she pressed her hand to her belly as though thinking twice and took a forkful of the food.

“Speak,” I said. With the way our heads were leaning into each other, a bystander would have thought we were talking sweet nothings to each other.

Rachel, who was giving a speech on the stage, chose this moment to call me on to the stage. She had Alicia present me with a gift. It was a surprise award for philanthropy. I had to admit I wasn’t expecting it. I made a small speech. My gaze wandered to her a lot throughout the time I was speaking. I couldn’t stop not looking for her in the crowd. She was enigmatic. When I came down, she said, “Not here, of course.”

“Where?” my phone vibrated in my pocket, “one minute.” I took it out. It was Fred. Seems like everyone was determined to distract us. He had sent a text.

Fred: There’s something else I’ve found out about your wife. It doesn’t cover the scope of the investigation, but I’m not sure if you want to know.

Fred again with his cryptic messages. I got up and went out of the room and called him. “What is it?”

“There’s a new development regarding your wife. Or you as well, I’m not sure.”

“You’re not making sense.”

“One of my guys who was tailing her saw her going to a doctor.” Tailing her? He shouldn’t be doing that. It didn’t sound like something that covered investigating her past.

“A doctor?” had she been hurt, “was she okay?”

“She went in looking fine and came out looking fine.”

“You’re teasing me out here. What’s the issue?”

“It was an OBGYN.”

I still didn’t get what he meant. Most women saw an OBGYN. Why was this necessary? When I was silent for too long, Fred said, “She’s pregnant. Or could be pregnant. She came out holding pregnancy pamphlets. Then she was seen going into a bookstore and bought a few books on pregnancy and motherhood. ”

I was stumped. Hailey pregnant? Was this what she wanted to talk to be about?

“Are you still there?”

“Is that all you know?”

“At the moment, yes. Do you want us to find out more?”

“No. I’ll do the rest myself. And Fred,”

“Yes.”

“Stop tailing her.”

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