The clerks noticed the same attitude and were astonished. Without looking back, she walked to the car park, got into her car, and drove to the gate. She stopped and got out of the car. The Security men were surprised to see a woman who was raging a few minutes ago walking solemnly to their office.
Quietly, she picked up her phone and drove away.
‘What must have happened? Who is the President of the Bailey International Conglomerates?’ She mulled over and drove on.
Nevertheless, she never considered calling Stephen, neither was she aware that she narrowly escaped the police arrest. Now, Denise had sent for the Security Officer who drove to the Admin Block after Lorene drove off.
“You called me, Boss,” the officer stated.
“Yes. Why did you call the cop on that woman?”
“I did not call the cop, they just came.”
“How? What do you mean by they just came?” Denise furrowed his brow and asked him.
Incidentally, the security officer was not aware that Denise was not in the picture of the arrangement by the Constable. He played his part very well to avoid causing any problems for himself.
“They come whenever they notice that there is chaos at the gate. I think it is the government’s way of protecting the big organizations from attack, considering the incident at a resort last Friday.”
The officer’s explanation made sense to Denise and he dismissed him immediately, “It is all right. You can leave.”
“Thank you, Boss.”
He left immediately, and Denise got out of the swivel chair and walked to the couch for his lunch.
At the Barracks
Stephen stood in the middle of the Patriarch’s parlor until lunch. The Patriarch, who had gone to his bedroom to attend to some other matters, came downstairs for lunch and met him still standing and turned a blind eye.
His chef served him his lunch, which he had joyously, and he returned to his study.
Meanwhile, Stephen was in the middle of nowhere. His mind wandered to all his mischievous activities towards Arthur.
‘What must have happened, to the wolves? Jude is dead, so my secrets are buried with him. If only I knew about the wolves, I would be assured that my family would not know about my murder attempt on Arthur.’
The Patriarch thought he was standing in the middle of his parlor as remorse, but he was hiding in the barracks for safety.
‘Evelyn did not call me for the lunch as she promised. She must have been disappointed when she got to the resort and saw it in ruins,’ he thought.
Now, many disturbing thoughts flashed through his mind.
‘When did I kidnap Zoey? These mix-ups are giving me heartache.’
Just as he planned, when the day was dark, he left. Unknown to him, the security agents were aware of every step he took.
At Seven Oaks
Louis was elated when the barrister informed him that his Family Head agreed to a dialogue.
“That is good. This will teach him how to mind his business and stop saying disparaging things about other people.”
“You are right, Mr. Bailey. Will you be at the meeting tomorrow?” The barrister inquired.
“What? That black sheep does not deserve a minute of my time.”
“It is alright. What of your brother, do you think he would like to be in attendance?”
“Barrister Guidance, no member of my family will give him that honor, not even our cat. He must pay for all our demands, and no dime will be short,” Louis declared.
“I got it.”
“Kindly let me know of the outcome when you are through,” Louis said dismissively
“It is noted. I will keep in touch.”
At Denise’s Office
He returned to the office and continued with work. Then, he got a message alert. (Ding)
He checked his phone and saw a mail from his father and quickly read through it. He smiled when he discovered that it was an invitation to the meeting at the barrack.
“Uncle Stephen, you have dug your grave, we will assist in burying you in it. I know that Louis must be responsible for this,” he pointed out.
Then, he sent a reply to his father acknowledging the receipt of the mail before he settled down to think of Louis.
“For how long will this silence last?” He chuckled.
“Louis, I will see you on Saturday, whether for good or bad. I must put an end to this rubbish,” he concluded.
Evelyn’s POV
After she got out of work, she checked on Lorene to bid her farewell but discovered that she had gone and was happy about that.
She drove to the Bailey International Conglomerate for lunch as she agreed with the President. Unfortunately, the policemen who were coming to arrest Lorene arrested her without informing her offense. Meanwhile, she was too shocked to ask any questions or contact her husband, Mr. Reuben Storm.
She concluded that it was Lorene’s arrangement for her to be arrested.
‘So she knew what happened on Saturday and pretended.’
End of Evelyn’s POV
Stephen’s Residence
He sneaked into his house and refused to switch on the light; rather, he managed to eat any food he could lay his hands on, took his bath, and lay down on his bed. He was too burdened to call any of his women neither did he get any from them. Then, he resorted to sending a message to Lorene.
(Lorene, dear, how did your day go? I apologize for just contacting you. I have been very busy. We will talk tomorrow. Love, from Stephen.)
He was relieved after sending the message. When he said tomorrow, he believed that after the meeting, Arthur and his family would let him off the hook.
“The highest the Family Heads would ask me to do is to apologize to Arthur, and that would suffice. Coward, he had the intention of marrying Nichole and allowed me to fool myself,” he mumbled to himself.
Meanwhile, Lorene was too devastated to think of anything. When she got Stephen’s message, she read through it but did not respond. He waited for her response, but none came.
Then, he initiated to call her, but she did not pick up the call, and he wondered, “I hope she is not angry with me for taking long to contact her?”