“Was there any need for that? The way you acted yesterday at the lunch party?” Morris remarked before gulping down a mouthful of water.
“I see no problem with what I did. It was useful in knowing if Rachel really plans to stay here beyond one year” Judith answered. She skimmed over the fashion magazine that lay open in front of her. “With how everything turned out at the lunch party, we have the answer we need”
“What answer are you talking about?”
“Based on our last discussion, I can clearly see they have feelings for each other. I am sure she would want to stay married to him for a very long time, beyond the one year contract. And I can’t sit back and let that happen” Judith murmured, frowning at him.
Morris remained silent. His fingers tapped lightly on the wooden table beside him, something he did whenever he was thinking deeply. Things were not going as smoothly as he had expected, he had been too impulsive all these years and it was costing him now.
“It’s all because you’ve been taking so long to get on with everything we’ve planned.” Judith thinned her lips, her eyes glazing in annoyance “You hyped yourself so much back then, told me to trust you. You said I should just give you a few years and you would figure everything out. But what happened? A few years turned to more than fifteen years.”
“I didn’t expect things would become so complex” Morris voiced out calmly. He had no strength to argue with her right now. He knew he didn’t keep the promise he made to her years ago, he was at fault this time. “From trying to get the company to every other thing and even -”
“Your very first mistake was signing that stupid contract. It’s not easy to break a legal contract especially when the person in charge is still alive.” Judith looked away from the magazine and glared at Morris. “What were you thinking back then? How could you agree to condition that we would never get married and that James would never have any form of access to the company? What’s the point of everything we’ve waited so long for?”
“I know it’s my fault, I admit. But I had to make a quick decision back then. If not, she would have taken the company away from my hold”
“But with your action, you’ve made our plan useless. Do you plan to keep me here as a mistress with all the embarrassment I’ve had to take? How long do you plan to watch people call James the son of a ‘mistress’? We’ve been trying to get Patricia out of the way, and now, there’s a new obstacle. Rachel Reeves. Why did you allow George to bring her into this villa? What exactly are you doing?” Judith muttered fiercely, her eyes filled with angry determination.
“I’m still thinking about a way to get things in order. When I -”
“Get rid of Patricia!!”
“WHAT??” Morris turned his heard sharply to look at her.
“You heard me…” Judith seethed through her teeth, her anger rising. “… I said you should get rid of Patricia. She has served her purpose in our plan. You finally have the company. She is no longer of any use to us.”
“Judith, we already agreed not to harm them. Where is this new idea coming from? I will find a way to divorce her and keep the company even if it means hiring some ruthless lawyers to deal with her”
“That’s not enough. It won’t work. Patricia is not stupid to allow you keep her company after divorcing her. She will fight back aggressively. Morris, you have to get rid of her. You have to kill her. The plan has always been for both of us to be in control of everything, not her. Our son, James, has to be CEO of this company, not George.”
“Hmm…I know you’re very desperate to be the chairwoman of this company but we have to take things slowly. We can’t make any rash decision when it comes to Patricia. She’s not that dumb, she must have suspected your desire to take her place, that’s probably why she placed a barrier on our marriage. Also, some of the board members are on her side and they know she was the real owner of this company before I took over. If she dies suddenly, they won’t take it lightly. I finally have this company in my hands, I can’t afford to lose it for any reason. As long as she doesn’t cause any trouble, we’ll be fine. But if she tries anything stupid, I’ll get rid of her quickly.”
Judith scoffed, resentment tightening in her chest. “How long do I have to wait this time?”
“Soon enough…” Morris responded. “… James will turn twenty-one in the next two months. By then, a meeting will have to be held for every board member to vote for who they want as the CEO between George and James. We already have most of the board members on our side -”
“I see what you mean” Judith narrowed her eyes, her brain working fast to complete the idea Morris had started. Glancing at Morris, she folded her arms under her bosom “Since most of them are on our side, James will surely win by having the highest votes. All we have to do is act like we have nothing to do with it and everything is the choice of the board members, right?”
“Yes, that’s it. The company cannot run smoothly without the board members. By the time they put so much pressure on Patricia and they remain adamant about their choice, Patricia will have to adjust by force unless she wants this company to crumble.”
“No, no. She wouldn’t want that” Judith cackled, delighted with what she just heard. “And James will finally get the position he deserves and I will finally be treated the right way. I can’t wait”
“Indeed…” Morris smiled at her “… You and James have always been my choice. Patricia was just the pathway to my great plan.”
~~~~~*~~~~~
“Is there any progress with the investigation so far? Don’t give me any silly news. I’m not taking that from you” George eyed Tony who was pacing slowly around his library.
“Sure, there is. I was able to get those machines…” Tony voiced out. “… it took a while to find an expert hacker to do the job but I managed to. Of course, he agreed only after promising him a good amount of money.”
George laughed. Truly, money is power.
“They just started working on it yesterday,” Tony pulled a chair back and reclined on it. “If I remember clearly, he said within ten days he should be done.”
“Ten days, really?” George grinned. So ten days from now, he would have the answer to the mystery behind everything that happened to Arthur Reeves. Rachel would be so pleased with him. He couldn’t wait for the ten days to be over.
“Yes.” Tony frowned as a thought flashed through his mind.
“Is there a problem?” George questioned.
“Well, not exactly. I’ve just been wondering. What do you plan to do to the person behind all this?”
“What else? Take the person to court and throw them in prison.” George answered firmly
“Do you really think it will be that easy?”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know…” Tony sighed, confused with everything “… I just feel like it won’t be so easy to deal with the person behind this. I have a strong feeling that the real culprit is someone we both know. I’m just worried because it’s going to be a big mess if we overestimate our ability in handling this case and then, we fail at the end. It would put everyone in danger and give the enemy more power. Rachel and her father will definitely not be safe.”
George sighed, he could feel his anxiety increasing by the minute “We have to tread cautiously then. I’ll never forgive myself if I make a mistake and put Rachel and her father in more danger. Make sure you let me know the final result after ten days. We need to act faster than the person behind all this.”
“Of course, I will. I just hope everything goes smoothly”.
As they chatted about other things, George grimaced as it occurred to him that he had never gone to see Rachel’s father since they got married. Not even once! How did that escape his mind? It was the right thing to do after all. What will her father think of him? Ugh!!
He had introduced her to everyone he knew since the first day she showed up here, making sure she was familiar with everybody in this villa. But he had never shown an interest in seeing her father, and besides marrying her, he had not seen Arthur Reeves for five years now. He made a mental note to tell Rachel that he had to see her father soon, tomorrow perhaps.
He would apologize, and not just that, he would also make sure he made it clear to Arthur Reeves that he is on his side and will pursue his case till the very end and bring the real culprit to his knees….
Regardless of who it is.