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CHAPTER 64
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A vow of hate CHAPTER 65
CHRISTIANThe sterile hum of the fluorescent lights above mocked my already churning stomach. I scrolled through the news article on my phone, re-reading the headline for the tenth time: "Medical tech CEO, Christian Walker, Accused of Harassment by Former Employee." My reflection stared back from the phone screen, a pale, haunted version of the man I used to be. The man I was ten minutes ago.The accusation itself felt like a punch to the gut. Grace, my ex-assistant, a woman I barely remembered beyond her constant need for coffee refills. We'd never… no, the thought was ludicrous. Yet, here it was, splashed across every news outlet, a digital scarlet letter branding me a predator. Anger, hot and primal, rose in my chest. This was a smear campaign, a desperate attempt to extort money. Grace had been let go some months ago for incompetence, not some fabricated harassment story. But the seed of doubt, planted by the sheer audacity of the accusation, burrowed deeper. Did I ever say somet
A vow of hate CHAPTER 66
CHRISTIANThe pristine white walls of Tim’s office felt just like a prison cell. Outside, the city buzzed with its usual frenetic energy, oblivious to the storm brewing within me. People were going on with their lives, the sun rose and set as usual, people married, had birthdays, went on dates and laughed as usual. The world was moving on, there was no waiting for me to sort out my mess. A week had passed since the accusations exploded, a week of frantic legal consultations, media inquiries deflected with practiced PR speak, and a deafening silence between me and Hazel—I barely left my room when I was home, and I tried to spend as little time as possible there. The couch in my office had become sort of like a temporary bed. The company had taken a hit, stock prices were lowering, different news anchors waited outside the building day after day, and they didn’t leave even when it was nighttime. Grandfather had called yesterday, and I wondered why he had taken so long. I expected all he
A vow of hate CHAPTER 67
HAZELWhen I first saw the news about Christian, I was in my mother’s hospital room, laughing and reminiscing about old memories. The first emotion I felt was shock–my heart dropped to the pit of my stomach and it felt like there was a gaping hole in my chest. Fear came soon after– what did this mean and what was going to happen? My hands started to shake and my breathing became labored. Soon enough, my entire body was trembling. I dashed out of the hospital to my car and drove home in silence, no music or anything— the noise in my head was loud enough. I found myself wondering if he was okay, if he needed some sort of comfort in that moment and if I would be able to render it to him. I wondered if he was home and if I would give him a hug when I saw him– would it make things awkward? Would it make him feel better? Was he okay?It wasn’t until I pulled up in the winding driveway that I realized that not once since I first saw the news at the hospital did I even consider the possibilit
A vow of hate CHAPTER 68
I sprinted down the stairs to the exit of the lounge with a confused Mia trailing behind me with her arms spread in question. I didn’t have the time right now, I would explain everything to her later. Once outside, I dialled Mark’s number. It rang a couple times before going to voicemail. I tried again and again but there was still no answer.“Shit!” My fingers rapidly flew across my phone screen as I sent him a text message. Hazel: What have you done Mark?I waited for a reply, but nothing came. A minute passed, two minutes, still nothing. “Fuck!” I was pacing now, and my mind was reeling with a million possibilities.“Mrs Walker? Is there a problem?”I turned at the sound of Dennis’s voice. I had completely forgotten about him. Smiling at him and attempting not to look so frazzled, I shook my head. “No, everything’s good. Can you take me to Christian’s office?”“Mr Walker’s office?” He asked, evidently concerned. I didn’t know if Christian had given him some other kind of order or
A vow of hate CHAPTER 69
“Twenty three year old ex Walker employee, Grace Smith, who a little over a week ago, came out with some serious allegations against her ex employer, Christian Walker, has now taken back the accusations. Miss Smith, who had accused Mr Walker of sexual harassment, showed up at the right moment when his wife, Hazel Walker, took a public stand in support of her husband. Miss Smith confessed to being forced, coerced and threatened by an unidentified male to cook up the story against Mr Walker. She claims that she was unable to keep up the lies anymore since she felt guilty as the accused has been nothing but kind to her. Miss Smith has now been taken in for questioning… more to come on this story at 10am tomorrow.”My nails dug into the armrest of the couch as I sat stiffly and watched the video recording of me and Grace Smith at the lounge earlier today okay over and over again. I turned off the TV and tried to breathe more evenly. Everything had worked out, somehow it had all worked out
A vow of hate CHAPTER 70
CHRISTIANMy mind was a jumbled mess the entire night. When I finally went upstairs, I spent a long thirty minutes staring at my reflection in the bathroom. I was feeling a million different things all at once. On one hand, I felt an overwhelming sense of relief at the fact that my name had been cleared. I honestly didn’t know what I’d do if it didn’t work out this way. My life had changed in the snap of a finger, and it was all going downhill real fast. I couldn’t bare the thought of my daughter having to carry that stigma forever, I would’ve never been able to live with myself. But with this relief came a lot of confusion. Who hated me enough to do something like this? I wouldn’t say that I had a lot of enemies. Of course, I had rivals in the business world, and maybe a few angry people who were mad that deals hadn’t worked out between our companies, but I didn’t think any of them would go this far. And the worst thing was that I probably would never find out the real truth.On the
A vow of hate CHAPTER 71
CHRISTIANI walked into the hospital with flowers in one hand and a bag full of chicken nuggets in the other. I said hello to the nurses in the front and handed them the chicken nuggets, ignoring the not so discreet looks of surprise on their faces. I couldn’t blame them. This was the first time I was doing something so personal. I mean, they were paid well and often got bonuses. But personally going to get them chicken nuggets was something I’d never done before. I tapped lightly on Hazel’s mom’s door and entered when I heard her small voice giving me permission. Her face brightened when she turned and saw me.“Hello Sandra,” I hugged her carefully and placed a kiss on both of her cheeks and handed her the bouquet of flowers. “These are for you.”“Oh,” she beamed as she took them from me and inhaled deeply. “They’re beautiful.”“Not as beautiful as you.”“Oh I can see why my daughter is absolutely taken by you. You’re such a sweet talker.” She laughed and carefully placed the flower
A vow of hate CHAPTER 72
HAZEL I slept till noon today, and when I opened my eyes to a brightly lit room and the cool afternoon breeze coming through my windows, I truly felt rejuvenated. That was some much needed sleep. I could hear Valerie’s voice from my bedroom, giggling and yelling something about “fishies”. With a smile on my face, I slipped my legs into the slippers at the foot of the bed and tightened my robe around myself before I walked out of the room. The noise was coming from Christian’s bedroom so I made my way over there. “Hey,” I smiled at Christian. “Did you sleep well?” “Yeah, I did.” Our high strung and ever energetic Valerie was jumping on the bouncy mattress, her curls flying every which way as she chanted, “fishies, fishies,” with every bounce. Christian grinned as he looked at her. “What’s all this about ‘fishies’?” I asked, feeling ridiculous as I said the word. Christian rose to his full length, and my eyes fell to his very naked chest. I felt heat rise to my cheeks immediate
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