The Strings Being Pulled

Ch 35

Harry's POV *2 hours later*

Peter had asked me to actually participate in one of the business meetings and had given me a description about it. I'm not exactly sure why he wanted me to do it but now I'm here, stuck in a room with Mr Mills trying to do peace negotiations.

My only reason for having agreed is because Mr Mills or Liza's dad, wants to kill Liza. If Liza's blood had been purified, they would've been out of a debt that they had to The Ophels but I didn't purify her blood. Now because of that, there have been a very sour relation between the two and they ended up becoming enemies.

"So to put it simply, in exchange for us to get out of our debt, we give you back your members?" Mr Mills raises an eyebrow.
"Yes, however, if any of them are either dead or severely injured then it's off." I answer. "I'm also asking you to leave Liza alone."
"Is that a business proposal?" he questions, his features are sure similar to Liza but he has a whole other vibe.
"50/50, it benefits us and her." I respond.

I overheard Liza's and Azula's conversation, things are piecing together. The anonymous man, he seems to know me well and probably know what's happening right now. Business meetings, peace negotiations or whatever is something I'm not an expert at but...

This is a test where Mr Mills doesn't realize he's being a puppet and that I'm somehow being observed. I don't understand why, there are a lot of things I don't. Liza is probably in some kind of test aswell, the result of this test won't matter but it's more of an observation. Considering we've been doing pretty much nothing since we started here, I'm assuming they are doing this to observe me and Liza to determine what we'd be good for.

Weller isn't in on this test but he's trying to warn us for something. It's impossible to tell if he's a good guy or bad guy, is the aconite meant to warn us of Anna? An aconite symbolizes caution or warning if my memory isn't wrong. I need to know who this anonymous man intentions are to learn what strings are being pulled and to decide what's good or bad.

"You'll need to answer one question for me then." Mr Mills states.
"Go ahead." I shrug.
"Why did you decide to keep her alive?" he questions.
"I was the one who saved her from being murdered by a gang two years ago and I don't get why I'd kill someone I saved." I answer, giving a smug smile. "Remember that incident?"

He bites his nails and his eyes widens a little after a few seconds. Though that is the truth, it isn't the full truth either. There was a voice in my head wanting me to befriend her the moment I saw her, when we met again two years later, the voice came back. Love at first sight? Maybe, who knows and who cares. I'm sure that I'm pressing a lot of buttons, all that I care about is Liza.

I'm glad I listened to that voice. It did something wonderful for me. Introducing myself as an arsonist to him in a mall was stupid but he's not exactly someone who lacks power so I really don't care. As long as negotiations turn out as we want, there's no issue. Bit odd to send a nobody like me in but then again, it's a test.

"Even if I did agree to that last part, my wife also wants to kill her." he states, seeming lost in thought.
"It doesn't matter to me, you'll get out of your debt if you go along with the deal and stop having a constant target on Liza's back." I respond.
"Give me three days." he breaks eye contact, seems like he's nervous.

Getting up from my chair, now noting down everything. I'm guessing he'll talk with his wife, Liza's mom and that will probably be extremely uncomfortable to explain to her. Though, The Ophels are surprisingly generous. Not even most people can be this generous. They're doing it to keep us, to have our loyalty and it works but it's not negative. Many businesses in general do that, it's not about the money, it's about the loyalty.

How am I gonna find out about the anonymous man? I know nothing about him and can't ask questions about him exactly. Everytime I try thinking about ways to get answers about him, it's as if some voice tells me I already know him but it's impossible to say who. My gut feeling is vague yet strong, i

"Very well, three days but, any more and it's off." I state.
"Fine by me." he replies.
"Glad we could talk." I fake a smile and shake hands with him.

I leave the room and go outside in an instant. This meeting was in an abandoned warehouse, fine by me but there was quite a lot of dust there which got in my eye. Besides, there's a lot of abandoned warehouses and such, most of the reasoning is unknown but it works for us. Peter is outside waiting, though he's frowning at his phone.

I approach him and tap him on the shoulder getting his attention. He's normally very neutral but it's obvious he isn't in a good mood right now. Whatever happened is better if I don't ask about.

"What now?" I ask.
"Just found out someone had tried robbing Catorce's apartment." he sighs. "But the police are handling it and I think it's better if we don't get involved."
"Alright." I reply. "Now, what are we gonna do about the person following us?" I ask.

Peter looks around in surprise, this person isn't the Leon guy and judging from the presence of this person, it's awfully familiar but I can't tell who they are and I can't tell where they are which is strange. I can pinpoint someones location if they are nearby but for some reason I can't with this person yet their presence is familiar.

Whoever this person is, they're good. I have a strange feeling that I don't need to worry about this person though, it feels like they won't harm us. I try to listen to the sound of a heartbeat or breathing, I can hear a faint heartbeat that isn't from me or Peter. Peter seems to be panicking so his heartbeat is rapid, this other one is consistent and calm.

Again, I can't pinpoint it, it feels close though so I think just searching will work but the person would notice and leave. I'll leave it, my guard is down but in moments like these, they are usually up. My guard is never down, well except when I'm alone with Liza.

"Forget it." I state and start walking.
"Why did you say someone was following us?" Peter questions.
"They are but, it's difficult to figure out where they are right now and we should go now." I answer. "Besides, if we leave now then if they follow us we can figure out who they are."

The person disappeared and my guard is back up again, this is too weird but I have no idea how I'd chase them.

*30 minutes later*

We aren't being followed anymore, why did they leave? Me and Peter are walking through a neighborhood right now that seems to be pretty luxurious. He's been on guard the entire time, guess I scared him. I feel my phone vibrate, it's Azula who sent a message. My head hurts from talking in a stupid meeting like that, her dad sure is annoying.

Azula: Peter texted me you were being followed
Everything ok?
Harry: Yeah, they aren't following us anymore though
Azula: Alright
Be more careful because you have a target on your back and anything can happen

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I felt myself smirking the moment I finished this chapter, just wait like 10 - 15 chapters to understand what I mean✨

Future me here: Currently on ch 98 rn, these chapters are being given some mild changes and nobody will notice cause nobody has read this (dead serious bout that) but if writing seems off here and there, that's cause of my changed writing.