~ DAVID HARGROVE ~ After speaking with my father, I needed time to think about everything. I wanted time alone. Without Jake in tow, I went to our condo. That’s what I thought of the condo I kept for Maria. It’s our place. Somehow, when I was here, everything was different. I felt different, if that’s possible. I left my bodyguards with the car and went upstairs. Inside the condo, I poured myself a drink and wandered about. The silence bothered me, and I corrected that once I found her portable speaker. The change I feel come over me as I stand there listening to the music while I stare out the large windows over the bay and the city. Taking a sip, I want Maria there, caressing my shoulder and telling me dinner is ready. A sugar baby’s expected to be a plaything to showcase. So, why did I hate trotting her out and allowing others to ogle and touch her? I disliked it when others spoke to me about her. I hated it when they crit
~ MARIA BELGRAVE ~ I attempted to influence the security staff, but they insisted on following protocol. Tonight, Josy, and our bodyguards caught me listening to the security guard in charge of the company’s security department. He was apologizing and explaining how this happened. “Maria what’s going on? Jacqueline, what are you doing here?” Josy’s voice was flat, and she didn’t look pleased or impressed. I interrupted Jacqueline and said to Josy. Josy, getting information from Jackie will make you surpass us all. She opened the door and entered. I was trying to explain to this gentleman here that she’s the grieving widow and she’s not thinking straight. That we should take her keys and the security pass card she used to enter the building. Then give her the pass to go home and reflect on what she’s done.” “Uh, the security pass card. Do we know how or who?” “Not yet. Now is the time to handle it.”
~ DAVID HARGROVE ~ “She tried it before, as someone had suggested. What were you thinking about when you left her alone?” David entered the room and confronted Jim. “Sir. They insisted and she promised not to leave her office. We were just picking up dinner and returning here.” He explained to David with all seriousness. David didn’t appear to accept Jim’s explanation. “You’re here to keep both women safe. She’s experienced attempts on her life at least twice in her life if not more three times. Maria won’t tell me about entire sections of her life. Now since she’s safe you can keep your position for now. But I will report this to your boss.” David said with a brown to Jim who gulped and watched David with a weary gaze. David turned to the security officers. “Where’s Jacqueline?” “We sent her down to security department with an escort. I wanted to avoid the risk of them being too close. I also wanted to questio
~ MARIA BELGRAVE ~ This ended in something I hadn’t expected. David walked out of my office with a grim smile on his face. A grim smile, what an odd expression. He struggled to abide by my rules. You could say this overjoyed and shocked me, even surprised me. He tried to keep his word. Which meant I must as well. I still struggled with that, but I missed having him around. The jerk was under my skin. “Alright, deal with her and the police. Go as hard as you can.” I gave my security people all the information I could give them. I hoped to avoid legal complications. The security officer went above and beyond for me. He brought in someone from the company’s legal department after the police confirmed my statement. The officer, who listened to the audio, found it strange. Has he ever seen a woman relentlessly trying to destroy someone, but always failing? But he couldn’t pass judgment on her, so he would arrest her
~ DAVID HARGROVE ~ I sat in my office for what felt like the first time in Belgrave Tech and spoke on the phone with Jake. All the while I typed out a list of instructions of tasks, I wanted Jake to do for me. They were a wild list of things that reflected where my life had taken a wild turn from. But I needed this done now to stay in control and on top. A push for a response on my claim. Results from every investigation. I needed it in my hands now so that I could confront the right people to put an end to all this. “Alright, everyone is set to enter the different departments in the morning and start a full investigation. I suspect something is happening with the HR Department heads. I’m sure someone is involved.” Jake’s voice said through David’s phone as he reported. I suspected this and feared that was the truth. “Yes. Maria has a theory on that. Make sure we have someone watching them. Don’t allow them to gain advanced
~ MARIA BELGRAVE ~ “What do you mean you don’t know where the files are?” I stood outside my office in the lobby in full view of everyone. We’d told no one about my identity, hoping it would spread among the building’s people. “They were here when I went for lunch, I swear. I know I locked the door.” Josy said to me in response to my question. I could hear her despair and upset as she opened other desk drawers and such searching for the missing files. It’s not anger that I felt toward Josy. It’s the shock that after Jacqueline’s invasion of my office while I was in there, someone else would invade to steal something. I revealed Jacqueline’s lie about taking an art piece to remember my father. She’d been there to steal the files. I couldn’t prove it, but it made sense to me. Jacqueline failed and gave an excuse for being there. The police in the end charged her with attempted theft because she’d not inherited the piece of art she’d mentioned
~ MARIA BELGRAVE ~ Following David and company down to his office was a simple, if embarrassing, affair. Yes, it shouldn’t be embarrassing, and I know it didn’t register as embarrassing to anyone else in the building. But it felt like that to me. As COO, he should come to my office not the other way around, but twice in one week my office became a crime scene. This was unreasonable. Thank God I’d left my laptop at home since Jacqueline was here. Sabrina had pestered David with calls, and she’d pestered Belgrave Tech to speak with me. She didn’t have my cellphone number. Thank heavens I’d not been stupid enough to give her my number. I’m sure it’s her trying to push me to not press charges on her mother. But I wasn’t the one doing it. The company was. It’s a security issue and out of my hands. “Josy, I require assistance with preparation before chaos ensues. Would you help me?” Jake asked her out of the blue. “What? Now? Why d
~ DAVID HARGROVE ~ Maria sat there before me, and for once in her life, she was silent. She appeared chastened, making me hesitate. I hadn’t told her what I’d done. My actions since learning about the situation. Maria had stood all but alone, without support from anyone beyond Josy and no resources. When we realized she didn’t have unlimited funds, and Maria had lied about her identity, Jake and I at the end scratched at our heads in confusion. I’d felt so much anger when I understood why she’d placed herself in the position she had. Those reasons behind each person I’d dealt with who’d used her suffering and loss to gain something for themselves. I hadn’t realized why I’d done it the first few times. Other than I’d felt anger at their selfish actions and how it affected my investments. When I understood who Maria was and how their actions affected her, I went after those people again and finished them so they couldn’t harm her again. She w