Stacy didn’t wait for the car engine to turn off before running into the hospital. She had been trying to stay calm all through the ride but, as soon as the hospital building came into view, she felt her anxiety return.
“Stacy! Wait!” Thomas tried to call her, but she closed the door before he could finish and ran into the hospital.
“A-drian Daniels. Where is he?” She asked the receptionist with a shaky voice.
“Mrs Daniels!” The receptionist recognized her immediately and bowed slightly. But, Stacy was in no mood for greetings.
“Where is my son?” She asked again, raising her voice this time.
“Y-yes. He’s in the VIP ward. Ward 4.” The receptionist said, sighting her husband, Thomas Daniels, behind her.
As soon as the words left her lips, Stacy took off like a mad woman, searching for his room. Without searching for long, the ward came into view and she went in.
“Oh, Adrian.” Tears started flowing from her eyes as she stared at her son lying on the bed with oxygen connected to him.
“What happened to you? Who did this to you, my boy?” She cried, holding his hands.
“Do you know who shot him? Was it the police or that evil woman?” Stacy asked her husband, who had been standing behind her the whole time, and he shook his head.
“I have no idea, honey. I’ll have to ask Damien. But, don’t you think it’s completely useless?” Thomas asked with a sigh and Stacy immediately turned to him with a frown on her face.
“What are you talking about? Why would it be a waste?” She asked and Thomas walked closer to her and pointed at Adrian.
“He’s a wanted criminal, Stacy. The second he wakes up, the police will be there to arrest him. Does it really matter if someone tried to kill him? Whoever did this can easily get off the hook by saying it was an act of self-defense. It’s highly possible that Adrian was even trying to kill the person,” Thomas said.
He wasn’t stupid. After seeing the injury on Damien’s head and learning about Adrian’s condition, he knew that Damien was responsible but, it was an act of self-defense.
He would tell Stacy the truth but, she wasn’t reasonable. She wouldn’t care that Damien was trying to defend himself and would immediately accuse him of trying to kill her beloved son.
“If the police don’t do anything about it, I will. I’ll find whoever did this to my son and make them pay, Thomas!” She said with determination before shifting her eyes back to Adrian.
“Look at him, Thomas. He’s fighting for his life! My son would have died.” Her voice cracked as fresh tears began pouring out once again.
“So would have Damien, but you don’t care about him.” He said to her, and she gulped, feeling a tiny bit of guilt.
They stayed in the hospital room with Adrian for a while until Thomas decided that it was time for them to go home and freshen up.
It was already evening and Adrian was still not up. The doctors found it strange because, from their diagnosis, he should have woken up already.
Stacy refused to leave her son until she saw him open his eyes, so, he was forced to go home and get new clothes for her to wear instead.
He had barely made it out of the hospital when three detectives walked up to him.
“Mr. Thomas Daniels?” One of them said and showed him their ID’s.
“Yes. How may I help you?” He asked impatiently, as he was in a hurry.
“You are under arrest for money laundering, Mr. Thomas. Further information about this will be given to you at the station. Please, come with us.” The same man said.
Thomas stared at them in disbelief. He wondered how he was being charged with such an offense when he had never acquired money illegally.
He knew that someone had framed him. If that was the case, he wasn’t going to panic because he knew that it was only a matter of time until he was proven innocent.
“I’ll come with you guys. Just let me inform my wife.” He said, and they nodded before following him into Adrian’s ward..
*
*
“Alexa did this, didn’t she?” Harriet groaned, looking at the new post which was trending.
Whoever leaked the information did a terrible job at hiding the fact that they were talking about her.
Just because A’s father is the chairman of the company, A is allowed to skip work days and still be given a position as high as the CEO of the company, even though A is unskilled. This is unfair to other staff who work their butts off and have proper qualifications. We must stop nepotism in our society. Being the owner’s child shouldn’t be a reason for working at a company. Everyone must follow due procedure, regardless of their position in society.
The article from an anonymous post read but, every comment under the post had her name on it.
Everyone knew that she had taken a break from working for seven years and had come back as the CEO.
“This is bullshit, Miss Harriet! Was Alexa not schooled in ‘ succession ‘? You are an heir to the company. It is only right that your father will want you to take over! Besides, I have worked with you for a while now. I know that you are not unskilled,” Collin said, shaking with anger.
Harriet sat with her legs crossed for a few minutes, thinking of what to do. Then, a smile appeared on her face as she realized that the reason why her father didn’t help her handle Alexa was because he wanted her to do it herself.
He didn’t want her whining to him about problems like Alexa. She was meant to handle those problems herself.
He didn’t make her the CEO for a show. She had as much power as a CEO should have.
“Call for a general meeting, Collin. I want every executive to be present. And, inform Alexa that she MUST be present.” Harriet ordered, and Collin smiled before nodding.
“In the meantime, get someone to track that account. I need evidence that Alexa was behind that post in thirty minutes.” She said to Collin.
“Yes, ma’am.” He said happily and left her office.
An hour later, all the executives in the company, excluding her father, were present in the meeting room and were waiting for Harriet.
Once she was sure that they were all seated, she walked there with Collin behind her, making sure nothing about her looked like she was in a panic because of the article.
“I apologize for the late meeting.” She started, seeing that it was almost time for them to close for the day.
“But, there are some matters that must be dealt with immediately.” She said and turned to Alexa, who was sitting at the far end of the table with a satisfied look on her face.
She thought that her article had brought so much trouble for Harriet that she now wanted to step down from her position.
Harriet took out her tablet and showed them all the articles.
“I’m sure we have all seen this.” She said, holding her tablet up for them to see before dropping it on the table and chuckling.
“It is really disappointing that this article was released by a staff at this company,” She said, and they all gasped in surprise, while Alexa had a neutral look on her face.
She wasn’t surprised.
“This has caused a lot of losses for the company in a short time. To think that someone in this company would do such a thing! It only means that you do not care about the company and so, you cannot be working here.” She said and banged her hand on the table, her eyes throwing daggers at Alexa.
It was at that moment Alexa knew that she had been caught.
“Miss Alexa Slade. You have tarnished the reputation of the company and have caused us a loss. You have also insulted me, the CEO of this company, and tarnished my image,” Harriet said.
“Your actions cannot go unpunished, Miss Alexa. You will pack your things and leave the company in two hours. You are fired!”