Chapter 351 351: What Friends Are For
Gray's breath hitched as the vault door slowly opened. For a moment, he just stared at the it.
Inside, there was no money, no gold, or even expensive jewelry. The only thing you could see there was a stack of folders.
They were neatly arranged inside. Each one had labels on it that looked like numbers.
Gray's brows slowly furrowed as he saw it.
"Files?" he whispered in the air, confused at it.
That was not what he expected at all! But still, this was better. Maybe this was the most important file in Alistair's life.
[4:42]
[4:41]
As the time lessened right in front of his eyes, Gray knew he had to keep moving. So, he dropped everything on his mind and sat on the floor. He placed the vault in front of him. Then, he quickly grabbed the first folder and opened it.
The moment his eyes landed on the contents, his pupils shrank.
"T-This…" His fingers tightened around the paper at what he saw.
The files inside the folder weren't just any document. Instead, it contained pictures. And it wasn't just any pictures of random people. They were pictures of the people he met during the dinner. They were the trusted allies of Alistair!
"Damn…" Gray was speechless.
Every picture contained different shots. The first one was Leonard. He was photographed entering a hotel secretly with a woman who was obviously not his wife. The woman in the picture looked like a young model, and the two were seen being intimate with one another.
Gray's eyes moved to the next picture.
It was a picture of Victor in a private room with other well-known people. But the focus on it was the stripper everywhere. It was a scandalous picture for someone like him!
The next pictures were all the same. They contained each one's secrets. Pictures that were surely bring someone down when exposed.
Gray quickly checked the next folders. The next one looked like a list of transaction records. There were large money transfers of large amounts from different influential people to Alistair's personal account.
"Holy shit…" Gray breathed out. This has everything he wished to have!
He flipped the other pages, and he saw a more detailed list of transactions there. There were even pictures of emails. Without thinking further, he immediately grabbed another folder.
This time, it was the list of illegal deals they made, along with the names of familiar people beside each list.
"…"
Everything is dirty. There was really just so much dirt that he couldn't believe it personally.
"What a revelation…" Gray's hands slowly lowered. He looked at the air in disbelief. Then, after a couple of seconds of silence, he suddenly laughed.
"Heh…"
"Hahahaha!"
"Really?" he whispered in disbelief. He slowly shook his head.
"I thought they were all friends. I thought they were all close to one another, like close brothers." He looked at the folders again and scoffed.
"But it seems like Alistair…" His eyes darkened. "is smarter than all of them."
This vault wasn't just any storage to keep things. This was where he kept his leverage and secret files to make sure that no one around him would betray him. And if they did, he has something against them to keep their mouths shut.
"He's really wicked, isn't he?" he could only shake his head.
Now, he saw Alistair in a different light. He was actually not someone who trusted people so easily. Instead, he pretends and make sure he was higher than everyone. That made him a little scared.
Because what if… Alistair also had something against him now?
"That paranoid bastard…"
But Gray knew not to stop here. He quickly took all the remaining folders and looked at the time.
[2:59]
His heart skipped.
"Shit."
He didn't have time to even look at the other files. He will just look at it once he had time!
With the 33 minutes remaining, he quickly moved the folders. Fortunately, he brought his bag today. He quickly opened it and shoved the folders inside.
His hands moved fast, but also carefully enough. He made sure not to bend them or even leave any creases on the pages.
After all, this was his weapon now.
[2:13]
[2:12]
[2:11]
He looked inside the vault, and it was empty. He took a deep breath and quickly closed it. He made sure that it was locked again before stuffing it at the back side, in the place where it originally was.
After making sure that he got that right, he immediately began fixing everything else. He returned the outer folders, then the next ones next to it. Good thing he has good memories, so he was able to move everything to their exact positions.
[0:21]
[0:20]
[0:19]
With just 20 seconds left, he also wiped the surface of the cabinet, especially those within deep parts.
[0:09]
[0:08]
[0:07]
Gray quickly made himself looked busy. As if he was just starting to look at this cabinet/.
"Calm down…" he whispered to himself as he heard his heartbeat loudly thumping against his chest.
*Thump.
*Thump.
*Thump.
[0:02]
[0:01]
[Ding!]
[5 minutes is up.]
[Everything has been set back to normal.]
Gray's fingers twitched slightly at that voice. Before he could even completely calm down…
*Clock.
The sound of the door handle turning sounded.
Gray's entire body froze when the door opened. Alistair stepped inside with Steven behind him.
Gray's heart dropped at it. For a split second, their eyes met.
Gray forced himself to remain calm as he had no other choice either way.
He blinked once as if surprised, then he immediately smiled.
"Mayor?" Gray said before dropping his hand and stepping back.
Alistair looked at him suspiciously.
"What are you doing?" he asked dangerously.
"Oh," Gray raised the folder in his hand slightly. "Steven asked me to help find something. The blue file, he said." He answered naturally.
"He said you really needed it and he was still busy, so I volunteered to help." Gray put on the biggest smile he could muster.
Alistair stared at him for a while. He was obviously studying him. But when Alistair saw that Gray's eyes were filled with calmness and enthusiasm, he let out a deep sigh. Alistair was tense for no reason.
"I apologize, Gray. I didn't know you volunteered to help."
"Hahaha, no worries, Mayor." Gray kindly smiled. "It's what friends are for."