Spying on my mother

The limousine parked in front of a fancy restaurant while the cab I was in stopped few meters away from them, I didn’t want my mother or Riley to notice me. I watched closely with a million thoughts running through my head. I watched my mother and Riley alight from the car and got into the restaurant.

Quickly I opened my orange purse and handed the cab driver some money “thank you for the ride” I alighted from the taxi and watched him speed off, I took a deep breath wondering what I was going to do, I couldn’t afford not to go into that restaurant and see things for myself, my curiosity won’t let me, besides… if I must defeat my enemy, getting into her camp isn’t enough but knowing every move and step she makes might help me defeat her easily.

I let down my hair as a disguise and borrowed a magazine from an old man sitting by the roadside and handed him a couple of dollar bills in exchange, he grinned and thanked me, I was in much of a hurry to respond.

I got into the restaurant, my eyes moving from one beautiful corner to the other in search of them and boom! There they were, sitting in the midst of few men who were part of the board meeting at Caddel group of companies, I was so sure that I saw them walk past me while I was waiting for my turn to be interviewed “what’s going on?” I muttered feeling a little lost.

Riley was also sitting at the table, their mouths kept moving, I could see the men frowning their faces, I walked straight to a table behind them and sat down, I could hear everything they were saying from there while I raised the magazine to my face pretending to be reading.

There were about three of the men who were equally major share holders in Caddel group of companies just like my mother.

“If you three do not sell your shares to me just as I have asked you to, I would expose your little dirty secrets not just to your beloved families but to the world at large who holds you in high esteem and everyone can finally see how horrible you three are” she brought out pictures from her purse and showed it to the men who panicked “there is more from where this came from, I am sure neither of you want to spend the rest of your dear lives in jail.”

The men bowed their heads in shame, then I heard one of them accept to sell his shares to my mother and the other two followed suit, my eyes widened in confusion, what was it that my mother had against these men that made them sell their shares to her without thinking twice? And here I was thinking that I was the only one who is about to play games on the billionaires little do I know that billionaires equally play games on themselves.

Willow laughed softly “you see, things shouldn’t always be this difficult” she took a glance at Riley who gulped, she have never seen her mother this way but what choice does she have? But to sit by her side and do whatsoever she asks her to do, I would love to say that Riley is a coward.

It wasn’t difficult for the men to transfer their shares to Willow Duke, all thanks to technology and a smart phone, she on the other hand was equally notified on her smartphone, she raised it to her face and smiled. She transferred some money to their accounts and stood up to leave “thank you for waiting for me here just like I asked you to, it was nice doing business with you gentlemen.”

She stood up, grabbed the glass cup on the table and gulped down the last drop of wine in it, kept it back and walked off while Riley followed her behind like a little puppy.

I dropped the magazine in my hand on the table squeezing my face in fury while shaking my head slowly, so this is what my mother was willing to do to get her daughter married to Finn? it was obvious that the company was at the verge of going bankrupt, I was so sure that Mrs Grace Caddel would have no choice but to give into her demands especially now that she has more than enough shares that could pull down the pillars of the company if withdrawn.

Should I really feel sorry for Grace? She was the one who flashed so much money at my mother’s face which ended up making her leave my dad and I, maybe she deserves every inch of what’s happening to her now I concluded then I remembered Finn, does he deserve it too? He is such a nice handsome man. The men stood up and left looking all grumpy, they got into their cars and left, I took a deep breath, stood up heading straight to the door only to realize that my mother was still standing there with Riley, so I heed.

I watched them hop back into the limousine, the driver turned the car around and headed back to the company.

“Gush! This is really mean and dirty” I muttered to myself, my mother was indeed a horrible person and there was no two ways about it, Grace helped her out of the slums, now she wants to pay her back by blackmailing her.

I didn’t want Finn to get married to Riley or to Rita Wilbur whom he is obviously madly in love with, I couldn’t afford to live with that especially now that I have met him and developed feelings for him. Even if I don’t get a chance with Finn, I still needed to help, I can’t allow my mother win, maybe this is the only way I would ever be able to get back at her.

I got another cab as soon as possible, it drove me back to the company, I was right after all, they had gone back to the company, their limo was parked outside. I took a deep breath wondering how I was going to get in there and the excuse I would give if I eventually get caught by either Finn, my mother or Mrs Grace.

Willow Duke and her daughter got into the company, they informed the secretary that they needed to see Grace. The secretary with a smile on her face got up and went straight into Grace’s office to inform her that they were there.

Grace asked that she let them in.

Both mother and daughter walked into the office and sat down without being asked to, Willow grinned happily “I am sure you must have been notified by now.”

Totally unaware of what Willow was talking about, she looked confused “what are you talking about?”

Then a notification popped up on a computer which got her attention, she turned to it and turned back to Willow “how is this possible? What have you done?”

“They sold it to me, you should be happy for me Grace, I expected better from you, so can we now get down to business?” Willow asked looking mean.

Grace gulped, she looked both confused and furious, but what could she do other than to do exactly what my mother wants “give me time to talk to Finn, this wouldn’t be easy.”

“I don’t care how you do it, Finn is getting Riley engaged on his 25th birthday, he better be ready or I would withdraw my shares from this company, you know exactly what that will do to you Grace, you would be poor, I am sure you don’t want that for either you or your son” Willow giggled standing to her feet and so did Riley who frowned at the thought of getting engaged in few days.

“I built this company with my husband with both sweat and blood, it’s sad that you had to reduce yourself to this level Willow but it’s okay, Finn would marry Riley” Grace was deeply hurt.

I was lurking around the lobby when looking for an opportunity to get closer to Grace’s office, I was sure that was where my mother was, then I noticed my mother and Riley walking out of the office alongside Grace who wore a long face, I quickly heed at a corner, with the look on Grace’s face I didn’t need a soothsayer to tell me that my mother just blackmailed her “poor woman” I muttered “how on earth was she going to convince Finn to leave the love of his life and marry Riley for the sake of the company? This is all a huge mess.”

My mother left with Riley, I scoffed shaking my head in disappointment “she was the villain in my story, now she is equally the villain in Grace’s story, going to Grace right now to tell her that I am aware of what my mother was up to was of no use, I still can’t help her, I contemplated on following my mother to spy more on her when I heard his voice.

I paused and shut my eyes grinning from cheek to cheek while leaning closely on the wall behind me, his voice melted every inch of my heart.

“I thought they left already, why did they come back?” Finn inquired referring to my mother and Riley.

Grace nodded “they forgot something..”

He rolled his eyes “alright, I would be in my office” he turned to leave when Grace called him back.

“I have something to tell you son” she began.

My eyes widened when I heard that, was she actually going to tell him that he must get married to Riley to save the company right there?

“What is it mum?” He asked looking concerned.