News of the downfall of the Joseph family splattered the news the next day.
Mr Joseph was automatically removed from the race for the position of Councilman. The shares he had acquired with Ambrose Corporations were seized, and he was forced to pay damages for soiling the company’s name through his scandal.
The Ambrose Corporation lawyers were demanding two hundred billion dollars in damage, which is equivalent to his life’s worth if he lived an extra seventy years.
Coupled with many lawsuits he faced from young ladies who exposed him to be a predator for women in the modelling industry, and allegedly holding materials he used to blackmail them into sleeping with them repeatedly, it was safe to say Mr Joseph’s life was over.
The Ambrose Corporation also issued a statement cutting all ties with Mrs Joseph’s family. Mrs Cordelia was the eldest daughter of the Baron group, a monopolised oil company that catered to the needs of South City in partnership with Ambrose Corporations.
The company was able to soar to it’s heights due to the favourable relationship shared with the late CEO of Ambrose Corporations – Rafael’s father. Having assumed the role as the head of Ambrose Corporation, Rafael didn’t care to stop the partnership but with the current situation, he decided cutting off the partnership would be a lenient punishment for daring to touch his wife.
June and Rafael watched the morning news from the comfort of their bed. Rafael went through some papers he brought home to sign while June sipped her tea.
“I thought we had an agreement.” She pouted.
“I agreed to go easy on Mrs Cordelia.” Rafael corrected, “This is me going easy on them.”
June had more to say but she bit her tongue. As much as she would have loved for Mrs Cordelia to get out of things unscathed, it was wishful thinking on her part.
No matter how hard she looked into the events that led to this point, June couldn’t help but feel she didn’t deserve to be attacked in such a manner.
She deserved to be given the benefit of the doubt as well as an opportunity to explain herself before getting tagged as a home wrecker. But that ship had sailed and there was nothing to do but move on and try to redeem what was left of her name.
June didn’t need to be told to know her name was soiled. The singular act of Lucy checking in on her and warning her against logging on to her web app was a telltale that things were not in her favour.
She didn’t blame the people who taught the worst of her though. Until she was able to prove it was all a set-up, the public would point accusing fingers her way for the situation of the Joseph family.
“You haven’t asked,” June said after a while.
Rafael turned to her with a confused look on her face. “What?”
“You never asked what I was doing with Joseph. You saw the pictures. Are you not curious?”
“You mean jealous?” Rafael said, “Yes. I am jealous that old hag got so close to what’s mine. I will have a perfect time making sure he regrets stepping five feet close to you.”
June fought the urge to smile. “You know what I mean. Why aren’t you demanding explanations? Are you so confident in me?”
Rafael dropped his papers beside him and faced her. “I am confident in my ability to keep you satisfied at all times.” He said with a smirk. “Do you want a demonstration?”
June felt her cheeks heat up as she shook her head. “No, I don’t. At this rate, I won’t be able to walk properly!”
“Even better. That way, you are reminded of me everywhere you go.”
Rafael’s eyes roamed about June with lust, love and adoration. June was putty in his arms in no time he was balls deep into her, almost hitting her womb while she laid back and enjoyed the ride.
….
April was having a terrible day.
With the sudden downfall of the Joseph family, her new contract to build the family house fizzled into the air. Her efforts towards getting the deal were washed down the drain.
All because of June.
April’s hatred for her sister reached an all-time high as she had yet to figure out what relationship she had with the Ambrose family to get dinner with them.
She also nursed a hunch that Baron Oil’s fall was directly credited to the CEO of Ambrose Corporations who suddenly retrieved his backing, causing their shares to drop so low they were battling to stay afloat.
All the misfortunes that befell the Joseph family didn’t mean anything to her but she was concerned that June might have caused the downward spiral of things. A part of her was convinced that there was something with those two.
She just didn’t know it yet.
Three knocks jolted her out of her reverie. It was her secretary. She ordered him in. “What do you want?” Her tone was flippant. April was in a terrible mood.
“I just received some intel from the prison.”
That caught her attention. “What is it?”
“Mrs Evelyn Rivera visited Mr Ethan Lontoc at two pm today.”
April felt her anger skyrocket. “What did you just say?”
“The intel said they spent two hours conversing. After which Mrs Evelyn left the police and headed back to her headquarters.” The secretary reported.
Just before April could respond, the door to her office opened and her mother stepped in with a mean look on her face. “How dare you? How dare you lie in this manner?!”
April turned to her assistant who stood still in the room. “Disappear.”
The secretary didn’t need to be told twice. He left the office and shut the door behind him. The offices were soundproof.
“What are you talking about, mother? Have you come to apologise?”
Evelyn couldn’t believe this was the woman she raised. “Who’s baby is it?” She growled. “Are you even pregnant?!”
April was taken aback for some time. She soon recovered from the momentary shock and replied. “I see you met my husband. What else did he tell you?”
It was Evelyn’s turn to be shocked at her daughter’s nonchalance. “Who are you? When did my daughter become so evil?”
April laughed, “You still call me your daughter. I was of the impression you have joined my enemies.”
Evelyn pursed her lips.
“Tell me, mother. What are you doing here? Have you come to threaten me? Did you expose me to Ethan? Did you betray me?!”
Slap!
“Have you learned nothing?” Evelyn’s eyes blazed in anger. “How dare you speak to me in that manner? Do you want to spend the rest of your life behind bars?”
April turned her head to the side in disbelief. This was the second time her mother was hitting her. She swallowed the pain and taunted, “Is that your plan? To get me imprisoned?”
“Maybe I should. That way I can find the true identity of the bastard you carry inside you.” Evelyn glowered. “Who the hell got you pregnant?!”
April smirked. “Why should I tell you? The last thing I need is for important information to get to the ears of my enemy.”
“You have twelve hours.” Evelyn gave an ultimatum, “Twelve hours to tell me who the hell got you pregnant or I will ruin you.” She turned to leave, stopped mid-strut and turned around. “You know I will.”
April watched her mother strut out of the place with confidence. She maintained her smirk. Her mother had given her twelve hours. She laughed.
Ten hours was too much. Her mother would regret crossing her in a couple of hours. She was going to make sure of that.
Mrs Evelyn dialled her husband’s line on the way to her office. The phone rang straight to voicemail. She got to the office and continued her work and only got up from her hair after four hours to get a glass of water.
During her ten minutes break, she realised that her husband never returned the call, which was unlike him. She picked up her phone and once again dialled her husband, ready to give him an ear full of words but it rang straight to voicemail.
A beat of fear laced her heart but she shook it off. Maybe he dropped his phone somewhere. She decided to call his driver instead. The line connected at the first ring.
“Madame! The boss! The boss!” The driver panicked on the phone, “The boss has been snatched! The boss was snatched on the way to the house!”
Evelyn felt her heart pull from its hinges. “What?! Where are you? Where exactly are you?!”
The driver gave a detailed explanation of his location and soon, Mrs Evelyn was rushing out of her office with tears in her eyes. She couldn’t lose another husband. She just couldn’t.
Meanwhile, April stood in front of her floor-to-ceiling window with a glass of champagne in her hand. A text beeped into her phone and she smirked.
“Let the games begin.”