Chapter 8: My Plan

-=Ang's Point of View=-

The following morning, I decided to take my plan into action, so I looked for Miranda, who happened to be in Anthony's room.

"Good morning!" I cheerfully greeted her, and I found her talking to the comatose Anthony.

I could tell that I caught her off-guard since it hadn't been that long since I showed her animosity, but since we agreed on a truce, it wouldn't be that surprising if I tried to treat her better.

"Good... morning," she hesitantly replied, her confusion evident on her beautiful face.

For some reason, I felt a sense of irritation inside me when I noticed her touching Anthony's hand, seemingly genuinely concerned for my brother. If she really cared for him, she wouldn't be flirting with any other man, but of course, I stopped myself from saying things that would blow up my plan.

My objective was to win Miranda over and remove her from my brother. I would make sure she had no choice because she refused to voluntarily sign the divorce papers. The most convincing reason to declare their marriage void would be adultery.

I put my hand on her shoulder, and she stiffened up, and I smiled to myself, knowing that Miranda would not have liked that. I was aware of her attraction to me, and I planned to take advantage of it.

"Thank you for taking good care of Anthony, Miranda," I said, forcing a smile.

I ignored the weird feeling I felt when I touched her shoulder.

"You don't have to thank me; it's my obligation to take care of him since he's my husband, but I hope he wakes up soon," she said.

Since she couldn't see my face, there was no need for me to conceal the animosity on my face. Since I didn't believe a word she uttered, I don't believe that she wanted Anthony to wake up since it would stop her from fooling around with those men.

Aside from being a liar and a golddigger, she had a talent for manipulating others; no wonder she convinced Anthony to marry her. I almost...

I dismissed that thought in my mind when I remembered the time that I almost believed her sincerity; that mistake was all in the past, and I would not let myself be fooled by her again.

What matters to me now is to prove what kind of woman Miranda Sandoval truly was.

It wasn't long until I asked her to come have breakfast with me. Mom said with a smile, "Oh, it's good that you're coming down together, and I'm impressed; you two seem to be on good terms."

We both didn't comment on that, as we coincidentally looked in each other's direction, and an awkward smile formed on her lips.

I made sure Miranda felt welcome in our family as we started to eat. In actuality, though, all I was doing was making sure that there would be no way out once she fell.

I went back to my room after breakfast to get ready for work. After taking an hour to get dressed, I decided to see how Anthony was doing before heading out.

Fortunately, only the nurse was with him, so I asked him to leave us alone.

I kissed Anthony on the forehead and said, "Anthony, I'll take care of your wife. I will make sure she gets what she deserves after what she did to you." Then I walked to my car.

I started looking into the business's affairs at work. Several reports had a lot of data discrepancies that made them seem suspicious. I felt that something was off, particularly with several of the projects, which piqued my interest. I carried out my investigation despite Andres's offer for help.

I quickly called Daryl, the head of the finance department, as most of the anomalies I discovered were related to it.

"Can you enlighten me on what these are??" I asked him as soon as he stepped into my office.

He tried to come up with an explanation only to end up stuttering so much, and seeing that I would not be getting any sensible reason from him, I decided to give him until the end of the day to provide me with a valid explanation, which he failed to do so, so by the end of the day, I dismissed him from his position.

"Why did you remove Daryl?" I was surprised when Andres got into my office without notice.

"After reviewing these papers, I found unexplained funds from last year to this year. I gave him until the end of the day to explain, but he failed to do so," I went on to say.

"But... I've known him for so long. I never thought he'd do something like this," he said, perplexed.

"If that's the case, then perhaps there are other people who were taking advantage of their positions. It seems there is a need to remove the rats in this company," I said gravely, which he approved.

We started looking through questionable documents, and by the end of the day, five more people had lost their jobs—among them, the head of finance, who had at first balked but had eventually resigned after seeing proof of the allegations.

"I'm impressed," Andres said as the last person resigned.

"About what?" I asked.

"I'm impressed with your dedication; it was only your first day, but you managed to find the problem in this company and correct it, and I am confident for a bright future for the company with you here."

"Just doing my job; this is a family business, anyway," I grinned in response. My dad really owned this company, but Andres took it after his death and Mom's second marriage. I wanted to be independent of our family's money and start over, hence working under Henry's company in Australia.

"There's no wonder Henry Cervantes had such faith in you," he added, smiling.

After finishing every urgent matter in the office, I finally left, but on my way, I thought of stopping by a nearby flower shop when an idea struck me.

"Please, I'd like two bouquets of roses." I smiled. I swiftly placed my order, made my payment, went back to my car, and drove home.

When I found Mom outside, it just so happened that Miranda, the person I was hoping to see, was with her.

"Good afternoon to the two most beautiful ladies in the house," I said as I gave Miranda the flowers and instinctively kissed Mom's cheek.

"Thank you, my darling child," Mom grinned. To place the flowers in a vase, she went inside.

As Mom walked inside, Miranda questioned gravely, "Why are you doing this, Ang?"

I humored, seeming perplexed, "Is it wrong to give my sister-in-law flowers?" She looked at me questioningly, and even though I felt a little unsettled in her presence, I forced myself not to look away.

She murmured, "Thank you," and a small smile appeared on her face. Even though it was growing late, everything seemed to be brighter all of a sudden. My heart raced at the slight smile, but I had to remind myself of Miranda's morality.

"I'll go ahead," I replied, thinking it would be best to get out of there before she noticed how her smile affected me.

I couldn't help but look back as I walked inside the house and saw Miranda sniffing the flowers I had given her.

"This might be easier than I thought," I told myself, certain that I would be able to separate Miranda and my brother in no time. But I was ready to go above and beyond since I knew it would take more than flowers to win her over.: : :