The Day Silence Spoke novel Chapter 171

The voice on the other end sounded confused. “Why? He has no reason to do this. He’s the sole heir to the Lambert Group. The entire company will be his one day. What’s his motive?”

“Sole heir?” Santino scoffed. “Don’t give me that. He must have known something for a while now.”

A sigh came from the other end.

“I have to go,” Santino said, hanging up and striding away.

He saw Clifford’s car parked by the side of the road, its headlights cutting through the darkness. He was waiting.

Santino walked up to the car. Through the window, he could see Clifford leaning back, one arm resting on the open window frame, a cigarette dangling from his fingers. His shirt collar was unbuttoned, giving him a look of casual indifference.

Santino’s smile returned. “Waiting for me?”

Clifford turned his head, his gaze calm as he watched him through the curling smoke, his face obscured and mysterious.

“You’re a smart man, brother-in-law,” Clifford said, his tone ambiguous. “So how could you make such a foolish mistake?”

Santino chuckled and opened the passenger door, sliding in.

The car pulled away, stopping at a deserted crossroads. Clifford lowered his window further and lit another cigarette, the brief flare of the lighter illuminating his sharp features before plunging them back into shadow.

“I had a few questions for you, Clifford,” Santino said, turning to face him. “But now it seems I don’t need to ask.”

He said it with a mock sigh of sympathy. He had originally told Latisha that Clifford didn’t care about her just to provoke a reaction. Now, it seemed, it was the absolute truth.

Clifford knew she was in Santino’s hands but pretended not to. He feigned anxiety to lower Santino’s guard, waiting until the investment proposal was approved before seriously searching for her. Santino had believed he was genuinely distracted by concern for her safety, which is why he’d submitted the final plan with such confidence.

Even though he later suspected Clifford’s act, the papers were already signed. All he had to do was transfer the funds. Clifford’s signature was on everything. From there, he could manipulate other assets, create a liquidity crisis, and force the Lamberts to either sell their shares or dilute them. Either way, it would give him the opening he needed to use the transferred money to slowly buy up control of the Lambert Group.

He never imagined Clifford was one step ahead of him the entire time.

Clifford’s gaze darkened. The cigarette between his fingers had burned down to the filter, the ash falling unnoticed to the ground. He ignored the jab about Latisha. “Why are you doing this?”