Page 25 of Redemption
“It can’t be that bad. Just tell me,” I said nonchalantly, trying to get it out of him.
“The donation.” He paused.
“What about it? Are they asking for it back?”
“No, no. Don’t worry. That money is ours. It’s just that it’s not exactly what you think.”
“What is it then?”
“The donation came from Rosso Drilling,” he said as if that answered everything.
“I don’t understand. Why would they donate? We are going after them.”
“I offered them a deal they couldn’t refuse.”
“What? What kind of deal?”
“One where they have to clean the ocean and pay a small fine for their actions.” He was acting like what he was saying would be some terrible revelation to me.
“That is literally what we were trying to achieve, right? What’s the issue?”
He let out a frustrated sigh. “I didn’t send the report to the government, I didn’t even fill it out. I sent the lab results to their CEO.”
“Why would you—” I felt my eyes widen as everything clicked. “Small fine?” I asked uncertainly. He nodded.
“Instead of paying the government a large one, they paid us a small one. The end result will still be the same. They have sixmonths to fix the issue. If they don’t, I’ll send the report to the government anyway.”
I was quiet, just staring at him. “So you blackmailed them?” I asked plainly.
“I suppose you could call it that, though I prefer to think of it as a business negotiation.”
I sat back in my chair. His expression held some tension, but there was a sense of pride in his eyes I couldn’t ignore. I blinked at him, surprised by the boldness of all of this. I sipped on my water in silence, trying to process everything he was saying. I didn’t know what to say or do. My eyes fell from his to the patterns on the table in front of me as I mentally sank into myself.
“The only loss was to the environment, but they’re going to fix it now.” He forced a laugh and offered me his hands. “If a lot of innocent people were somehow impacted by this, then of course I wouldn’t have done it.” I looked down at his outstretched hands. They were completely still; he wasn’t worried at all. He pulled his hands back, seeing I wasn’t going to take them. “Come on, Sophia. Say something.”
“You took a huge risk.”
“Fortune favors the bold,” he said.
He sounded so sure of himself, and the conviction in his eyes was almost contagious. I couldn’t help but think of everything that could go wrong. What if they went ahead and polluted the ocean anyway? What would happen then? What if they reported him instead? Anxiety swelled within me at the thought. He received money through blackmail and gave me a massive raise and a bonus on the same day.
"Gabriel," I began hesitantly, “We might be in serious trouble if this gets out. What if they try to turn this around and accuse you of extortion?"
He stared at me for a moment, his eyes holding a glint of amusement. "And how exactly would they do that? They would have to admit to their crimes first, which are far greater than mine."
"But still, if anyone looks into this and sees they donated to us at the same time they are polluting the ocean, don’t you think the police would assume they are paying us off to ignore their crime?” I found myself asking, my mind racing.
He pressed his lips together, obviously considering that for the first time. Then he met my gaze squarely. “How many times have people and corporations gotten away with worse? It’s like I said earlier. There is nothing wrong with taking advantage of someone who made themselves fair game.”
“That’s not how you worded it earlier.”
He ran a hand through his hair, the frustration evident in his deep blue eyes. "Sophia, we have a chance to make a real difference, for ourselves. The ocean is going to be fine too."
"Difference?" I countered. "What if they turn on you? What if they decide it's easier to just get rid of you rather than uphold their end of the deal? They’re so willing to protect and enrich themselves, why wouldn’t they just come after you instead?"
My words hung in the air between us, unanswerable questions left to the future. He looked at me across the table, confidence and righteousness in his eyes despite my concerns.
"Sophia," he began hesitantly, "why would that happen? They already gave us the money." They upheld their end of the deal. He held out his hands again. “Everything is fine. This isn't a problem.” His eyes were pleading with me to see it the way he did.
