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,
In the evening of the same day, the door bursts open and Charles rushes in, sweat beaded on his forehead some running down behind his ears, he has lost a lot of weight and his eeys are red and bloodshot, his lips chapped and his neck has deep wells from being malnourished. He walks briskly past the hall and the dining room until he comes to the living room where Daisy sits with her head between her hands, rocking herself back and forth as though she is grieving over someone that died.Charles came to an abrupt stop, John raises his head to look at him, and then casts his eyes back down when he sees the state of his son’s life.Daisy sits there in the awfully brightly lit living room, her body curled into a tight ball on the couch. Her arms wrap around her knees as she rocks herself back and forth, tears streaming down her face. The silence in the house is choking, interrupted only by her soft sobs. The reality of Quinn being nowhere to be found is sinking further in with each hour.Jo
As the door closes behind him when he steps into the office, he takes off the long white coat and drapes it around his coat hanger, Mason Campbell paces the length of his office, his hands stuffed into his pockets, his expression a mixture of irritation and amusement. The early morning sunlight streams through the tall windows, casting long shadows across the room. Papers and files lie scattered across his desk, forgotten as his mind fixates on something, or rather, someone he can’t seem to shake away from his thoughts.He has been at work since as early as six am because of an urgent surgery he had to perform but even till now, he could not shake off his wandering thoughts.With a frustrated sigh, Mason stops by the window and gazes out at the city and building rooftops below. His jaw tightens as he remembers his last run in with Chara.Their encounters, even right from the start, were never pleasant, always charged with a tension that left him fuming. Yet, for reasons he refuses to
Having gone to bed early from the day’s stress, at night, John opens his eyes to some small sounds in the house. He had not been able to sleep anyway, starting from the dead body he had seen thinking it was his daughter, to the loss of his company’s hopeful source of redemption that is now gone and impending bankruptcy, and above all, the pain in his side from getting kicked. He had not eve able to tell anyone of his family just yet on what is going on with him and the company, and that they might be poor now.He pushes around the bed till his legs dangle off the side of the bed, putting on his slippers. His movements startles Daisy who opens her eyes and sees him sitting up in bed.“John?” She calls out, wearily.He looks to her side of the bed, taking on an apologetic look. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you up, most especially when you had been up for two whole days.”“What’s wrong?” She asks, sitting up as well, wiping the sleep out of her eyes.“I thought I heard some noises, so I
“You know,” Marsh begins, his tone shifting to something more serious, “for a man who just lost his daughter, you seem remarkably calm.”John Worth feels the room grow cold around him. His heart pounds hard in his chest as Marsh’s words echo in his ears. He freezes, unable to look at anyone, especially not Daisy, whose presence beside him feels like an unbearable weight. Even she can’t raise her head and look him in the eyes, her lips thinning guiltily.Marsh leans forward, his expression sharp and expectant. “So, Mr. Worth,” he says slowly, “care to explain your relationship with Sienna in clearer terms? It seems there’s more you haven’t told us, to find the one who murdered your daughter, we will need the truth… Unless you don’t want us to find out who the killer really is.”John glances at Daisy, whose gaze remains firmly fixed on the floor and her twirling fingers. She hasn’t cried, but her eyes are wet, her silence louder than any accusation.Guilt gnaws at him, but he can’t find
That night, as Bethany Worth settles into bed after a long and eventful day, Arthur has gone to get them one extra bottle of wine to celebrate in their room, her phone vibrates on the nightstand. The screen lights up with a call from an unknown number.She frowns slightly, wondering who could be calling this late. After a moment of hesitation, she answers it.“Hello?” Bethany starts cautiously, waiting to hear who the caller is and why.There is a brief pause on the other end before a voice speaks. “Hi, is this Bethany? I’m sorry for calling so late. My name is Melanie Martins. I’m a friend of Quinn.”Melanie.“He had been Melanie’s ex boyfriend…” Quinn had said that.Bethany immediately straightens up in bed, her full attention now on the caller. “Yes, this is Bethany. Quinn gave you my number?”“Yes ma’am, she gave it to me yesterday. I... I know the man who did that to Quinn.” Melanie says immediately, her voice steady but carrying a hint of urgency.Bethany’s heart skips a beat, he
The blaring of the wake up call shattered the entire silence of the barracks, pulling groggy and half asleep soldiers from the depths of their slumber. The sun had yet to rise at all, but a lone orange light casts a soft, pale glow over the training grounds.Groans and heavy sighs filled the air as boots hit the ground, weary bodies slipping into uniforms with mechanical precision. It is what they are programmed to do every morning just before their morning drills and stuffs.Private, Second Class Mason Campbell adjusted his belt and slung his gear over his shoulders.He was only in his second year of mandatory service, but the routine was already second nature to him. As he fell in line with the others, his eyes briefly scanned the faces around him. Some were resigned, some irritated, and others, like him, were simply enduring another day, staring to actually adapt to it.The morning drill commenced under the sharp eyes of the drill sergeants. Orders were barked, and soldiers moved in
Bethany Worth arrives home earlier than usual, a lightness in her step that she hasn’t felt in weeks.The stress and pressure of the past few months has weighed pretty heavily on her shoulders, but after today, after seeing that small glimpse of support amidst the chaos, she feels a spark of joy returning.She drops her keys on the counter and walks straight into the kitchen, deciding that tonight is the night for something special. A lavish dinner for her and Arthur, something indulgent, something that reminds them both of better, simpler times than being splashed on the news every morning, afternoon and night.As she rummages through the fridge and pantry, her mind settles on a dish that will be both comforting and elegant.Coq au Vin.A classic French dish, rich and hearty, but with a refined flavor that she knows Arthur will appreciate. It is as good as going to a five starred restaurant because she can make it even better in her own home.She set to work immediately, chopping onio
John Worth can feel his heart pounding away deep in his chest as he speeds through the crowded streets of Brooklyn.His lawyer, Mark Henson, follows closely behind in another car, and John can’t help but replay the past few days over and over in his mind. Daisy in trouble, Charles's strange phone calls... none of it sits right with him. Now, Daisy is at the police station, and he has to get to the bottom of it, to get her out of there before things spiral out of control.They can’t possibly suspect his wife for murdering that scheming bitch, because she did not.As John parked outside the station, he quickly steps out of the car, the cool afternoon air doing nothing to cool his nerves. Mark walks up beside him after parking his own car, adjusting his tie and giving John a serious look. “You’ve been keeping me in the dark about this, John,” Mark said in a low voice. “What exactly are we walking into?”John clenches his jaw, avoiding the question. “Let’s just get Daisy out of here. We c
Back in the police van, Daisy sat with her hands folded in her lap. The city passed by in a blur through the window, but her mind was somewhere else. She could feel the tension in the air, and despite the detective’s silence, she knows they are ready to pounce with questions the moment they arrived at the station.In hindsight, she did something real stupid, truly.She can’t hide him forever.Her thoughts drift to John and then to Sienna, and to the events that had just spiraled out of control over the past week and few days.How had it all come to this?“Almost there, Mrs. Worth.” Marsh says from the front, breaking her thoughts as he glances at her tensed up body sitting at the back. The eyes looking ahead and yet so far away.Daisy nods, not trusting herself to speak.She stares out the window, the buildings getting taller as they near the city center and the police station gradually comes into view. She isn’t ready for what was about to happen. How could she ever be ready for some
The detectives were waiting for her down there by the lobby as Marsh had said earlier, standing by the entrance. Marsh and Halloway stand with their backs straight, their expressions unreadable as they watch Daisy approach.Though they had not cuffed her for Quinn’s sake, there is not much difference in being cuffed or not when a person is being arrested as a suspect. They won’t tell her arrest but she knows pretty well.Fingerprints are big pieces of evidences.But she did not do it, and somehow, she knows the officer she shares a look with just now knows that fact.Daisy swallows hard, trying desperately to keep her emotions in check.The hospital lobby is as busy as usual, but to her, everything feels muted. Almost like she is walking over to an executioner who will put her head in a guillotine and hack!, her head is gone… the whispers of passing nurses, the shuffling feet of patients walking and being walked is all a blur, drowned out by the loud thudding of her heart. She knew Qui
The interview airs the next day, and the public reaction is immediate.The tabloids lit up with headlines. Such as…“Millicent Fires Back: Claims Bethany Worth Orchestrated Scandal!”“Millicent Atkinson Accuses Bethany of Manipulation, Sabotage and Loss of her Husband!”Social media explodes with reactions, many siding with Millicent, others defending Bethany.But the story has been set in motion, and there is no turning back now.She is now not just a homewrecker or husband thief, she is now a gold digger alongside the many names. People were questioning everything, had Bethany really been behind the viral recording? Was Millicent telling the truth, or was this just another ploy to shift the blame?Then the video from the restaurant comes out, and they all see Bethany playing the recording for everyone to hear.What had been her own instrument of safety has been cleanly turned back around, and the video is now her own sentencing.Back at Arthur and Bethany’s home, the atmosphere is no
She sits on the floor of her room, her phone back in her hands with a new manager. This one seems completely supportive of her new moves after all.She checks up on her Instagram DMs and after checking past all the angry messages left by fans, supportive messages and even cursing, she arrives at the one she had been expecting, one she had been diligently checking for since the whole thing began.An interview invite to one of the biggest show houses in the country. There will be no better place to tell the world her own side of the story.Well, her own new side of the story, since they all seemed to have Bethany’s side alone, she still has the support of many people with her anyway.Three hours later, Millicent Atkinson walks confidently into the brightly lit studio, her expression cool and composed, nothing on her face gives away nothing of how she really feels, she feels elated that soon, the tides will turn on her side again, against that scheming witch.Although, even Millicent wil