Chapter Two

Abigail sighed in despair. This wasn't the first time her kids were asking for their father. They would always ask at the most unexpected time and it irritated her that they didn't think she was enough for them.

She stared at the sleeping girl's face in distraught, wondering why her kids wouldn't just give up on ever seeing their father. She had done everything possible to raise them in the right, and comfortable way. She had been a father and a mother, and honestly... She knew she was doing pretty well. After all, she was the strong and independent Abigail. She could do anything.

What she couldn't do, however, was to get her kids to realize they didn't need a father. They had her and she was willing to give them the world. But why did they still feel his absence and a need to fill it?

She had no answer to that question and she didn't want to dwell on it right now. She was tired and still had a few things to finish up from work.

Maurice and Denise looked up at their mother expectantly, wondering if anything would slip out of her lips. They also wanted to know where their father was and who he was.

Abigail had mulled over telling them their father was dead but she could never bring herself to lie to her kids. They deserved the truth but she had always felt they were to young to understand her choices.

"Yes mom, where's Dad?" Denise pressed.

Abigail inhaled and exhaled, wondering why she wasn't enough for her children yet and what she was doing wrong.

Without replying their questions, she led them all to bed and tucked them in. Abigail returned to her room to take a long shower. For all she cared about, she needed to feel light and better.

She stayed in the shower for quite a while before coming out to round up the work she was trying to put together. After opening a bottle of wine and taking a glass to relax, she drifted to sleep.

*********

"Mummy! Mummy!!! Mummy! Mummy!!! Wake up!!!"

Abigail's eyes shut open, at the sound of the little voice infiltrating her long sleep.

"Yes, yes, yes. I'm up, up." She responded, sitting upright on her bed while yawning.

"Good morning, mummy!" Denise, Maurice, Elise greeted her in unison. They all wore matching Donald duck pajamas.

"Good mor... shit! Fuck!" Abigail yelled, jumping out of bed.

"Mum! You said the bad word." Denice yelled, pointing his finger menacingly at his mum.

Abigail would have found the moment cute and likely laughed at how remarkable she thought he looked. But they needed to go to school, and she had to go to work too. It was way past her schedule for waking up.

She looked at her phone. She must have missed the alarm ring. With the speed of a wild animal chasing its prey, she put on her robe and ushered the kids to their bathrooms

They all shared a room, but the room had two bathrooms. One for the girls, and the other for Denise. The room was divided by a thin board. One part was for Denise and the other was for Maurice and Elise. She wanted them to have a little bit of privacy but not be far away from one another.

"But mum... I haven't brushed my teeth yet." Elise complained.

"Then brush your teeth before bathing, I will be in the kitchen preparing breakfast." Abigail instructed the kids while walking over to the door, her hands on the door knob... she paused, "Please Elise do not spend more than 3 minutes in the bathroom. Please." She begged. She couldn't afford to disrupt her routine yet again.

She made sure to hustle the kids with their dressing and also breakfast, and soon she was driving them to school.

Principal Jane, a middle aged tall woman with blonde hair, was standing at the doorway watching students rush into the hallway. She wore a maroon coloured suit with a hat that was more suited for church than for school. Abigail spotted her as she steered her kids into the hallway and gave a nod in greeting. In turn, the principal gave her what Abigail always referred to as a Jehovah witness smile. Her smile and weird habit of wearing church attire to school had always creeped Abigail out. She had always wondered if after school hours she went door to door with her Jehovah witness bible. But it didn't bother her too much. She was good at her job and that was all Abigail really cared about. The safety of her children.

********

After parking her car at the designated spot, she walked into her company with her head held high.

Employees greeted her, as she made her way to her private elevator. She ignored all of them, so that none of the employees received a single response from her.

She had a meeting to attend, and the meeting's agenda was about another company trying to buy her company out. This wasn't new to Abigail. Apparently, other bosses and C.E.O's didn't like her in the business world. “Women do not belong on the table of men” was their favorite go-to insult.

And every time they tried to undermine her and her work, she always proved herself.

To the outside world, Abigail had always been seen as a nepo baby. All she had acquired according to the media was because her late father was once the CEO of the company.

She had always resented it because after the death of her father, the company went practically bankrupt. She built this company from the scratch again, and no matter what people said, she would die on that rock.

And even though she had worked really hard, the company still wasn't fully hers. Her grandmother was still the chairman of the company, and she is just some decorated C.E.O... at least that's what her employees thought.

Abigail knew she would never sell the company from the moment she was voted in as CEO. Even If she had wanted to, she would have done so the first time she resumed her position. This was all she had and all she had worked for most of her life and she'd be damned if she let anyone take it away from her.

The C.E.O of the rival company hated her guts, and that's why he offered thrice the amount the company's worth but that only fueled Abigail’s anger to beat him at his game.

Her grandmother had always taught her that business was a battlefield and a playground. You could either come together and work together or win the war. And that was why she arranged a meeting with the rival company, so she could once and for all let them know she will never sell her company.

She got into her office and settled down, her morning coffee was already there. She sipped some of it and logged into her company's portal to get updates on new deals and works by her employees.

By noon, it was time to go, and she was fully ready to put Donald inc. to rest. Straightening her suit, she walked out of her office, heading for the conference room.

In her three-piece navy blue suit, Abigail looked breathtaking. Her lipstick was the colour of fresh blood. Her dark hair tied in a low bun. Her diamond stud earrings stood out as she made her way to the conference room. As she entered the conference room, she could feel everybody's eyes on her. The entire room held admiration in their eyes as they stared at her. Some eyes reflected little hatred to her, but she didn't care .

Abigail gave the C.E.O of DONALD INC a once over taking in his looks from head to toe. Mark wore a dark navy coloured suit with a red tie. His blonde hair looked like he had just rolled out of bed. His eyes were a staggering blue and they stared up at her with a hint of mockery. Abigail couldn't really tell.

"So... ready to accept my offer?" Mr Mark C.E.O of the rival company said grinning from ear to ear, like he already won the battle.

"Impatient, are we?" Abigail chuckled sarcastically sitting down on her seat.

The meeting lasted for forty five minutes. The offer DONALD INC was offering was almost impossible to refuse, but Abigail couldn't shake the feeling that something was amiss. Something didn't seem right. How did these people recognize the challenges within the company? This was information only board members should be aware of. Donald inc has been trying to buy them out for years even before Abigail became CEO but something was different this time. They didn't just want to buy her out; they seemed way too confident and sure they would.

"Well, you've heard the board, Mr. Mark. We are not willing to sell for now, but we appreciate your offer"

"I'm sure you'd be in touch Miss Abigail, very soon too."

Mark chuckled and left with his assistant.

Abigail smiled through gritted teeth, she was getting more and more irritated with every interaction she had with Mark. His arrogance irked her and she didn't know what but there was something very unsettling about him.

Abigail was the last person to leave the conference room. She had to gather her wits. She was exhausted and needed to rest but she still had a lot to do before she went home.

"Walter" Abigail spoke through the intercom. "Bring me a cup of coffee"

Without waiting for his response she dropped the phone.

Walter walked into the office, coffee in hand and a file.

"Here's the hard copy of the mails you asked for and your coffee"

Abigail could see Walter was doing everything in his power to redeem himself in her eyes but she didn't care. He was still going to get punished. After all she was a woman who believed in rewards and punishments. She had always been the type of woman to be rigid towards herself.

In order to be successful, she had always employed the get-it-done-with-no-excuse policy and it had followed her throughout her life and made her a successful billionaire. If she could reward and purnish herself for her actions, then she would reward and punish others to get them into shape.

Abigail nodded, signaling that she was dismissing him but Walter did not make a move to leave. She looked up at him expectantly, when she noticed he had not made a move to leave.

"Use your words Walter?" She snapped, and he almost flinched. Abigail rolled her eyes.

"Um, well ma'am…" he cleared his throat " I was hoping if I could take next weekend off to go see my sick grandma."

"We are all hoping for something Walter, I for one would like to not have to listen to a bunch of old men telling me what I should do with my company but here we are."

"But m…"

"You are dismissed Walter." Abigail said without looking up at him.

Walter was almost at the door when Abigail called for his attention.

"Hold on, schedule a meeting with the entire staff for tomorrow, I'd like to have a staff meeting with everyone. 9am sharp. Anyone that isn't in conference room B before I get there tomorrow will be punished, understood?"

"Yes ma'am." Walter answered in a defeated voice. He had wanted to check up on his Grandma for months now, she was sick and had no one but his 12 year old sister to look after her. But because of the boss he had, he hadn't been able to, he also needed this job for at least the next six months so he could pay off all of his student loans.

Abigail was oblivious to Walter's plight. Her thoughts were mainly centered around Mark and why DONALD INC wanted to merge so badly. Was there something they knew? And why did Mark speak like he had some kind of leverage over her?

From what she could tell, they seemed to be doing pretty well and if Abigail wasn't working so hard to be on top, they probably would be on top by now.

"Mark knows something." she thought. "Something that could jeopardize me, and I need to figure it out before it's too late."

…….

It wasn't until 8pm that Abigail finally left her office. She had instructed her driver to pick her kids from school and to drive them straight to her Grandma's. She didn't want to see her Grandma after such a long day at work. She was getting tired of hearing about how she needed to get married every time she visited, but she didn't have a choice. Mayla was off today.

She got to the parking lot, got in her car and sped off. It was getting late, she had to pick them up so they could get ready for bed early.

Abigal held the breaks of her car abruptly as a man ran into traffic. It was too late. Before she realized it, she had already hit the tall man who came from nowhere.

With fear, she hopped down from her car to check on him, a few onlookers were already coming towards them.

"Oh my God are you alright?" She questioned.

The man stood up and dusted himself like nothing happened.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

He took off into traffic again, ignoring the horns and horrified looks he got from passerbys. The piercing horns of the cars behind her jolted her from her state of shock and back to her car.