Falling in Love : I love you, Today and Forever
Chapter 762: New plan

Chapter 762: New plan

Preston couldn’t face his friends anymore and left Valerie’s office immediately. He was utterly in despair and needed some time with himself.

"Would he have gone to alert Jared?" Ryder mused as he looked in the direction his ’friend’ had gone.

"Possible." Valerie’s brows were drawn up in the inner corners as she thought about it carefully.

"Should we follow him?" Maggie was worried and she couldn’t stop pacing in the room. Although she was still suspicious of Preston, her determination to reveal his true face broke after his anguish-filled speech.

"No." Ryder shook his head immediately. "Preston is a very cautious man and he’ll know if we were to follow him. Moreover, I don’t think he’ll call Jared when he’s here. Anyone in the Intelligence could hear him and it’ll be detrimental to his plans if he’s caught."

"The truth cannot be hidden for long. It’ll come out one day. If not now, it will be in the future." Valerie stated and looked at her friends whose expressions mirrored hers. "I have a call to make. Excuse me."

Maggie and Ryder understood her intentions and stepped out of the room kindly. They did not forget to close the door after them.

"Is Preston innocent, Ryder?" Maggie questioned all of a sudden. She could not stop this question from revolving in her mind. It was as if every time she tried to push it to the back of her mind, it would pop up with full force again, compelling her to think about it again.

"I’m not sure, Maggie. Although I want to believe that he is innocent and it is all our speculation, we can’t ignore the evidence we have with us." Ryder sighed in frustration and ran a hand through his hair. "I just hope, in the end, we are wrong and Preston is actually innocent."

"Me too. Do you want to have a cup of coffee?"

"Definitely. I need some fuel to keep me going for the rest of the day. I’m already exhausted."

Maggie and Ryder proceeded towards the canteen while Valerie pulled out her phone and stared at the number hesitantly. ’Should I call him? Does he know something? Will he tell me?’ She wondered with her lips pursed.

Without further hesitation, she dialed the number.

"I was waiting for your call, Deputy." She heard Noah’s voice the moment the call connected and Valerie was surprised for a moment.

"In that case, you must know why I’m calling you." Valerie was smart and she did not beat around to waste time. She jumped to the important matter right away.

"Definitely. You want to ask me about Preston. Am I right?"

"Yes."

"Well, I’ll send you some files. You might be interested in it."

Barely had he finished speaking when Valerie’s inbox flashed with a new email. She opened the mail immediately.

"Take your time, Deputy. I’ll wait for your call."

The call disconnected and Valerie went through the files carefully. There were not just documents, there were also a few audio clips and videos. At first, she could not understand a few things. But as she explored more, her jaw dropped. However, it was the last video clip that made her lose her mind completely. She felt her heart drop and an explosion went off, sending her thoughts into mayhem.

"Oh my God!" She mumbled and covered her mouth while her eyes teared up. It was the most unexpected truth ever and she felt miserable.

With trembling hands, she redialed Noah’s number. Her lips quivered and she could not remove the ghastly scenes from her mind at all. Every time she closed her eyes, she would see the blood-filled scenes.

"Hello, Deputy?" Noah’s voice was oddly calm compared to her trembling self.

"What the hell was that?" Valerie was still in disbelief and she could not bring herself to accept the reality of the information she had just received. It was devastating.

"That is the truth, Deputy. I hope you now understand why I forgave my grandfather so quickly. The truth is a lot more vast than we know. We are just standing near the tip." Noah sighed and rubbed his forehead in dismay. His head started to throb lightly and he felt a migraine creeping in on him slowly.

"Are we going to proceed with the plan we discussed earlier? Or is there another plan in formation?"

"I have another plan, Deputy. The previous plan was just for coverup in case someone were to leak it to the enemy. I’ll send you the details soon. But we will only be executing it after a few days not now. I still have one matter to handle before that."

"I see. Does anyone else know about this matter?"

"Yes, Deputy. Joshua and Ian know about it too but not the others."

Valerie’s eyes widened in realization. She then understood why Ian had asked her to meet and had said all those words of comfort. He knew the truth while she remained oblivious to it.

’It was no wonder he asked me to think about the matter carefully. Fortunately, he came to my rescue. Otherwise, I’d still be drowning myself in misery.’

"And Deputy, I request you to keep this matter a secret for the time being. The fewer people know it, the better."

"I understand, Mr. Carter. You do not have to worry about it. I’ll do as you say. What about Preston?"

"You know what to do best when it comes to him, Deputy. After all, he is your friend and colleague."

Valerie nodded in understanding and tapped her fingers on the table. "Thank you, Mr. Carter. Thanks a lot. If not for you, I’d have blamed the wrong person and hated him for life."

"Not a problem, Deputy. We are all a team in this matter and we should stay united. Jared is a power to reckon with and the stronger we are, the better it is for us."

"I’ll see you around, Mr. Carter. Have a good day."

"You too, Deputy."

The call ended and Noah looked out of the window, his eyes filled with incomprehensible feelings. He bit the inside of his cheek before he shook his head. The days ahead were not bound to be peaceful.

Noah had no idea that his delay in execution of the plan gave Jared an opportunity to strike them, one that shattered their lives forever.