OUR FOREST OF THORNS | tbosas ✔️

024 || Precautionary Action

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR —        Precautionary Action ..

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          The door before her opened promptly and with not even a second for their gazes to hold each other, Sejanus pushed the door to close it in Daphne's face. Her right foot stopped the door from closing and without missing a beat, she mused, "Did they not teach manners in District 2?"

Sejanus pulled the door open and glared, "You punched me." Though he threw a fugitive glance down at the bandage Daphne now wore thanks to that outburst of hers, she gloated at the fact that she had managed to inflict a lasting mark on Sejanus that would make her paid price be worth it.

"You deserved it," she countered.

"You called my mother pathetic," he stepped forward with the accusation, unbeknownst that she's been threatened by just about enough violent men in her life so far to look at him and piece together that he was just a stupid boy.

"I was holding back," Daphne responded, standing her ground, "she deserved much worse."

Sejanus' face grew red, but before he could do anything at all, much as she was curious to learn if he had it in him to defend at the very least his mother's honor, a much more thundering voice sounded from inside the house, calling his name and thus freezing him in place.

"Mr. Plinth," Daphne greeted a little louder, lifting her chin and wearing a satisfied smile as she pushed past Sejanus before he had the time to move out of her way, thus bumbing her shoulder into his.

"Miss Ravinstill," Strabo Plinth, Sejanus' father, tied up the button to his suit jacket and straightened up. "I've been expecting you. Please," he gestured for her towards his study, but not before throwing a pointed glare at his son for keeping his guest at the door.

Daphne, on the other hand, didn't stress herself with acknowledging Sejanus any longer, now that his father was within sight — after all, she wasn't there to tease a colleague she had been more than happy to ignore for all those years, but to settle a few deals with the profit-oriented man who achieved the ultimate dream of the most ambitious people in the Districts, that of turning poverty into a ladder to the top of the food chain, in the heart of the Capitol. There was something truly admirable to his relentless determination, much as there was an undeniable weak link to his desperation to remain afloat in this jungle of fellow tycoons.

As soon as they were both seated across from each other in his study, Strabo sighed, "I'm sorry Miss Ravinstill, but Gaul got here before you."

"So you've seen the footage already," Daphne's relaxed smile did not vanish, not even after watching his compliant nod. "What did she ask?"

"That I remove my support of your stay in Congress."

Daphne hummed, seemingly unimpressed by Gaul's request. She shifted in her seat, getting more comfortable, "I assume you realize the footage won't be going away any time soon."

"My boy will be costing me a fortune," Strabo acknowledged with a shake of his head. "I am aware."

"What if I told you I can make that recording go away though? For good." His responding silence told her that he was listening, "I will simply need you to hold off removing your public support."