'I Do' For Revenge-Chapter 77: Be A Little Normal

"Anything yet?" Axel asked in a low voice as he adjusted the cuffs of his black jacket. He stood in the dim light of the foyer, his dark clothes blending with the shadows.

I was dressed in a black turtleneck, my hair pulled into a tight bun, ready for our stakeout mission. I shook my head. "Nothing yet."

I opened my phone, scrolling through messages, hoping for an update from the guard at Erica’s safe house. The screen remained stubbornly blank, and my fingers tapped impatiently against the device.

Axel leaned against the wall, his eyes scanning me. "Who do you think she’s working with?"

"I have no idea," I admitted, slipping my phone into my pocket. "But I suspect Cassandra."

"Hmmmm... Since when?"

"Since that random text she made to me out of nowhere after so many years. I mean... I was genuinely happy to hear from her. It felt like reconnecting with an old friend after our abrupt loss of communication back in high school. But after we hung up, something didn’t sit right."

"What do you mean?"

"I kept thinking about how her family’s business tanked, and I know it was because of my father. He saw her as a distraction to me, so they had to leave town after the rundown business of her after. So I started to think: what if she’s holding a grudge? What if this is about revenge?"

Axel raised an eyebrow. "You didn’t mention this before."

"Well, I gave her the benefit of the doubt," I said, crossing my arms. "I wanted to believe she was just reaching out as a friend. But then, when Cass and Daniel showed up at the house with the police, I saw Erica exchange this look with Cassandra as she was leaving. It was quick, but it made my suspicion skyrocket."

Axel nodded slowly, processing. "I honestly thought you were being naive, overly trusting someone you haven’t seen in years. I didn’t want to push, but..."

"So you did see me as stupid... wow."

"That’s not what I meant... I..."

My phone beeped before he could complete his response. A message from the guard flashed on the screen, complete with a live location share.

"Got it," I said, my pulse quickening. "They’re just leaving now."

"Let’s go," Axel said, grabbing his keys and checking my phone for a few seconds. "We’ll trail them, keep our distance, and see where they end up."

We slipped out of the house like shadows and climbed into Axel’s car. He drove, following the live location pin as it moved through the city.

The trail ended at a fancy restaurant in downtown, its glass front shining with warm light. Axel parked a block away, far enough to avoid notice but close enough to observe.

"Can you see anything?" he asked, adjusting his rearview mirror.

"There," I said, pointing through the restaurant’s windows. "Erica’s sitting alone at a table, sipping wine."

Moments later, a young man in a tailored blazer approached, greeting her with a smile.

"That must be her date," I murmured, leaning forward in my seat.

"He looks young. Clean-cut. Could be anyone."

We watched as the evening unfolded. Erica laughed at something the man said, and her gestures were kind of... animated. They ordered food, clinked glasses, and seemed engrossed in conversation.

"Nothing about this screams suspicious," Axel observed. "It looks like a perfectly normal date."

"Maybe too normal," I replied, though I was starting to feel foolish.

I kept my eyes on them, but my mind wandered to other business matters as we watched. "What do you think about Henry Porter?"

"What about him?"

"I was thinking we could test him with marketing Eclipse Beauty. His logistics network could give us an edge against Cassandra’s suppliers."

Axel’s jaw tightened slightly. "I’m not sold on him. He worked for your father before, Layla. That’s a red flag... infact, a red banner. We don’t know if he’s fully cut ties or if he’s playing both sides."

"But that’s exactly why he could be useful," I countered. "He knows the Watsons’ playbook. His network could help us outmanoeuvre them, especially with suppliers. We could meet him together, feel him out."

"You really think he can be trusted?"

"I think he can be useful. Trust is different from utility."

Axel exhaled, keeping his eyes on Erica’s table. "Fine. Let’s set up a meeting with him next week, before the pre-launch event. But we proceed cautiously."

"Agreed. We’ll test him with something small first."

"Like what?"

"Maybe have him handle distribution for our sample campaign. If he screws us over, the damage is contained."

"That could work."

We watched as Erica and her date finished dessert, paid the bill, and left the restaurant, strolling arm in arm. The stakeout yielded nothing concrete: no hushed deals, no suspicious exchanges, just what appeared to be a genuine date.

I slumped back in my seat, frustrated. "This was a complete waste of time."

"Not necessarily. Sometimes ruling things out is valuable too."

"I suppose. But I was so convinced something was off about her."

"This night didn’t need to prove anything, you know? We can keep observing her with the bugging device, maybe add a few tiny cameras to it."

"Or does she suspect something and want to use this to throw us off the trail?" I asked, dreagging my hand over my face. I let out a sigh. "I’m sirry if I wasted your time, Axel."

Axel turned to me with a glint in his eye. "It doesn’t have to be a waste. I mean... What if we make this our own date night?"

I sighed, rubbing my temples. "Axel, I’m exhausted. I just want to go home and collapse."

"Come on, when’s the last time you did something just for fun? What if we catch a movie? It’s been ages since I’ve had time for one. We could hit a theatre, grab some popcorn, and actually relax for once."

"I don’t know..."

"You’ve been running on stress and adrenaline for weeks. Eclipse Beauty, your family drama, the Erica situation... when do you ever just take a break?"

I hesitated, then felt my resistance softening. "Fine, but on one condition: I’m picking the movie."

He chuckled, starting the car. "Deal. What did you have in mind?"

"You’ll see." That was the only repliy I gave.

As we drove toward the theatre, I made a mental note to call the guard later, asking him to dig into whether Erica’s date took any detours or if he could pick up any of their conversation.

But for now, I was willing to let myself lean into the idea of a night off, even if just for a couple of hours.

"You know," I said as we pulled into the parking lot, "this might be exactly what I need."

"Sometimes the best strategy is knowing when to step away from strategy altogether."

"When did you become so wise?"

"I’ve always been wise. You just haven’t been paying attention," he replied with a sheepish grin.

Despite the business wars, the family drama, the constant surveillance, I found myself laughing. Maybe Axel was right, maybe sometimes the best thing to do was just be normal for a few hours.