Anna's quest for the truth leads her down a dangerous path. To uncover the secrets surrounding her sister's death, she accepts a job as secretary to the arrogant Drake Blunt, a man she both despises and, inexplicably, finds herself drawn to. She's determined to bring his company down, but the closer she gets to the truth, the more she questions everything she thought she knew – including her own heart.
View MoreIt was surprising.
It was really amazing how a visit to a hardly frequented salon could change one's appearance. Anna could not stop admiring and wondering as her eyes momentarily caught her image in the standing mirror.
She totally looked like someone else. The skillful mix of black and ombre in her shoulder length hair made her look like she came out of a teenage model magazine.
She loved it.
“Anna.” A knock followed the familiar masculine voice that called her.
“Dad.” Anna didn’t back away from the standing mirror. She actually didn’t wish to turn, she already knew what he was about to rant about.
A heavy sigh intruded the heavy air and Anna braced herself for the repetitive lecture on how it is very foolish of her to resign for her good paying job to start over at some institution.
“Have you gotten your suit from Josh?”
“Uh?” The woman who was already leaning towards the decision of snapping at her father’s lecture had her head swinging towards the alternative entrance to her room which was specifically in the attic of their simple, modern bungalow.
Her father, who had grown more older features over the year in a way that saddened Anna, pocketed his hands into his faded black shorts. “You are resuming work tomorrow, you should sleep early.”
“But-”
“I know…” His eyes wore a look that made her heart squeeze. “I have realized I can’t stop you, so the best I can do is wish you all the best.”
Anna’s legs finally left the fixed position it wanted to stick to and she walked towards her father who was passing to her, a warm smile.
“Dad…” Like a toddler, she spread her arms and rushed into her father, engulfing him in a wide hug, getting a rare chuckle from the man who stood few inches shorter than her.
“I am glad,” Anna muttered delightfully, her head leaning on his broad shoulders.
“Just be careful.” His hand rested on the back of her head in a fatherly manner and she could not help a cheerful tug of her lips.
“I will be Dad. I will.” Anna, whose eyes kept darting to and fro soon had her eyes landing on the very picture she found hectic to look at and she felt suddenly weighed down. “I miss her. I am doing this for her.”
Anna had intended those words to be a confirmative whisper within her, but her father heard anyway.
“She would not want you doing this.” The man’s voice also seemed heavy as he released his daughter whose eyes made sure to evade his. “But I can see your mind is made up.”
Daniel Hendrick who was no doubt her best friend as much he was her father, reached for the side of her face and gave her a quick remainder of how warm his touch was and will always be. “Come down when you are done, your mother made dinner.”
“Okay Dad.” As she took retreating steps into her room, her ears picking the firm footsteps of her father as he took the route that led to their backyard, Anna found it really, really hard to ignore the sadness in the air.
She did it successfully in past months- ignoring the fact that her sister was no longer with them.
But at that moment, perhaps because of the fact that her plan was about to go into action, she felt the pain the more. It was worse than the first few weeks of pain. But it definitely was different. Before, the pain made her weak, but right there, it was fueling her rage.
As the vengeful woman decided to go all over the documents she had to submit on her first day at work, her stomach rumbled and all revenge plans were instantly put on hold.
Anna Hendrick hated to play with anything meal related.
Barely two minutes after, a quick journey down the ladder connected to her room landed her in front of the laundry room and all it took was some few steps and Anna was finally in the spacious kitchen.
“Hey mom,” she threw a greeting at the small woman who was keeping her attention on the garnished pasta she was dishing into the plates… which were very new.
“Did you buy new plates?” Anna asked with a frown as she settled by the island which wore a colourful look thanks to a little decoration they gave it when the house still had its shine.
“Yes. I threw out the old ones.”
“Why?”
The woman looked up, her busy hands pausing. A single blink became three before she monotonously replied with her thick yet sonorous voice, “Because they remind me of Darcy.”
Then, she continued what she was doing.
Anna scoffed. She definitely wasn’t going to keep pretending her mother was acting like she never gave birth to her elder sister. “Mom-”
“Listen, that job of yours you just got …” The coldness in her mother’s eyes was not a new sight. “I want you to forget about it.”
“Why?”
The serving spoon in her grasp clinked against the pot as she dropped it. “What is the use of working where she used to be employed? What are you trying to achieve?”
“I told you, I want to find out the truth.”
“What will that change?” Anna sat still and reflected back the sarcastic calmness in her mother’s eyes. “Is it going to bring her back?”
"It won’t. But I am certainly not going to spend my whole life bearing the thought that she committed suicide.” Anna felt something rise within her and her quickly folded hand slammed against the marbled surface. “Something is wrong and I am going to find out what exactly it is.”
The dark haired woman who also had signs of quickened aging both on her face and in her hair scoffed, her tongue poking the side of her mouth after. “You are wasting your time Anna Hendrick. Let the dead rest already.”
“The dead!” Anna found her teeth gritting after her outburst. As she tried to contain the rage, her father walked in, his face contorted into a frown.
“The dead you speak about is my sister, your daughter and the Darcy I know would never commit suicide.”
“Why are you acting like you actually knew her? What if she was hiding something from us? Uh?”
Anna was finding it hard to find any sense in what her mother was saying. “You and I know that I am the one with hidden thoughts, I am the rebellious one. Darcy always made sure to tell you about her issues and this is how you decide to deal with her death? You intend to accept the claims of that goddamn, stupid company? You want to accept that Darcy committed suicide?”
Tears stung the eyes of the woman who was already finding it hard to continue the display of her rage, so she just lowered her head and tried to gather herself as quickly as possible.
“Are you done?” After a brief silence, her mother questioned and that had Anna abruptly getting off her stool.
“No mom. I am not. I will never be done until I find answers to my question.” Her hands stylishly caged a filled plate. “I will not rest and I will show you and I will make you regret not deciding support my quest.”
“Anna…” her father finally said but the woman already had a plate of pasta in her palms, her legs were already walking towards the backyard.
“I will be leaving for work by seven-thirty, so don’t get worried about me,” she directed the sentence to her father who she could feel staring concernedly at her back.
As the hotness of the plate stung her palms, Anna took a second to wonder how things would be at the new place. She hadn’t even been given a position yet.
A sigh soon escaped her as she hoped and prayed everything would go as planned.
A swift motion of her head as she took a right turn had her head landing on another picture of her sister. It was a solo picture that was taken when she went for her first concert. Her smile which always lit the house and warmed their hearts was present as she posed akimbo for the camera which was taken by her friend Josh who was with Anna on the whole revenge thing.
Anna closed her eyes for a minute and she could see her sister’s blonde, shining hair bouncing as she danced to her favourite song. The purple floral gown which happened to her favourite danced along in a way that was quite a sight.
The woman who was creating a film in her head felt something trickle down the side of her face and as her eyes flung open, she realized the tears came to visit once more. Sighing, Anna took one more look at the picture, but this time, she said, as firmly as possible, “Don’t worry Darcy, I will make sure to avenge you.”
“So…” Anna started the conversation as Drake seemed to find it hard. “Alex and Damon, uh? Who would have thought that they were working together?” “I am really sorry about everything, Anna,” Drake replied with a solemn voice, his eyes skillfully avoiding contact with hers. “Does that mean that Alex was aware of how and why my sister died?” Anna asked, ignoring his apology. There were things that needed to be discussed before apologies could take place. “I- I don’t know.” Drake had a little frown on his forehead as he stared ahead. “The details of everything that happened in the past weeks are still vague. I might know why Alex wanted the company, but there are still many questions I want to ask that remain unanswered.” “I guess you still want answers. As for me, I am tired of living in the past. I want to move forward with my life. I have gotten what I wanted- people know the truth about my sister’s death, so I have nothing more to do with IC. Inc.”
Drake wondered if he should have accepted the walking cane from the doctor when he offered it. As he stepped out of the passenger seat while he told the driver to wait at the entrance, he felt a small pull in his limbs that almost made him lose his steps.But he caught himself immediately and steadied his feet.Drake took another look at the mansion and he was reminded of Alex instantly.A few years after his mother's death, Alex joined them in that very building and he made staying in that damned place bearable.He got a brother and a friend in that man.But it seemed their friendship had no choice but to be tainted. Actually, it carried a stain from the start if indeed, his grandfather did the things Alex said he did.That was why he was walking into the huge building at that moment. He needed the full story, he needed someone to tell him what could have gone so wrong that a son had to lose his father to death.
Anna didn't know why, but she smiled as her eyes landed on the burial site of her mother and sister. The last time she had gone there, she had been shot and her mind was in a chaotic state, she had no idea where she was heading to at that point. But, in the midst of all that self-inflicted confusion, she had finally gotten what she wanted. The truth. She was able to find out the person that pushed her sister to her death. According to her initial plans, she had hoped to ruin IC. Inc as well, but it seemed Alex and the Windsworths got that covered. Just that their plans failed. Anna was glad it failed anyway, it would have been terrible if Drake had to suffer such a fate after everything he had gone through. After the cops took over the situation that had been so close to taking a deadly turn, journalists stormed her house. Somehow, they had gotten a tip to go there. Between the news of Drake's false sonship and the al
As he stared into his friend’s calm eyes, Drake shivered withthe fear that had earlier departed him. He felt his palms itch and, at the same time, he felt sweat form on his forehead. As he looked away he instantly felt suffocated and strangely, he wanted to turn to look at Anna’s face. He wanted to take a look at someone who he knew was still on his side. Someone that is yet to betray him. But he couldn’t move. Alex’s grip felt murderous, he just had to stay still. Mr. Windsworthwas the first to break the ice. “I don’t think I have tabled our requests yet, Mr. Drake Blunt.” His smile was wide and victorious, Drake had to wonder what could have made Alex to team up with such a man. “What requests?” he decided to maintain the false calm his face had. Drake decided to rough that situation till it would become advantageous for him. “You want my company? Why? You are not entitled to it, Mr. Windsworth. Neither is your daughter.”
Anna sniffled as she watched the deep brown liquid drizzle into her white mug while her trembling hand held the kettle. Her mind seemed to be far away from what she was doing but she was quick enough to prevent the coffee from overflowing.Biting into her lower lip as she set the kettle aside, Anna wondered if her father would be coming home that day. His disappointed look earlier was yet to be erased as well as Drake’s look of disbelief and hurt.As her palm felt the heat of the mug, she heard a knock on the door.Anna lifted her head and started to walk towards the living room. She didn’t bother to check the door because she was not interested in seeing anyone at that moment. Besides, she wasn’t expecting anyone, it would be useless to waste good energy by walking to the door.Now relaxed into the couch that faced the TV, Anna began to think about the next thing to do with her life. Her original plan had been successfully disrupted. Th
Though bewilderedbeyond her imagination, Anna was quick to determine that Drake wasn’t just going to walk out of the door. She needed to make him know that he was accusing the wrong person.So, she snapped out of it and raced towards the man who was already opening the door on the driver’s side. The door slammed quite loudly as Anna positioned herself in front of him, her stance really defensive.The man sighed, an indication that he really didn’t want to see her at that point.“Drake…”“Leave, Anna.”She spread her arms to prevent his assess to the car door. “I did not do it.”“How do you expect me to believe you? Apart from Alex and my grandfather, you are the only one that knows that I am not my father’s son. Now, thanks to you, everybody in this city who has an interest in my family’s life know this fact. Thanks to you,” he pointed an accusing
It was no doubt strange.According to Alex’s source, Damon had barely spent two hours in the prison yard when someone allegedly attacked him, stabbing him to death. This person’s identity, when checked, had no ties whatsoever to Damon or Tate, the convict that was hired by the now dead man.Clearly, something else was going on. Something fishy. But, Anna couldn’t care less.Truthfully, she hardly felt terrible about Damon’s death. But, she didn’t feel happy either. Her present feeling wasn’t something she could deduce easily, it confused her greatly.“Anna,” Drake called from behind as she reached for the door handle. Her fingers wrapped around the flat handle, her digits ready to push the door open so that she could finally rest in her father’s house. “You haven’t said a word.” Anna read caution in his voice.Exhaling hard, she turned to face him. Her eyes narrowed to wade off
She had a dream.She had been chasing a faceless man whose laughter haunted her and caused her sleeplessness. She chased the annoying man past grounds, past bloodied bridges and when she finally caught him and saw his face, she smiled.He had the face of the man who killed her sister. So, she did the same thing he did to her sibling. She dragged him to the top of a building in the dirty, rotten-looking city and while looking down at the deadly height with a smile, she made sure to beat him up.Her legs kicked, her fists punched, her head butted, until the man bled senselessly.Then, while relishing his cries for mercy, she pushed him off the building, watched him till he fell and for minutes, she laughed as his body became a part of the city’s rottenness. She laughed so hard that she began to cry.Anna’s eyes were dripping tears as she opened her eyes to the brown-like ceiling. She wondered where she was after she let a small satisfied
Anna let out a loud yawn as the night grew older. As she lifted her head from the dimly-lighted screen of her laptop, she saw that most of the men had stepped out, probably to relieve themselves or drive away sleep.Her chair swirled as she sat straight and closedthe device in front of her. Anna looked towards Drake and Alex who were still conversing over business issues that could not be handled in the day.She then decided she needed a break from the night work, and, also needed to ease herself.As soon as she got up, Drake’s attention was drawn and he got up as well, startling the man beside him.“Are you going somewhere?” he asked.Anna’s lips twitched as she wondered why he has acting like she was about to jump offa building. He certainly didn’t react that way when Josh and his men decided to step out for some air.“I-””I am coming with you,” he hurriedly said
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