A few days had passed since then, and I wasn’t as clingy to Gio anymore because I didn’t know how to act affectionate after our quarrel, especially with no reconciliation in sight.
I was at home, staring at the TV even though I didn’t care for what was on. There was a romance movie playing, with the leads kissing. Normally, I loved romance movies, but I just wasn’t in the mood for it now.
My cellphone rang. I picked it up from beside me and answered it without checking the caller.
“Hello…” At first, I thought it was Gio or one of my friends. But when I heard a man’s voice, my eyes widened.
“Millie?”
Shit, it was Marion!
I glanced around to make sure no one could overhear me. I took a deep breath. I didn’t have anything to hide, but if anyone found out I was talking to Marion, they would report it to Gio, and we’d end up arguing again because of his jealousy.
“Why did you call?” I didn’t mention his name to be safe.
“Can we talk in person, please?” he asked in a calm voice but with a hidden tone.
“N-No. I don’t want to start another fight with my husband. Maybe we can talk here-”
“I can’t talk about it over the phone, Millie. It’s important,” he told me.
“But…”
Marion let out a deep sigh on the other end of the line. It was clear he was carrying a heavy burden.
“It’s about your husband, Millie. There’s something you need to know about him.”
My eyebrows furrowed at that. Now, he had my attention. What else did I need to know about Gio?
~*~
I was contemplating what Marion might have to tell me, and why we needed to meet. I agreed because I was also curious about the news he had to deliver. Of course, I didn’t bring my guards with me, and if Dario found out who I was meeting with, he would likely report it to Gio immediately. So, I devised a plan.
I spoke to Nina to see if we could meet Marion at her condo, which seemed like a good idea since Nina was already there. She agreed.
“Can you bring Marion to the meeting place a bit earlier so that he won’t be seen by my guards?” I asked her.
She agreed, and Marion also accepted the plan. I set an earlier time for meeting him than when I was going to Nina’s condo.
As I entered the condo tower, I noticed Dario following me. I stopped and turned to face them.
“Don’t follow me. I’m only heading to Nin’ place. Just wait for me here,” I told them sternly.
I gave Dario a pointed look. I knew they didn’t like what I said, but they didn’t oppose me either. They remained in the lobby while I headed to the condo’s elevator.
I got into the elevator and pressed the button for Nina’s floor. I arrived quickly and immediately looked for her unit.
I knocked on the door, and Rae opened it.
“Hola!” Rae greeted me, hugging me and planting a kiss on my cheek.
“Why are you here, Rae?” We walked to the living room of Nina’s unit. I found Marion sitting on a sofa, and Nina was there too.
“I invited Rae here,” Nina said. She got up and approached me, giving me a peck on the cheek as well.
“And if there’s gossip about your ex-fiance, we want to hear it too,” Rae chuckled.
I shook my head and walked closer to where Marion was. I still felt nervous, not knowing what he was about to tell me. I had a feeling it wasn’t good news regarding Gio.
We sat down, and I kept my distance from Marion. Even though Gio wasn’t in the room, I didn’t want to get too close to the person he might be jealous of. If it weren’t for Marion’s insistence on the importance of this meeting, I wouldn’t have shown up.
“What do you want to tell me about Gio, Marion?” I asked.
Marion didn’t say anything and handed me an envelope. I furrowed my brow as I looked at the envelope he was passing to me.
“What’s this for?” I inquired.
“Open it, Millie,” he said.
I took the envelope from him, and my friends leaned in curiously, sharing my anticipation.
Inside the envelope were documents with a list of names. I didn’t recognize any of the names on the list, so why was Marion giving this to me?
“Those are the lists of our investors. The first five names there hold forty percent of the company’s shares combined. This means those five entities were controlling the majority of our stocks. We only had 25 percent left because my father sold some of our shares to other people, thinking he still had the majority, but he was deceived.” Marion sighed heavily as I went through the names one by one.
Why is he saying this to me? What does it have to do with Gio?
“Those five shareholders were the ones who started to withdraw their investments. That’s when our company became unstable, and other shareholders followed suit, thinking we couldn’t recover, and they were right. We went under after that. It couldn’t survive with only us running the company. Our market started to decline until we lost everything. Thinking about it, it’s strange why those five people suddenly pulled out all at once, so I delved deeper. I looked for a possible reason, and I found something.”
I looked at Marion, who was staring intently at me, sending shivers down my spine. I averted my gaze and focused on the document. I noticed there was a second page, so I turned it over, gasping when I saw the result of Marion’s investigation.
“I saw that these five people were all connected to one person-”
“Gio…” My hands trembled as I held the document. I couldn’t believe that all five major shareholders connected to Marion were linked to Gio.
“Yes, Millie. You can say that the five investors were just a front act, pawns. They all worked for Gio and followed his instructions.” Marion said. “Gio is behind all of this, Millie. He bought shares in our company using different people. In reality, he could have easily taken over as Chairman from my Dad if he transferred the shares held by those five people you see in the documents, but he didn’t do that. Instead…”
“He instructed his people to withdraw their investments, which led to your company’s downfall,” Rae added beside me. Both of my friends stared at me, shocked by what they had learned.
“Why would Gio do that? Why would he invest using other people when he could do it himself?” Nina questioned while looking at me.
“I don’t know,” I replied, still in disbelief.
“I assume he didn’t want anyone to notice his intentions. Because, right from his initial share purchase using different people, he only had one thing in mind-to bring us down himself.” Marion said.
“But why would Millie’s husband do that? You must have wronged them in some way, right? That’s how they sometimes seek revenge, isn’t it?” Rae inquired. I glanced at him, shrugging in response.