Beatrice stayed up until she received word from her men. Only then did she sleep with a smile. If everything went according to plan, she would be rid of the little wench.
The next morning, April woke up with a smile. She stopped at a local thrift store, demanding some local outfits she intended to give her assistant. She also planned to speak to Mrs Beatrice about the task’s progress.
Throw in a few more threats and see where it goes.
April bought the clothes and returned to her car with a smile. “Head straight to the office.” She instructed the driver then relaxed into the seat.
Soon enough, they arrived at Pheonix Constructions and she stepped out of the car with her shades on. She quickly noticed her assistant’s absence at the gate and her face soured.
Did she need to teach that darned girl her job? She thought angrily. Envisioning the many ways she could punish her for failing to welcome her to the office.
April walked into the office and noticed something off about the employees. Gone were the happy-to-please smiles that they had from the previous day.
It seemed like everyone was out against her. They didn’t even have the decency to greet her. Instead, they watched her like morons as she made her way to the elevator, murmuring within themselves.
April couldn’t take it. She turned to the people with displeasure written on her face. “Do I need to beg you all to acknowledge me?” She asked in a firm tone. “Have you forgotten who I am? Do you want to lose your jobs?!”
More murmurs ensued from the crowd of employees. She deciphered some words which were said.
“She’s shameless to show up here!” One said.
“Hasn’t she read the news?”
“I’ve never heard of someone so despicable! Stealing other’s work and passing it off as theirs! Hmph!”
“She should be arrested!”
April was confused by the drama playing out before her. What news were they gossiping about and how did it concern her? Just when she was ready to call them out, the CEO’s elevator opened and her assistant walked out, dressed in a pretty yellow gown.
Her face darkened at the sight of her assistant looking pretty after the previous day’s warnings. April focused her attention on the young lady.
“Who gave you the right to use my elevator?” She queried with displeasure written over her face. “And what did I tell you about putting on flashy clothes? Do you want to lose your job?!”
April was shocked by the smile that grew on her assistant’s face. Her next words destabilised her. “You know what? I’ll do you a favour.” She looked through her handbag and produced a brown envelope.
Before April could speak, she flung it to her face. “I quit!” Lindsey said with a cruel smile.
April blinked in disbelief. “What?”
“Are you deaf?” Her former assistant asked in a rude tone. “I will not be working for you anymore so you can keep your stupid rules to yourself.”
With that, the assistant left the company, leaving April wondering what went wrong. April headed to her office in shame. No one had disrespected her in such a manner and she was ready to get to the root of things.
It didn’t take long before half her employees came knocking with resignation letters. Each one had different versions of what she considered insults. Everything came crashing down when she received a text from the South City Resort Project representative.
She was ordered to stop all work on the project and pay a sum of 500 million dollars for the damages incurred. Panicked, she dialled the representative’s number.
“How dare you call me after what you’ve done?!” The elderly man said in an angry voice. “South City government have been defaced because of your wicked schemes. Do not think we will take things lying down. Our lawyers will be with you in no time. Then you will learn never to mess with us!”
The call disconnected and April was flagabasted. Hearing the words of the representative inspired fear in her heart. She immediately went online, hoping to understand what was going on.
As soon as she logged on to social media, the first thing she saw took a breath out of her lungs. The headline stated, “Exposed! April Lontoc sleeps with the old minister for the South City Resort Project deal! Steals JL CEO designs for Resort Project!”
As though the headline wasn’t life damning enough, a video of her having sexual relations with the imprisoned minister was attached, alongside a video of the original copies of June’s early designs which had been stolen and used to bag the deal.
The story had gone viral and the entire South City populace was not on her side. In fact, the netizens cursed her and said all manner of things, expressing their discontent with the situation. They even pressed the government to do justice, withdraw the project and press charges against her.
April’s tongue dried at the sight of the ruckus. Her new company was not saved from the fire either. The government came under fire by the netizens who heard that the Resort project was handed over to Pheonix Constructions.
The representative’s anger suddenly made sense. Everyone called her a fake and the public petitioned to have her prosecuted and her company closed. It was not a good day to be April Lontoc.
April stood up with a panicked expression. It was only a matter of time before the police came for her. It was surprising they hadn’t already come for her at this point.
April picked up her phone and ordered her driver to pull up at the back of the building. She immediately received a response from her driver with two words she had grown tired of hearing.
“I quit!”
Refusing to dwell on the situation, April called Mrs Beatrice, who switched off her phone after the first ring. Angry, she fired a text, ordering her to sort out the scandal or her son would be the next.
April wore a face cap and big shades. She tied her face with a scarf and put on the cheap clothing she got for her assistant in an attempt to disguise herself. Afterwards, she headed out of the office and walked down the road.
On getting to the highway, she hailed a cab and directed them to her penthouse. To her greatest surprise, a mob of reporters was stationed outside the hotel while the manager tried to reason with them.
How on earth did they find her?! She thought angrily and ordered the cab to move to another nearby hotel. Due to the situation, she couldn’t show her face in any decent hotel and ended up lodging in an infested motel that required cash and no identity card.
The door lock, air conditioning and water system were broken and in a terrible state. Once again, she was back from where she started. April remained undercover until late in the evening when she received a text from Colton asking to meet.
She was convinced that it was his handwork as no one had such damning information about her. She tried Beatrice’s line once again and it rang straight into voicemail.
If that woman thought she would go down alone, she had another thing coming! In the small confines of her room, April texted one of her trusted media personnel, giving the scoop on Rafael’s situation with Clarence.
By midnight, the video trended alongside hers, gaining public opinion on the private family matter. April sent another text to Beatrice, warning her to do something about her situation or she would be hearing a lot more from her.
April moved to sleep but was hindered by the new message that beeped into her phone. Another text from Colton who asked her to come to a shared location for a discussion.
Against her better judgment, April sneaked out of her motel, deciding to confront the genesis of her problems. She couldn’t sleep anyway so she figured it was time to converse with the idiot.
She also planned to visit her storage where she kept the money she received from Mrs Beatrice. April had never been more grateful for her decision to launder the money and store it in cash at unlikely locations.
If she could get her hands on the money, she could easily leave the country and begin a life elsewhere. She couldn’t remain in South City now that the government was after her. Not when she had other options.
April got into a cab and headed to the address where she was to meet the man who destroyed her life. A man that should be dead if that stupid Beatrice had done the darned job of disposing of him.
She planned to deal with Mrs Beatrice for causing her such pain. She would have a good time making her pay when she overcame this hurdle.
April arrived at the neighbourhood which was empty given the hour. She paid her fare, trekked into the streets and entered the house they used to commemorate their love in previous times.
Gone was the young girl who was madly in love with Colton, as well as the man she fell in love with. They both became different persons when they chose different paths.
April pushed the door open and walked into the living room. The music was loud and she hissed at the noise. She climbed upstairs searching for Colton and ready to throw a fit.
She pushed the door to their room and it seemed like something was hindering it from opening completely. Curious, she exerted force and the door burst open.
April screamed at the sight of Colton’s dead bloodied body. She fell to her knees, shocked as she shook him awake, leaving her fingerprints and staining herself in the process.
Before she could realise what was happening, sirens blared outside the house. It was the police!