Emily enveloped her friend in a hug when Zoe walked into the house. "Girl! I have missed you." "Stop being dramatic. It has only been three days.""Felt like three years."Zoe looked all over the house. "Where is Leo?""I am not sure. He said something about working together on a project with some classmate." "Oh, okay."Emily followed Zoe to her room. "So, are you going to tell me what happened or not? Why did Henry suddenly let you go? I honestly thought you were never going to see the light of day again after he caught you trying to run away." Zoe thought so too. "Henry wants me back at work. We still have the hacker to deal with and he can't do that without me." "Is it too early to attempt running away again?" Emily suggested. "I can't do that anymore. The jerk has people watching me." "He is hiring people to stalk you now? Just how far can he go?" Zoe gave her friend a knowing look. "You do not want to know."Emily helped Zoe unpack, giving a deep sigh. "So what are you go
Zoe's New LookWhen Zoe walked into the company, all eyes were on her. She brought out a mirror from her bag to see if she looked weird. Her hair was neatly styled, courtesy of Emily. Her light make up was flawless too. The attention Zoe was getting made her feel uncomfortable as she was not used to being in the spotlight. "Good morning, Zoe," Kearny greeted her with a smile. "I like your new style."She looked down at her dress. "Thanks. Is it just me or is everyone staring?""Everyone is just surprised to see you back at work. You were away for some time. We all thought you got fired."Zoe scoffed at that, knowing Henry could never fire her. She was an asset, his only chance at getting a hold of the hacker. Speaking of the hacker, all Zoe attempted to speak to him went to shit as there was no way she could reach him. He really did know how to hold a grudge. She settled behind her desk and switched on the desktop in front of her. Zoe noticed she was behind a lot of office work wh
Henry was so engrossed in his office work that he did not hear the knock on the door. He snapped out of his daze when the knock got louder and frowned, curious to know who dared to interrupt his peace. "Come in," he called out as Zoe walked into his office. He did not know who to expect, but it definitely was not Zoe looking good in that dress and make up. The short dress exposed her legs and Henry could almost see her thighs. It made him a bit mad other men had a free view of her exposed legs that way. "My eyes are up here, you pervert," he heard Zoe’s voice say. "How long have you been walking around looking like that?""What? You do not like my style? I have gotten quite a lot of compliment from it today." Henry’s frown went deeper. "From who?""That is not why I am here," Zoe said. "I bring you news." "It better be good." "It is not good, and it is also not bad either." Henry dropped the files he had been signing on. "You have my full attention." "It is about the hacker."
Zoe dumped her bag on the bed, tiredness nipping at her bones. Leo had gone to bed early and Emily was just having dinner. Zoe took a quick shower and joined her friend. She forked one of Emily’s scrambled eggs into her mouth. "Your cooking skills have not improved one bit." "My cooking is fine. Your taste buds are just crap.""Whatever helps you sleep at night." Zoe took two more bites and dropped the fork. "I met with Sparrow today." "Who is Sparrow?" "The hacker. Keep up," Zoe said. "He wants a job at the company.""That is a bold move. This dude keeps surprising me.""Henry went completely nuts when I told him. Do you think he would hire Sparrow?"Emily shrugged nonchalantly. "I do not know. He might. Enough with Henry. Who was that cutie who dropped you off the other day?" Zoe gave her a look. "Who? You mean Daniel?" Emily nodded. "That is his annoying secretary. He is like the calmer version of Henry. Mean, nonetheless." "He is totally my style.""I would advise you agains
After a lot of contemplations and discussions with the board of directors, Henry finally made his decision. As much as he detested the idea of hiring Sparrow, Henry had nothing to lose. Except the company’s database if Sparrow did not get hired. He went to work that morning with a foul mood. He was mad at a lot of things but a particular one topped it all. He even lost his appetite while eating breakfast that morning. Daniel met him outside on his way to the office. "Good morning," Daniel said to him. "What is so good about the morning? Even the birds did not chirp this morning." "If you are still upset about Zoe..." "I am not upset!" Henry fumed. "Why would I be upset? Do I look upset?" Daniel stared at him, noting the creased lines on his forehead from all that frowning, and his upturned facial expression. "Not at all. You look splendid this morning." "Of course, I do. Inform Zoe that the hacker can resume work tomorrow. He must report to my office as soon as he arrives. We
Zoe’s eyes almost bulged out of her sockets upon hearing the news. Leo sat there quietly, looking down at his legs to avoid Zoe’s gaze. "What happened? What did you do?" Zoe asked him, trying to calm down. It was just months away from his final exams. If he got expelled now, that was terrible bad luck. "I am sorry. I did not mean to cause trouble.""Tell me what you did," Zoe pressed further. "We can still prevent you from getting expelled if it is not that bad." "He beat up a kid. The boy is in coma right now," Emily told her when Leo would not speak up. "Leo, is that true?" "He kept bullying me," Leo spoke up. "I needed to stand up for myself." "Why did you not tell me you were getting bullied?" "What would you have done? Even the principal did nothing when I told him about it. I reacted, and suddenly I am the one who's wrong." Zoe sighed. "You should have told me. Now look at how much trouble you caused. What if the boy does not wake up from the coma? You would be expelled
"What did he say? Will he help?" Leo asked as soon as Zoe walked into the house. "Geez. Not even a welcome home?" "I am just so anxious." Zoe dropped her bag on a couch beside her and accepted the glass of water Emily brought for her. "Well..." she began. "He might help." "Might?" Emily repeated. "What are you talking about?""He said he would help if I be on my best behavior."Leo frowned at that. "What does that even mean?""It means he is an unfeeling monster. Did you guys really think Henry would help that easily? Trust me, I do know who I am dealing with." "So, I am doomed then," Leo said. "You are not. I promised I would get you out of this," she patted his head. "Leave it all to me." On the outside, Zoe seemed like she had it all figured out when she really was crumbling inside. She got a bit freaked out when Henry told her he wanted a lot of things from her. Zoe’s imagination went wild at that moment. Was it exactly what she was thinking?She shook her head off the tho
Saturday arrived before Zoe knew it. She had not gone in full contact with Henry for the rest of the week as he was too preoccupied with work. She hated to say she kind of missed seeing him. Sparrow had done a good job keeping her company. He was a cool kid, except for the fact that he blackmailed his way into Magatech. They spent most of their lunch at work together, encrypting and coding side by side. He was exceptional at his work, and Zoe liked him for that. Leo’s expulsion from his school would be decided the next week and Zoe knew she had to get Henry on their side. It was their only hope out. With the kind of influence and power he had in Leo’s high school, there was no way Leo would get expelled if Henry pulled a few strings. Zoe was standing in front of her mirror with the dress Henry got her glued to her body. It looked like it was made just for her. Zoe’s hair flowed to her shoulders and glistened with all that hair spray. Her face was adorned with light make up. Heavy