“Hahahaha” sound of laughter echoed through the office of Damien Russo as his temporary assistant fed him details of the problems clawing at the Callahan enterprise.
“I can’t wait to see how he pacifies the media” Damien uttered with a wide grin on his face to show how pleasant his feeling was. He was enjoying himself. He had purposefully and single-handedly escalated the scandals to such height just for a ridiculous reason- to have fun.
“Sir, I also believe that Kyle Brenett is up to something” the assistant revealed. “Our source saw him walk out of the Callahan building”
“Oh!…” Damien exclaimed with a tone of amusement in his voice. “It doesn’t matter. We are working against the same enemy. Any success on either side would be beneficial to the other”
“If that’s all, I’ll be on my way now” the assignment uttered to which Damien gave a dismissive nod.
At that same moment, Gina strutted in with her usual seductive posture, but this time, with a red gift bag in her left hand. She had become a constant visitor of the Russo company and no one ever thought of stopping her.
“Hi Damien” she greeted as her lips curved into a smile and instantly asked the question that was on her lips the moment she walked in. “Who was that young lad that just left your office?”
“Oh! I got myself a temporary assistant since Rachael filed a medical leave to recover from the sprain”Damien answered as a flitting gaze of worry flashed through his eyes, but vanished as quickly as it came. “Welcome, my darling Gina… I can see you came here with something, do you mind showing me?”
“Oh! This?” Gina raised the small bag in her hands with a smirk on her lips. “I brought us a little something to celebrate our new victory”
“A new victory indeed” Damien muttered with a tone of agreement in his voice. “There’s more to come”
As they both settled down, they completely relaxed. Gina proposed a toast.” To a long-lasting friendship”
“Well, the credit for our victory this time, goes to you.. if you hadn’t given me a lead that produced valid evidence for the scandal, we wouldn’t be here celebrating” Damien uttered with a smile as he twirled the glass in his hands, staring deeply through the red wine. He was unaware of the guilty expression on Gina’s face.
Her whole thoughts had been disoriented ever since the gala night. She had effortlessly watched her only child whom she carried for nine months suffer in pain and anguish which she had a hand in. She was so lost in thoughts that she failed to notice Damien’s persistent calling of her name until he tapped her lightly on the shoulder causing her to jolt abruptly.
“Penny for your thoughts” Damien probed as his gaze pierced through her like he could read her without stress.
“It’s nothing Damien” Gina denied with a forced smile on her lips. But Damien wasn’t buying it, so he said, “Think about the power and wealth we would acquire if we win this game.. your daughter will be free when Liam becomes nothing in the eyes of the public, so be patient for a little while. Don’t lose touch”
A kind of light flickered in Gina’s eyes as the guilty expression on her face was instantly replaced by an evil smirk that spelled out something quite dangerous. Her greedy and selfish nature was reborn in response to Damien’s motivating words or rather, manipulative words. He had studied her well enough to know her weakness and use it to his advantage.
“I don’t think this little scandal would be good enough to keep Liam Callahan down. We need more diggings to spice things off “Damien stated with an underlying meaning in his tone making Gina quiver in fear as she waited for him to confirm her thoughts.
“When the technician delivered the captions from the security cameras, he mentioned something” Damien paused, creating a suspense that was killing Gina deep down in her heart. Then he continued, “Max had driven Isabelle to an unknown place. The man claimed she was unconscious before Max took her away”
Gina’s eyes widened in bewilderment at the somewhat unbelievable news. But she knew Damien had no reason to lie to her. Something forbidden must have happened. Her mind went back to her daughter’s feverish state, the same night she had met with Max. Something was amiss and she needed to find out.
Gina averted her gaze to Damien, the only man who could help her solve the puzzle.” you are going to investigate more, right?”
“Of course, I would never leave any stones unturned” Damien replied with an assuring tone in his voice.
“Then, go ahead” Gina uttered with a resolute voice.
***
“What took you so long?”Rachael queried as soon as she sighted Rachael coming down from her car. She had grown impatient from waiting for long hours.
“I’m sorry. I got caught up in a terrible situation but it’s fine now” Isabelle replied with an apologetic tone as she glanced at the man sitting beside Rachael
“I brought William along to examine you. I don’t want to take any risk” Rachael explained when she noticed the confusion on Isabelle’s face. They never talked about inviting a third party but she had decided at the last minute when she recalled Isabelle’s state the last time they each other.
“Oh! Alright,” Isabelle replied as she acknowledged William’s presence with words of gratitude. “Thanks for your help, you both saved me a lot of trouble”
“But we couldn’t prevent the photos from getting out,” Rachael remarked with a solemn expression on her face knowing fully well that her boss was the mastermind behind it all.
Isabelle’s expression turned sour at Rachael’s words. “It’s alright. It already happened before you met me”
“So, let’s get straight into business”Rachael suggested with a serious tone as she sat upright, gazing intently at Isabelle. “What was it you want to discuss with me?… I’m all ears”
Isabelle inhaled deeply as she deliberated on whether to trust Rachael or not. But she had saved her life and had gone through the trouble of getting her home. She had to trust her and bear the consequences later.