CHAPTER 12
George dragged himself up to his feet and strolled out of the hall used for holding meetings in the company. He had mentioned that he wanted the manufacturing team to release their newest body wash quickly, but instead of focusing on his words, more than half of the board members decided to bring up the topic of how unfit he was to be the CEO of the company based on how he looked.
“You are embarrassing and downplaying the brand of this company by choosing to show up to conferences and events looking like that” one board member had remarked, making a reference to how everyone was staring at him at the last event he went to.
George shook his head, in an attempt to clear his mind from these unwelcome thoughts. He could see that his stepmother was working hard to kick him out of his position, by bribing the board members to frustrate him. She obviously wanted James to become the CEO, which his mother – Patricia, would never allow. To make things worse for Judith, the company’s profit had been increasing steadily ever since he married Rachel and shared the pictures online as ‘proof’, which made it harder for them to find a strong reason to make him step down.
But he knew Judith would not relent, she wouldn’t stop. She had the energy of a tyrant and the greed of a thief. George knew she wanted to fill up his mother’s position, not just as a wife, but as the chairwoman of this company. She would keep looking for his weak point, a way to bring him down – and not just him, his mother too.
George walked into his villa and headed in the direction of his personal library – the special place he preferred staying in, when he wasn’t in his bedroom or at a meeting. Turning the door knob and stepping inside, he saw Tony sitting on a chair, waiting for him.
“How long have you been here? Why didn’t you wait back if you had something to tell me?” George reclined on his chair opposite where Tony sat.
“Not that long…” Tony replied, flipping through a stack of paper in his hand. “… I didn’t feel very comfortable saying what I had to say in the company. Your library is better”
George moved his gaze from the phone in his hands and settled his eyes on Tony “Is something wrong? What do you have to say?”
“Do you remember the assignment you gave me before you got married?”
George wrinkled his forehead, trying to remember but failing to.
“It’s about Rachel’s father’s case…” Tony interrupted his thoughts “…. I have found an evidence, though it’s -”
“What?…” George’s eyes widened so much they could fall. He jumped to his feet and rushed over to Tony’s side. “… Where is it? How did you get it? Did you go through it? Who is the culprit?”
Tony shook his head. “Can I answer one question before you ask another, huh?” He held the stacked papers away from him with one hand and pointed to his chair with the other hand. “Just have a seat and I’ll spill everything you want to know”
George eyed him for a moment, before walking over to his chair and sitting on it. “So what is it?”
Tony handed the papers over him and chuckled as George grabbed it and hastily flipped through it. “I managed to convince a junior officer to reveal how they got access to the fake evidence five years ago, he finally talked after a while. The transcribed words of our recorded conversation is what I printed out and gave you.”
“So?” George asked impatiently
“You won’t believe it, but he claimed that the file of the drug trafficking evidence came from this company. Yes! Imperial Hub Limited”
“What?” George froze on his seat. What was that supposed to mean?
“I thought about it, and the only reasonable idea was, a board member was probably jealous of Arthur Reeves’ quick success…”
“Hmm…” George nodded, urging Tony to go on.
“… And probably came up with that fake evidence that was used to throw him in jail. I haven’t put all the puzzle pieces together yet, so I’m not sure if I’m making sense right now. But the officer firmly stated that the real culprit was someone from Imperial Hub Limited.”
“Unbelievable…” George exclaimed, laying back on his chair “… No way is this true. Who among the board members would do such a thing?”
“I’m not sure. The officer recommended I break into the database that hosts all the files of this company” Tony scooted to the edge of his chair and whispered “I’ve been able to hire a hacker to break in and retrieve the file”
“So where is it? The details, everything?”
“We got the file. But there’s a problem now, …” Tony remarked in a tone filled with frustration. “The file is encrypted with a code”
“Ugh!!…” George banged his fists on the table in front of him “… what’s going to happen with that?”
“We’ll have to use the same person and see if can hack into the file and detect the code” Tony cleared his throat “I forgot to add…the officer stated that the code is the name of the person behind everything”
“Hmm, I see” George stood up from his chair and paced around. He didn’t feel comfortable sitting anymore. Who could be the person that would do such…that would harm an innocent man out of their own jealousy? He didn’t know how Rachel was going to react to this if he told her. He would have to wait until the file is hacked and the real culprit’s name is revealed, then he’ll tell her everything.
Turning around to look at Tony, he asked “Be sure to keep that officer safe. If possible, don’t meet him again or he might be in danger. I’m sure the person behind this is watching everybody, including both of us”
“Yea, about that…” Tony got up from where he sat, getting ready to leave and attend to other things. “…. we’ll have to find a way to protect ourselves. Soon, it’s going to be obvious that someone has hacked into the file and the person behind all these won’t rest until he or she finds whoever did it. I’m sure you understand what I’m trying to say?”
“I do. Whatever we decide to do, we have to be faster than the person behind this. If not, we’ll be crushed. How long will it take for the guy you found to hack into the file?”
“I can’t say. It will take a while. He doesn’t have those top machines for hacking into tightly coded files. Only a detective would have access to that”
“Why don’t we just supply him with the machines?” George asked, clearly confused.
“That’s not as easy as it looks, if we are being watched as you said…” Tony muttered “… but I’ll see what I can do”
They were so close to discovering the truth. Rachel would be so happy to get justice for father. George made up his mind there and then, that he would get to the bottom of this no matter what.
~~~~~*~~~~~
Rachel sat on the chair in the open space, arranging the plates of food on the small table for her father. The prison door swung open and he walked out, looking older than the last time she saw him.
Her chest contracted at the sight and her eyes filled up with tears of pity. Whenever she saw him, she became angry and vengeful. She wanted to squash whoever did this to her father, she wanted to bring that person to their knees and make them pay. As her father – Arthur Reeves came closer to her, she could see his white hair had multiplied and the wrinkles on his face had increased.
She reached up and hugged him affectionately as her tears gave way. He rubbed her back gently and patted her head. “Why are you crying? Your tears can’t change anything. So stop crying, okay?” Arthur whispered to her, even as his heart broke more. How many more years would he have to stay away from his family? He had missed out on five years of his daughter’s life. Even when her mother had come to see him last week, he had been too ashamed to face her. He felt like he had failed both of them.
“I’ve missed you so much” Rachel wailed louder. She didn’t know if it was the effect of her father’s hands patting her head, but she just felt like releasing all the painful emotions buried inside her. “How have you been doing? I brought some food for you” She asked, her voice muffled by her tears.
They settled on the long chair, the plates of food between them. Arthur’s eyes skimmed over the food in front of him. “There’s something different about the food this time around”
“Yes, I’ve been able to save my money this period, so I was able to prepare something better for you” Rachel replied, a warm smile gracing her lips. “Also, there’s something I need to tell you”
“And that is?” Her father replied, munching his way through the food in front of him.
“You’re not going to like this…” Rachel breathed nervously “… I got married two months ago”
Her father froze in seat, almost choking on the food in his mouth “What?…”
“I married George Scott, Morris Scott’s son. You remember him, right?” Rachel poured water into a glass cup and pushed it near her father.
Arthur remained silent for a while, making Rachel wonder if she had really messed up and he was so angry with her. “I see he kept his word…”
“What do you mean?” Rachel asked
“He made a promise to me five years ago that he would marry you. That’s what he did. He had feelings for you back then. Obviously, he still does”
“Oh…” That was all Rachel could manage to say. If she said she wasn’t surprised, she’d be lying. At first, she had thought George was just interested in taking her to his bed, but she understood better now. She lifted her gaze to her father “… beyond that, i think you’ll be able to get the freedom you want very soon. I don’t want you to spend another five years here”
Arthur’s eyes lit up “What do you mean?”
“A detective is helping me investigate your case, and she has found some evidence of your innocence based on what she told me”
“Really?” Arthur perked up on his seat, his ears were alert.
“She hasn’t told me in detail yet because she is very busy this week. But by next week, she’ll let me know. I won’t rest until I get you out of here.”
Rachel noticed the light that suddenly entered her father’s eyes at the mention of his ‘freedom’, and she was pleased to see him hopeful about something once again. She only hoped that everything would work out fine, that at the end, she would still have the people she cared about alive and safe.
If not, her life would be a living hell.