(Day of the will reading)."This is absurd, I'm not going to do it!" Carla Davis interrupted the man reading her father's will, "I will not accept this farce, I will not marry this man!"With her office suit of black skirt and white shirt, straight black hair, and high heels, the beautiful Protocol assistant of the corporation stood up and squeezed her eyelids tightly."This is complete madness!" she cried out to everyone. Her breathing quickened, eyes filled with rage. She could not believe that her father had done this, sensing the real reason was only to hurt her."I don't know what..." She sighed to calm down, "I don't know what was the real intention of that man to do this to us, but it's ridiculous." And she started pacing back and forth like a caged beast because she was certainly an employee and couldn't do the slight of sneaking out leaving everyone with the word in their mouths.Several minutes earlier, Carla Davis was riding the elevator straight up to the President's depar
(Day of the will reading)."Excuse me, what did you just say? Are you the daughter of whom?" Maximiliano jumped up with a rather astonished and unfriendly look on his face. He had never expected such a relationship because, as far as he knew, Fred Davison had no children."Gentlemen..." interjected Lenis in a stupor. She knew that George was analyzing Davis' reactions and body language, while she was still visually connected to Max, "I have to get the chat room online now. If you'll excuse me..."Lenis did her job and within seconds, everyone in the room was able to see the image of Attorney Fitzgerald appear on the screen."Good afternoon. I hope I can be heard well.""Loud and clear," reported Lenis, smiling politically. "Excuse me," she said before turning away.After she left the meeting room, the lawyer spoke again from England."Thank you very much for being all present...""Sir, please, if I may..." interrupted Carla, evidently embarrassed and nervous. "You are Mr. Davison's...
(Day of the will reading)."Come, let's talk over there.," attorney George J. Miller asked his client before could do something stupid. George was well aware of the angry looks that Max was giving the assistant. "Carla, please wait for us."Lenis entered the boardroom at that moment and saw her husband nodding his head at the woman they were leaving alone. She understood perfectly what George was asking: to take care of her, to stay there, and to help with whatever she needed.Lenis nodded to her husband and approached the lady who was still not quite back to reality.Meanwhile, the two men passed into the CEO's office through an adjoining door that connected the two places. Max entered and George closed the wood behind him.The owner of the corporation turned to George."How serious is all this?""I can't figure it out yet, but turning down an inheritance isn't a game. Much less if we're talking about a foundation protected by the state, even if it's not subsidized. Also, you know wh
(Two weeks before the will reading).A girl's moans filtered through the gymnasium's ventilation ducts.Carla Davis, a beautiful woman in her late forties, with straight black hair, tall, fair skin, with slightly Asian features, mixed with English blood and Latin ancestry, turned off the shower faucet to hear the bustle better.It was evening, mid-December. Carla hadn't been able to attend the spa, swim in the pool, or work out for a while now, so that night she preferred to stay longer than the established time there at the gym where she always used to go.The shower was delicious. Warm, soothing water. But she needed to pay attention, staying still, trying to understand what was heard in the room.The echo allowed her to better listen to everything. Even a pin falling on the floor could be heard by anyone who was there at that time of day. The feminine moans were constant. That voice seemed to be trying to get someone to leave her alone at all costs.Carla felt goosebumps and swallo
(A day before the will reading). Maximiliano Bastidas' body had not only been training for hours. The muscular and athletic body of the CEO of one of the largest, most controversial, and important corporations in the city had been working out for years.And did the results pay off?He worked out every morning if business allowed. It is the end of December, a week before Christmas, it was one of those days where his office took a back seat with the sole intention of exercising.He needed it, he needed to drain urgently, and he needed exercise as much as he needed water or oxygen. Maximiliano longed to be able to free himself from the strong tensions generated in a year full of challenges. The past few months had been complicated, every single one, without exception.The grass in his huge courtyard, almost flooded by the rain, made his steps more difficult to execute and with the spacious ceramic floors he encountered from time to time, he had to be careful not to fall."Sir! Sir!"He
Maximiliano got up from his chair and left his office, heading upstairs. Upon entering his bedroom, the largest in the house, he walked straight to his cell phone.Dialed the number of his lawyer, who answered in less than three rings."Bastidas calling me early, this is weird," the lawyer joked. "What happened now?""Fred Davison is dead," Max reported. He could almost hear the gears of his legal advocate kicking in."When did it happen?""Lenis just called me and confirmed it.""Mmm..." There was silence between the lines. "I'll get up to speed on his company's situation right away."Max wanted to say, "Yes, please," or "Perfect," but chose to remain silent. He didn't like the deceased, but he was a human being after all, and it seemed cruel and disrespectful to confirm to his lawyer that the interest in calling him was only to investigate the status of the deceased's shares and assets. In other circumstances, he might not have minded being this painless with business, much less wit
"Carla, what are you doing here? Weren't you sick?" Bobby Clarence asked when he saw her enter the Protocol department.The director of that area, a tall, thin man, with a lined face and black hair combed back with gel, wearing a lead-gray two-piece suit that seemed a little big for him, stood up from his seat behind the desk as a courtesy, surprised to see one of his four assistants on a day's leave."Bobby," she greeted, standing very close to the door, "can you explain to me what a girl from human resources is sitting in my cubicle? She tells me that the department has sent her to... to replace me.""Sit down, please." Clarence pointed to one of the two chairs in front of the table.Carla agreed, avoiding letting out a sigh."Replace is not the word. Supply. And only while you're on leave..." He interrupted his words abruptly. "You were on leave, weren't you?"Carla, at times, had to deal with the strange decisions and attitudes of her most direct superior: the annoying Bobby, as so
Carla closed the door and headed into the living room.She sat down in the largest armchair, placing the box on top of the low table in front of her.She inhaled deeply and opened the box. Took out a thick folder. It was wrapped in a giant plastic envelope with the logo of an international delivery company on it.The folder bore the logo of Davison & Associates. She opened and read the headlines on the document."Accounting records?" she whispered to herself.The number-filled spreadsheets showed accounts for the last five years of his father's company."Partnership? Board of Directors?"After the pile of accounting sheets, there was a file of each associate of the company, showing the entire structure."Why am I reading all this?"The answer came as she turned one of the last pages. The headline read: "International Associates".Her breath caught in the throat and the folder almost slipped from her hands.Carla had to drop it, open, onto the wooden table.Brought the hands to her mou