Unveiling Plans

Ryan dropped his champagne glass on a tray and left the party hall, leaving Layla standing confused. He had neither denied nor accepted her allegations.

“If he isn’t the one responsible and I chase after him, I will lose sight of Harison and Felix. Felix is right there, I could go and confirm then find Harison… But Ryan said my clock is ticking, so he knows about the buying of the hospital… he was the one that gave the order!” Layla realized and tossed her glass aside and ran after Ryan.

She immediately left the hall and ran towards the parking lot. There were too many cars down there, she couldn’t risk going down to find him, so she stood in the middle of the road, waiting for his car.

Ryan’s car came screeching out of the parking lot. His eyes were on his phone, but he luckily saw her on time and swerved to the right.

Layla was grazed by the car and fell to the ground, wincing in pain.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Ryan yelled as he parked his car and got out. “Do you want to die?” he shouted and walked over to her. 

A few people who were outside ran to the scene. Everyone liked a good gossip in the end.

“Is she fine?” one lady asked. Others were already making videos of the scene.

“She is totally crazy, I saw her walk right there and stood on the road. The woman has a death wish,” another man said in mockery.

“Insult her once more and I will have your tongue pulled out of your vile throat,” Ryan turned to the man with cold eyes. “In fact, get the hell out of here, there is nothing to see here. Get the hell out of here, now!” he yelled and everyone staggered back and slowly dispersed, murmuring among themselves.

“People are really scared of you, you must be proud of yourself,” Layla said in mockery.

Ryan sneered at her.

“I am not a child Ryan, help me up,” she said and stretched out her hand and he pulled her up. 

“You never answered me. Are you trying to get yourself killed?” Ryan asked angrily.

“You also didn’t answer my question. Did you buy the hospital through Fesser Bank and have them deny my father treatment unless we pay off a thirty-million-dollar debt?” Layla asked, shaking her head in confusion.

“You are in no position to ask that question,” Ryan said and walked away. 

“But you are in a position to answer, aren’t you?” Layla said. “You own Fesser Bank, don’t you?”

“Fesser is a jointly owned enterprise, Layla. I saw you talk to two other shareholders earlier tonight, and neither of them were smiling after you left. You might have angered one of them and provoked them to do something that drastic,” Ryan said calmly in his defense.

“True, both of them are shareholders, but if I am not mistaken, you own more shares than them. I am no expert in business, but I know that that makes you the rightly head of the enterprise. So either you made the call or you sanctioned it,” Layla pressed.

“Impressive, you really are your father’s daughter,” Ryan commended her analysis. “However, I have people who handle such matters for me, they can sanction such matters without my presence. Besides, I have no motive to do anything like that. If I recall well, I only just started talking to you when you accused me of that, and you had already angered those other shareholders.”

“But that is also a motive, isn’t it?” Layla said.

“Pardon?”

“Yes, the fact that I didn’t talk to you but was talking to your subordinates, it must have enraged you. The lady you had asked to be your lady just yesterday was now talking to your subordinates, wearing the dress you got her.”

Ryan was silent for a while before nodding. “You are brilliant, I will give you that. But I think you think too highly of your brilliance and miscalculated.”

“Actually, I think you are the one that miscalculated,” Layla said with a smile. “I actually didn’t notice this until I saw Denise tonight, then it all made sense. Now, go with me on this, stop me if I am wrong.

“You have loved Denise since forever, and you started dating at some point, but she leaves you for Felix Fesser, a young man who had just started making waves in the city. It angered you, so to get back at him you bought the most shares in his bank, becoming the owner, but your actions only made people feel more secure and gave Felix more prominence for being able to raise a bank with so much potential you wanted to buy it seeing its future potential. It made everything he did seem like it was a sure investment and he bloomed, so you miscalculated that revenge. 

“Now, you want to get back at Denise, so you got me, the best friend of Felix’s ex. You planned to make it look like I was trying to get back at her for stealing Felix from my friend, to get her attention, but then you miscalculated my personality. 

“You assumed I would accept so you anonymously sent her a gift as a fan or secret admirer, very expensive jewelry and all, urging her to wear it out to her next event. You then got me the same dress, thinking I was going to accept your offer. You not only wanted to hurt her, you wanted to humiliate her, but you ended up humiliating me… and wasting your money. So genius, tell me, who miscalculated?” Lilian explained and since he didn’t stop her, she knew she was right or very close to the truth.

Ryan looked at her for a while, at a loss for what to say. “I’m going for dinner, we can talk about your grandfather on the way,” he said and got in his car and Layla followed, feeling accomplished.