Becoming A Tech Tycoon Begins With Regression novel Chapter 91

Chapter 91: Cut Off

"Hello?" Damian let out a groan as he put the annoyingly ringing phone on his ear, as he lay under the covers, with Vanessa’s head on his chest.

They might’ve gone overboard last night, but who cares? Might as well celebrate their easiest win right?

Early the next morning, Damian was woken up by the insistent ringing of his phone, so without looking at the number, he just answered it.

There was silence on the other end causing him to pull the phone away from his ears and looked at the screen when his eyes suddenly widened as he recognized it.

"M-Mr D-Dmitri, Sir," Damian quickly sat up straight.

Vanessa stirred, groaning as the warmth of his chest vanished. "What the hell, Damian?" she muttered, half-asleep.

"Shut up," he muttered as quietly as possible, slapping her thigh to silence her. His free hand clenched the sheets as he forced his voice steady. "I–I wasn’t expecting your call so early."

"I really had high hopes for you two," Dmitri’s voice finally came, his Russian accent clear through the phone.

"S-sir?" Damian stuttered out.

"I believed you moved to Atlanta to put your ’plan’ in play, no?" Dmitri asked, ""Then what is this I hear about you two celebrating, wasting time, wasting my money?"

Damian’s throat went dry. "W-we’re making progress, sir. I swear. Just—just a minor setback, nothing more."

Vanessa sat up now, sheet draped lazily over her, frowning at Damian’s tone. He pressed a finger to his lips to silence her.

"Progress?" Dmitri repeated, his voice suddenly sharp. "I see no progress, you’re supposed to have already started from the moment you landed in Atlanta, yet there’s no report from you."

"W-we’ll get to work right away," Damian quickly hopped off the bed picking up his clothes and signalling the confused Vanessa to do the same.

Without questions she also followed suit, quickly putting on her clothes and sitting on the bed in waiting.

"I do not normally grant second chances, Damian," Dmitri said, his voice low and measured. "But this time... I will overlook your failure. On one condition."

There was a pause.

"From this moment, all financial support I have provided to you and Vanessa is finished, until you two can show that you’re actually useful."

"W-what? But we need the—" before he could complete his words, the line went dead, leaving a stunned

"What the hell was that about?" Vanessa finally asked, irritation lacing her voice. "You looked like you were about to puke."

Damian turned to her slowly, his face pale. "He cut us off."

Vanessa blinked. "...What?"

"He won’t financially aid us anymore," he said with a frown, "not until we actually show results."

"I see," Vanessa muttered, "then let’s get to work."

She picked her phone up immediately after saying that before scrolling through her contacts, stopping at Lillian’s and hitting call.

_______

Lillian, on the other hand, sat calmly in her office a small smile of satisfaction on her face.

In her hands were a stack of pretty interesting folders that Aria had gotten her just the day before.

It was surprise that she had gotten so much information in so little time and with so little budget but she wouldn’t question the results.

She flipped through the first folder, Damian’s photo staring up at her. The neat printout beneath it catalogued everything Aria’s contacts had uncovered, failed schemes, debts he had piled up back in Boston, and a couple of scans he had pulled of.

"Pathetic," Lillian whispered, tapping her nail against his name.

It was directed at herself than Damian. She thought of her past self as pathetic since she couldn’t see that they were obviously using her.

The next folder made her pause longer. Vanessa. On the surface, polished and cunning, the girl who had pretended to be her ’friend.’ But the pages in front of Lillian told another story entirely.

Vanessa’s time at university, her involvement in certain scandals and the evidence of her backstabbing ways.

As she leaned back in her chair, the phone on her desk buzzed. Unknown number. She didn’t need to guess twice.

"Speak of the devil," she murmured before answering, though she was a bit hesitant, she still accepted the call, "Yes?"

There was a pause on the other end, and then Vanessa’s voice came through, forcedly sweet, something Lillian could clearly see now.

"...Lillian? It’s been a while since we last met up, hasn’t it?."

Lillian’s eyes moved down to the open folder in front of her, Vanessa’s picture staring back at her.

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