Chapter one

August 2024 ,

Harper.

“You’re useless,” My mother yelled in my face, her voice and face dripping with disdain, I swallowed hard, my hands crossed behind me, my eyes remained on my feet, I dared not look her in the face as she speaks, I took one fearful step backwards as she moved closer to me.

“I don’t know why I bother trying to teach you anything! You never learn!” I sniffled in deeply, tears dropping from my eyes, I gently raised my hands to my hair and tucked the strands of hair falling carelessly on my face behind my ear, I slowly turned to look at Michelle where she was seated, her legs crossed in a corner in the office, typing away on her phone.

“Michelle was .…”

“All I hear is cheap baseless excuses! Set up a press meeting we have to clear this up immediately!” She yelled, without letting me have a word in,

“I’m sorry,” I apologized my body shaking with a bow, I turned around and dashed out of her office.

DMW is the leading construction company in Massachusetts, it is our family business, after my father’s death five years ago, his will stated that the whole company business was to be handed over to my mother as she was the only family member he could trust with his legacy.

I worked as an Engineer, barely anyone even knew that I was owner’s daughter also, but I was fine with that, my mother made me understand that a lot of burden came with being known and I wouldn’t be able to handle it.

I was basically everywhere, cleaning up everybody’s mess while still managing to handle the pile of workload my family expects me to take care of.

But still I was sincerely more than happy to do all the work for them and do it perfectly, as my mother would always say, this was a training for the future and the perfect way to train is to be a worker not a boss.

I barely get acknowledged by them and the very few times I earned a smile and as simple as a thumbs up from them my heart felt full and content.

I wiped my face dry as I walked into my office, her words hurt but I knew it was all out of love, she loved me and just wants me to handle things better and be more responsible and that was all that mattered, I began to put calls across to all the press companies we had contact with, ofcourse they didn’t waste time agreeing to be there.

For the first time in tens of years a building under our company construction crumbled to the ground, this happened early this morning, it is the talk of the town at the moment and we had not released any statement regarding it yet.

My phone beeped in my pocket, I took it out and looked in it, it was a text from my fiancé.

-“I’m too busy with work to help you with wedding planning, figure it out yourself,”- the message read, my eyes went shut and I exhaled deeply, I had sent him some things we needed for our wedding to choose from earlier, I was the one sponsoring the wedding anyway, so I might as well figure it out myself as he suggested, as I was about to return the phone back to my pocket, it beeped again and it was another message from him.

-“ By the way, my mom would be visiting today, make a stop at the grocery store to prepare something nice for her, also help me pick up my clothes at the dry cleaner while you’re at it. Settle his payment because I haven’t,”-

-“okay”- I texted back and returned the phone to my pocket.

The door to my office suddenly bursted open and Michelle walked in, her footsteps poised and slow like she was on a runway, her heels generating soft clicks as it hit the tiles, she made her way towards me, I wondered why she said nothing while mother yelled at me earlier, she was actually the one handling the construction project and her insert would have gone a long way.

“Sis, You know that this isn’t my fault right?!” She bemoaned with a sullen pout, I swallowed hard at that facial expression, I recognized it too well and I knew exactly what she was driving at.

“I barely had time to visit the site after signing a go ahead to begin construction, as my assistant you should have been there to monitor,” she added, my eyes went temporarily shut and I opened them back up immediately nodding slowly.

“I know, I could have done better, but you could have supported me in front of mom also,” I whispered.

“You can’t blame me, I had nothing to say,” she replied.

“Hurry up and fix this and don’t drag me into the mess you created by your nonchalance,” she added with a small smile as she patted my shoulder gently, I nodded in reply as she turned around and began to walk out of the office, my eyes stayed glued to her retreating figure until she walked out of the office and slammed the door shut behind her.

I released a deep breath I had no idea I was holding, my eyes slowly wandered around the office and landed on the wall clock, 2:00pm, shit! Shit!, I picked up my phone and dashed out immediately.

5:00pm

Press Conference.

I stood with the remaining of the other staff behind the hall as the press conference set to begin, the hall was silent except for the occasional click of camera shutters and soft murmurs of attendees exchanging last minute whispers.

Suddenly, the doors at the back of the room swung open, and a group of security personnel entered, followed by Mother and Michelle and some other heads of departments.

Cameras began to flash more as they made their way to the front of the hall.

Exuding confidence, Mom slowly took her place behind the podium. A hush fell over the room as all eyes turned toward her, eager to hear the latest announcements and insights.

“Today, we stand before you with heavy hearts as regards to the unfortunate incident that happened this morning,” she began,

“As representatives of DMW constructions, we are deeply saddened by the collapse of the BM building constructions,”

“First and foremost, we want to express our sincerest condolences to the families who have lost loved ones, we are doing everything possible to compensate them heavily, and our deepest sympathies to those who were injured or displaced. This is a time of immense grief and shock for our company, and we share in your pain”

“We understand that there are many questions and concerns surrounding the collapse of the building,”

“My husband’s first daughter, Harper Walter, in charge of the BM construction,” she continued stretching out her hands to me, my eyes widened in shock, I wasn’t the one in charge, that wasn’t part of the speech I gave to her!.

“Admitted to the using of substandard material in construction thereby leading to the unfortunate tradegy,” she continued, I slowly raised my hands to cover my lips in utter shock as every camera turned towards me, flash lights clicking all over my face as they took pictures of me.

*wow, they’re family?!*

*she must be Sir Damien’s bastard daughter*

*I thought Miss Michelle was the only child*

*Oh my God, she must have been trying to siphon money, knowing she has limited time after Sir Damien’s death*

The other staff whispered to themselves staring at me with disgust.

“Although, It’s a shameful thing for the memory of my husband- Damien Martin Walter, we want to assure you that we are fully cooperating with the relevant authorities to makesure that this never happens again,”

“Including Revoking her license to practice as a civil engineer for a certain period of years,”

“The safety and well-being of our workers, as well as the general public, have always been our top priorities, and we are committed to making sure nothing jeopardizes that, not even family,” She concluded and the hall erupted in an applause for her, our eyes met across the hall and she gave me a knowing look, with a small stiff nod. I turned around immediately in tears and ran out of the hall, I had no idea where my legs were taking me to but I just kept running.