‘You know what, Jade?”“What ma’am?”"I have made my decision and there is no going back on my words. With my authority in this company, fire Kevin and his fellow dubious colleagues. They must serve as an example to others who might have the same intention. This company isn't for embezzlement or t show who is boss between another, fire them all.""Huh?" Jade is taken aback and for the first time, Jade shows an expression that is not been submissive. In her defense, this is the first time Bethany is making such a decision and it seems like she means it. "Are you sure ma'am?“ She asks, wanting to be sure she heard it all right.“Yes. I needed to know who stood with Kevin and who didn’t. the meeting today was just to rile them up and let them show their true colors. Happy it worked. You saw them all as they walked out, openly showing that they obey no one. This is about more than just power play now, it’s about loyalty and integrity and those people have neither. I’ll not tolerate insubo
She stands in front of the building, her hands behind her back in a stiff stance, looking at her new workplace.Having returned back to the city over a week ago, she had been asked to take the week off and today is her official first day at work.Open Eyed Security Company, OESC.A company known for its good bodyguards and men who know their boundaries, fit to be dispatched to anyone anywhere and at any time. Chara walks in through the double doors.“Miss Worth, Mr. Henderson has asked you to see him as soon as you resume for work.”Chara nods and takes the elevator to his office.Her direct boss in the company, Henerson sits behind his chair, his eyes drawn to something he keeps staring at and occasionally tapping on his computer. His secretary gives her the go ahead to proceed into the office to see him since he has been expecting her anyway.Chara knocks twice before opening the door.He raises his eyes to see her and the creased eyebrows straighten. “Madam Worth, lovely to meet yo
Some minutes before the press conference, Mason leans back in his office chair. He had been having a conversation with John's rival and it seems it will take forever before it can be finalized. For unknown reasons, he is feeling skeptical about the conference as if something is going to happen. Knowing what he is doing, it’s a justifiable feeling, but he would rather have someone else take care of it than himself.Calling Mark, his assistant. "Are you sure the officers are here? I'm having some weird feelings about the conference.""Of course, there are eleven in total. As far as I was informed, they have arrived already." Mark responds, sounding all professional.Mason sighs, not out of relief but out of complicated feelings. At least eleven officers are more than enough for the conference but he still didn't have any good feelings about it.John Worth is a scumbag. He could do something large scale just so he could get the contract. Until the contract is signed, he fears this feelin
Mason later focuses on the conference but his inner mind is totally fixed on that woman so badly. How can she show up in front of him?"So, contrary to some spread out rumors about which company will be getting the contract, I don’t know the source of the rumor most especially since the decision about the contract had never been finalized until just yesterday, funnily enough, it will be awarded to the rival to the supposed entitled company. " As soon as Mason finishes talking, there is murmuring among the reporters, but he pretty much does not care.The room buzzes with the flashing of cameras and the murmurs of reporters eager to capture the moment.At that moment, as he penned down his signature with a triumphant laugh of revenge, his gaze flickers over to where Chara stood by the entrance. He is expecting a shocked expression from her, but her side profile is calm, meaning she isn't bothered by the announcement.Technically, John Worth is her brother I law, how could she not care?
At the same time that John is being rudely carried out for his bad and shameless behavior, the atmosphere in the Campbell Corporation’s lobby changes as well, as Kevin, flanked by a small army of disgruntled fellow officials, storm towards the exit, their faces flushed with rage. "I told you to let me go." Kelvin yells forcefully, trying to free himself from the hands of the men throwing them out, but they are stronger than him, far stronger.“I will come back with police officers! Just you see.” He bellows, his words dripping with anger. “You think you can just throw us out because you are the boss? This company will be rendered unfit to work, I promise you that!”Mark, another supposedly wronged official sighs. Even though they are being dragged out, he still manages to maintain his steeze and composure, and doesn't say a word. However, it seems Kevin keeps adding to their embarrassment as he keeps yelling over everything and keeps struggling to release himself, it’s getting everyo
Up in Bethany's office, the atmosphere has become a little more relieving since she made the order about Kevin and his cohorts to be kicked out. And now, it has become a little bit tense as soon as the representatives of the Trust Auditing team demands for Bethany's attention.Bethany sits across from them in her office, Jade stands beside her, her eyes scanning the room as if anticipating some drama, hasn’t been long since the last one anyway. Kevin had been over just a few moments ago, and now the Trust Auditing team is sitting here with different files, ready for business.“Good afternoon ma’am. Its an honor to be here once again.” A woman starts as she extends her hand for a handshake. “I am Aneeya, the head of this team.””Nice to meet you ma’am, I am Bethany.” Aneeya glances at one of the other staff member behind her and he comes forward. The auditor lay down a stack of documents on the polished mahogany table, the sound echoing like a gunshot in the quiet room. Bethany rais
Some few hours before the Press Conference at the Campbell Hospital, Daisy paces around the station, trying everything to keep the tears from falling down her eyes, her slippers slapping against the floor. Her face is pale, almost ashen, her hair is very disheveled, and her puffy eyes dart nervously toward the entrance every few seconds.“John. I can’t take this anymore.” She mutters, her voice breaking with every sentence she utters. “Where is she? It’s been over twenty four hours! She’s out there somewhere! All alone. She did not even come home all night.”John sits across the room at a desk, speaking to the officer taking his statement. His face is almost calm, but the tension in his hard up shoulders give him away. He’s trying to stay calm for both their sakes, since Daisy gave up on been calm ever since she had woken up and checked Quinn’s rom and seen that the girl had not come home or slept in her bed.“She is seventeen, her name is Quinn Worth. She has long brown hair, brown e
Millicent Atkinson sits in the driver’s seat of her sleek silver colored car, her fingers drumming nervously against the steering wheel. The city comes and goes around her, but her thoughts are locked on one thing.Arthur.She should be heading to her interview, one that Tina, her manager, had meticulously arranged to promote her new movie coming up, but the thought of sitting there answering mundane questions pales in comparison to seeing him. She has never been able to stop thinking of him after all. She hadn’t even known he had returned to New York until that man sent those pictures. Not to talk of getting remarried.The mysterious had sent her name too. He had been paid twenty five thousand for everything but Millicent does not regret it. Her name is Bethany and she is equally an heiress. And she is beautiful too.“You’re throwing away a golden opportunity.” Tina had said earlier, her tone more disapproving than angry. What right did the small woman have to be angry at her anyeay,
The fourth day in the hospital after the blast seemed just as bleak as the first three days that had come and gone, waiting for Bethany to wake up and open her eyes to absolutely no avail.Arthur hasn’t left her side. Not once, making sure to make sure that she is attended to every single time and cleaning her unconscious body every morning and night.The nurses have stopped trying to convince him to take a break and go home or something. At this point, he’s more permanent than the IV drip standing by her bedside. Martha comes and goes, bringing fresh clothes, home cooked meals that Arthur barely touches, whispered encouragements he barely hears but nods smilingly at anyway, the old woman already has too much on her neck so Arthur always manages to persuade her to go back home as well each time.He sits beside her now, as he has for four days, one hand curled over Bethany’s motionless fingers, holding them as though he is using his body’s warmth to remind her of the way back to him, b
Time slows.Bethany’s fingers brush the handle of the driver’s side door just as the second beep-beep fades into the air. A bird chirps from the lamp post above the lot. The wheels of a nearby shopping cart squeal as someone exits the pharmacy across the road. Arthur opens his mouth to say something…And the world erupts.BOOM.It’s not just a noise., it’s a force. A living, monstrous thing that tears through air, glass, and metal like paper. The car explodes in a big explosion of fire and shrapnel, its roof splitting, hurling into the sky. The windshield vaporizes in a white hot flash and for the person standing right next to the explosion...Bethany is thrown violently backward. Not a stumble. Not a fall. She is launched into the air like a ragdoll and what goes up, always comes down.Her body hits the ground very hard. The sound is sickening, skin on pavement, ribs crunching, skull cracking and the audible sound of all of it.Then stillness.Alarms scream in every direction. The
The man walks in front of the station like he’s trying not to walk into a landmine, slow, tentative steps. He stops at the top of the stairs, takes one deep sigh, rubs his weak looking eyes and takes the few more steps into the building.He does not take big strides and no waving hands. Just quiet, precise steps through the front doors of the Precinct, wearing a weather beaten hoodie and jeans that have seen better years. His eyes are the kind that don’t blink enough, too haunted to remember how.Or at least that is what it looks like to whoever cares to give him a glance.At the front desk, Officer Laney gives him the once over. She’s halfway through sipping her third iced latte when she asks, “Can I help you sir?”The man doesn’t answer at first, first choosing to check if she is a police officer since she is in civilian clothes, then seeing her badge in her hands, he sighs audibly before responding, saying…“I need to talk to someone. Someone in charge of a particular case here.”L
Rumors begin less than three days later.Apparently, grabbing a cup of coffee with a beautiful female Major is grounds for rumors, and even people whom you don’t know who begin to study your every move. The rumors, with truths in them however, rage on the barracks.They spread like heat on dry bush. Fast, wild and pretty much unstoppable. A Major seen sneaking smiles at a Lieutenant during drills, the same Lieutenant caught slipping out of the officer's quarters too early in the morning.Chara doesn’t as much as flinch when she hears then, she’s pretty much used to the weight of judgment.Chara doesn’t pretend to care, not at all.She keeps her chin high, her stride sharp like the boss lady that she is, like no one dares say it to her face, because they really do not dare say it to her face.But Mason hears it.He hears them and unlike Chara with her own steely indifference, he is not indifferent to it.And it gets harder to ignore, mostly because it is not all about him but her.Mason
It is a new day on the barracks, the morning frills are done and so are evening ones, it’s just past the time for everyone to have dinner but someone is not headed to the cafeteria for food.The knock on the door announces his arrival to his caller.Major Chara’s office is dimly lit but bright enough fir the time of the day, considering she is in the male fields, she knows just how to be careful enough to not have too much light on, not too much to help the stalkers peek through the window at her perfectly figured body. She’s currently halfway through dressing, uniform pants already snug around her waist, boots laced to perfection, but her shirt still hanging on the back of a chair.“Come in,” Chara calls, her voice calm.She doesn’t bother rushing. She knows exactly who it is and why she has sent for him.The door opens, and then nothing.No footsteps. No greeting.Just silence from who it is that stands at the door.Private First Lieutenant Mason Campbell.She turns slightly, still
The courtroom is brightly lit, smells like polished wood and paper and different, different smells of perfumes and cologne.It's still early in the morning, the sun barely slanting through the tall and somewhat dusty windows, but the room is already full, a lot of people seem to be quite interested in the case and other than that, there are also students who have come to just witness one and some other purposeful individuals, albeit, the courtroom is filled. The silence is thick, every cough or chair scrape feeling louder than it should because every sound that is not inevitable is not allowed in the court, it should always be bone silent and they all try to keep to the rule, although the silence can feel a bit suffocating but they can’t help it.At the defense table, John Worth stands stiffly, his head cast downwards staring at his feet or at the floor, either, wearing the same annoyingly orange jumper he has worn to every hearing in the past week.His hands rest by his sides, fisted
Detective Reynolds has never hated walking down this damned hallway more than he actually does now, with what he knows his mission it, he does not look forward to the next few minutes since he’ll be walking down the same hall again.The keys jingle in his hand, cold metal biting into his palm as he squeezes it more than he should, causing himself pain. He passes the front desk, the vending machines, the bulletin board with the crooked missing persons flyer... all of it feeling a little more annoying than usual.For the first time in a very long time, he regrets his job and for once wishes that he was in a position of power to refute the corrupt order that he is about to go ahead and act out. He had spoken to Daisy Worth just some minutes ago before he decided to accept his fate and do as ordered unless he wanted to risk his job, and even if he does risk his job for the sake of his integrity, the five bastards will still get released anyway so there is basically no point dragging out t
The morning sun filters through the trees in the large, green park that overlooks the pretty lake ahead.It’s warm. Peaceful. A soft breeze rolls across the lake, lifting the petals from scattered white roses and tugging at the corner of the prettily covered altar. Everything looks like it was summoned out of thin air, a lakeside setup, simple chairs, a path of white laid across green grass, and yet it all feels perfectly right.They didn’t plan it. Not really. They did not have the time to do so anyway, because every minute now counts.Every. Single. Minute.But love doesn’t always need a plan. Sometimes, it just needs now and that’s how everything was planned overnight, some people who still haven’t slept yet are in the congregation.By the water’s edge, rows of white wooden chairs are arranged in quiet perfection. A floral arch leans over a makeshift altar, the blooms fresh, delicate, almost too pretty to touch. There are photographers present, it is a memorable one, everyone wants
The holding cell stinks terribly of sweat and urnine and not so well taken care of body discharges.Smells disgusting in there.And it is not just the stink of sweat or urine, like the average downtown drunk tank, no. This one also reeks of guilty men dressed up in expensive cologne. Designer jeans and loafers scuffed on concrete, the exact dressings that they had all been arrested in though they do stink now from not having baths for days.Five men, once golden boys in nightclubs and boardrooms, now sit on cracked terrazzo floors under extremely dim bulb lights.Trevor sits with his legs crossed, perfectly calm for someone in such a situation.The others? Not so much, they are relying on him and for someone they are leaning on, he seems a little too calm for their liking.“Trevor, man,” hisses Logan, slick back that is not so slick now, pacing the cell like a caged animal. “You said your dad would never let this happen, you said you’ll never spill our names now look at all of us, sitt