~Chapter 40~
My frown deepened with every sharp blow I exerted on the piece of wood I was working on with my hammer. I was mad, no denying that but more than anything, I was upset.
Ever since Valerie and I talked to my dad, I've been spending most of my time in my tree house either carving or making something out of wood. It's the only way to keep me grounded and not do something impulsive.
The reason why I was upset was because Valerie had asked me to be her date today at her dad's wedding. I was elated to simply put it into words but in reality my happiness couldn't even be defined.
Since I had promised to be her date and now that I couldn't stay true to my word, I went for the next best option. I didn't want her to be stood up so I asked Ivan to tag along and be her plus one. I was immensely jealous to do that but I trust my best friend with my whole life. Besides, I wasn't even left with a choice.
Suddenly, my cell phone pinged, bringing me out of my hollow thoughts. If the wood I was working on had its own point of view, it would be something like this: 'oh, thank the high and mighty heavens. Now I am being relieved from the clutches of this monstrous beast. He is but merciful and my already broken self was about to break into two.'
Blinking, I just cringed at myself. God, I am getting beyond crazy right now. All I need right now is Valerie's beautiful and inspirational words, warm cosy hugs and most of all, her kisses which could make me forget about the whole damn world.
Another chime from my phone caught my attention and I quickly retrieved it from my pocket. Sighing, I unlocked it and saw two messages from Ivan. When I opened it, I saw that one of them was an image.
Confusedly, I clicked on the image and just in the next instant, my heart skipped a beat. It was a picture of Valerie. She looked gorgeous in her maroon dress as she was holding a glass of champagne and staring into space with a wistful expression gleaming on her face. From the looks of it, I could tell that it was a candid picture.
I didn't even know that I was doing it until my finger slightly brushed the screen of my phone or more like her face and my lips pulled up into a loving smile reserved just for her.
Yes, that would be right. During my stay at my grandparents' place all those years ago, she always made me feel… perfect. She never might have realized it or known about it yet but the moment she had smiled at me for the first time ever, it was also the moment I fell in love with her.
Though I had realized it just recently as I started spending more and more time with her. The best part about hanging out with her would be that I've never felt insecure about myself around her.
I stopped staring at her beautiful picture and read Ivan's text below. I hope you're jealous that I am with her and I bet you are. Imagine me smirking right now.
Rolling my eyes, I put my phone aside with a wide, happy smile on my face. You see, that's what I was talking about. Just a second of Valerie could keep my anger at bay and she didn't even know that since she's been avoiding me and my messages for days now.
The same thing had happened when I had seen her in the mall. Bribing him with the video gaming stuff, Shivaay never ceases to help me when it comes to Valerie. He had suggested that I come there and talk to her. Although, my heart cracked a bit when she acted so indifferent toward me. I couldn't blame her either because she was only following my dad's orders.
I didn't try to go see her in her apartment to check up on her because that might put Valerie in grave danger. Our reputation of being together was getting worse. That was the exact same reason I had sent Ivan to be her date.
I exhaled through my nose heavily before my cell phone began ringing. The screen flashed with Katherine Maxwell.
Without thinking twice, I accepted her call even though I was caught off guard. She had told me that she would call me only when she had something solid about this havoc of a situation coiling us in its vicious circle. "Hello?" I spoke with my brows furrowed.
"Skye, I am at your place and wherever you are, come here immediately. I need to talk to you ASAP," Katherine said, her voice scratchy and clear but there was something else. Something that was close to panic and it would be the first time I've heard that note in Katherine Maxwell's hard, strong voice.
"What is it?" I couldn't help but ask her. It was a reflex thing.
"Now!" Was her order before she hung up the call.
There were millions of thoughts wreathing around my head but the dominating one was Katherine's urgency. Not wanting to delay any further, I was out of my tree house in a jiffy and walked the long distance toward my looming mansion.
After five minutes of trudging, reaching my main door, putting the password in my keypad, asking an immensely alarmed Sophia about where Ms. Maxwell was, I finally walked into the living room.
There she was sitting on a single couch with a hardened countenance. Katherine finally met my gaze as I took a seat adjacent to her on the long couch. "What is it?" I repeated the question, this time more firmly.
"Your dad's gone missing," she replied even before I had finished asking the question.
I wanted to laugh and say that she must be joking but this was Katherine and she could never joke even if her life depended on it. My jaw clenched as the seriousness of her words registered in my brain. I wanted to be angry, upset, heck even yell at someone but I pushed down the clawing beast inside of me. "What do you mean he's missing?"
She took a sharp intake of breath and pinched the bridge of her nose. There was a pregnant pause wherein she avoided my stern stare. "I want to tell you something and you need to hear me out till the very end." This time she met my eyes head on.
"Go ahead," I told her blankly as I intentionally cleared my face of any emotions but internally I was freaking out for my dad. Sure, we've had our differences but he never misses asking me to go fishing and playing golf with him every once in a while.
"Okay so I know I had said that I was 75% sure of who our person could be and I'd let you know once I would reach 100%. Well forget facts over doubts. It doesn't matter anymore since it's about John," she said, still not getting to the point.
I gave her an impatient look and she rolled her eyes.
"I am getting there, Skye. So you remember when I'd said that a paparazzo was following me?" She asked me, raising an eyebrow.
I nodded my head but never did I expect for it to be such a huge deal to be a part of her narrative.
"Yeah and he had been following me non-stop everywhere. It was discreet but each time I knew that he was around. Then a few days ago, I decided to catch him just outside my building. With great efforts of threatening skills from my side, did I bring him inside my apartment and securely tied him to a chair." She paused and took a sip of water from the glass before putting it back on the coffee table.
The longer she took a pause, the more my anticipation grew like an unending vine. But for some reason, I was scared and something was gnawing at my insides.
"But I was disappointed with all of his answers. It was just like Rick Stile all over again." I had told Katherine about the whole Rick Stile situation when Valerie was pining her doubts on her. "This guy, Stephen, said that he was also approached by someone through ARA and the person used an androgynous device while talking to him on the phone. I handed him over to the police for stalking me."
She closed her eyes to take a deep breath and opened them again with fire burning in them. Katherine seemed mad for being outwitted. It was like the idea of not being able to catch the guy was fuelling her anger.
"Then just two days ago, I received a threat email from someone through the ARA. It said that I should step back or else I won't like the consequences. Taking it as a light threat, I tried to trace the person but to no avail. I wasn't in the least bit scared and I thought that he wouldn't carry it out. And thus, my further investigation began because I was determined to catch the bastard, whoever he is… or she is.
"I've had enough because playing the game of cat and mouse was annoying me and so I went to the ZAE Inc. to hunt for the answers."
"ZAE Inc.? But why?" I was confused now because what made her think that she would find out the answers there.
"I had suspicions that someone from my department was doing all of this. Putting yours and Valerie's pictures together and everything…"
"You mean like a mole?" I asked loudly in disbelief.
"Well." She shrugged. "You can say that. At that time, I thought that it was a case of jealousy. Someone who could be liking you and keeping tabs on you. Like someone obsessed with you or something. The moment they must have seen you with Valerie - since they worked in my department - they must have tried to get closer to her and would have done this. Who exactly was I suspecting? No clue but someone who knew you and Valerie. But..."
"But?" I echoed, now sitting on the edge of my seat.
"I wasn't really convinced with my own theory-"
"Which is why you'd said 75% clarity. You were still trying to be 100% sure," I finished for her.
She clicked her fingers and said, "Bingo. Anywho, the reason it's full of loopholes is because if someone did this out of obsession/jealousy for you, they couldn't afford to buy a paparazzo with a handsome amount because Rick had declined even my offer. And so this pushed me to go to the ZAE Inc. to be completely sure that I am not missing anything here. But something really strange happened." Her tone was ominous and I was confident that I wouldn't like what she would be saying next.
"I wasn't even allowed inside the premises! The guards just straight out blocked me. In fact, someone has removed the usual head of guards. It was someone else and all I saw in his eyes was absolute indifference. He wouldn't even hear me out as if… as if someone ordered him not to. I just… I was… I mean I lost it for the first time in a long time." She sighed, seeming ashamed of herself.
"Are you okay, Kathy?" I asked her softly, taking her wrinkly, talon-like hand in mine.
"I don't think so, no." She shook her head with a bitter smile. "I got so livid that I knew I had to meet John and talk to him but imagine my horror when I went to his place and your mom said that he's been missing. She's really worried after finding out about John's absence."
That seemed to have done the trick because my back stiffened immediately. Now I really tried to console myself by saying that maybe he must have gone incognito to steer clear from the public eye for some time. He's done that before but not without letting my mom know.
However this was a whole new level of mystery. My mother's worry meant that she was truly unaware about it too. "Did she…" I gulped down the tension forming in my throat. "Did she try calling him?" My voice was a mere whisper.
"Skye… she's tried everything. Called him, messaged him, tried searching for him too. After her futile attempts, she filed a missing report at the NYPD," Katherine answered solemnly.
"Meaning…"
"Meaning, I have a hunch that he's been kidnapped," she finished bluntly.
A shuddered breath exhaled through my lips and I rubbed my hands on my face roughly. "Damnit!" I exclaimed, exasperated. "This is spiralling out of control now."
"That's what I am thinking too. Earlier I had thought that this was a hogwash jealousy case but now I have a feeling that someone's out there trying to plot something. Something like… wanting to completely terminate you from your own company," she said with a gritting conviction and not missing a beat.
This made me look up and I passed her a bizarre look. "What do you mean? How's that possible? I am the heir," I reminded her, my facial expressions getting sharp.
"I know. But I think whoever's doing this is a part of ZAE Inc. and I think he's been planning this for a long time. And something tells me that it's someone from the top management," she tried explaining to me but I was still as clueless as a hard brick.
"I still don't get it." I shook my head with scrunched brows.
Katherine winced in annoyance and looked me straight in the eyes. "Tell me, Skye, didn't John give you his entire will along with his company?"
"He did, yes."
"So my only conclusion is that someone has kidnapped John and I am pretty sure that they must be trying to force your dad to sign another will to hand over the company to whoever's behind this. They want to change this. Now you must be thinking why did I come to this conclusion? Well, because for one, someone framed you with Valerie for being with your employee which is completely against the rules. Two, they took this very opportunity to remove you from your position of being the CEO. Now your dad's gone missing. Don't you think this is all linked? Their ultimate goal is to banish you from the ZAE inc. entirely," Katherine asserted, breathing hard by the end of her explanation, daring me to contradict her points.
"I… agree," I told her with a calculative look. Everything was starting to make sense now. The person behind all of this was playing like an esoteric chess player. He knew his moves and he damn well knew that he was winning.
"And you know what? I believe it's someone from the Board Of Directors."
If I were in a movie right now, I swear an ominous music would be playing in the background. My eyes widened and I gaped at her words. Someone from the Board Of Directors?! I echoed internally. "What… what makes you say that, Kathy? How are you so sure?"
Biting her lips, she sighed in distress. "No one can really afford to buy a media guy by luring them in with such a huge amount. Even I was unable to buy Rick," she said, raising an eyebrow. "I might be wrong but my instinct on this one is strong. Who could that person be? Again, I don't know since all the BODs discussed about removing you from your position on their own but I can tell that the one who proposed this idea in the first place is also our guy or girl."
"You're right." I narrowed my eyes, staring into space. The thought that was bugging me the most was that, Why? Why do all of this? Why go to such an extent? Is that person really so desperate to have my company if that's the case? "But we're still going in circles and are as good at finding this guy as the next person, which is basically nowhere."
Scowling, Katherine nodded her head in agitation. Just as she was about to say something, she was cut off by my cell phone ringing.
I instantly picked it up when I saw Shivaay's number. I had specifically told him to call me if it concerned Valerie. Even if it's for the smallest of things. I know that it sounded creepy but when it came to the paparazzi and their vulture-like nature, she needed to be away from them. And I also know that when it comes to them, she'd be their first target since she's never had to experience this before.
"Skye?" Shivaay spoke with a tinge of anxiousness in his voice.
"What is it, Shivaay?" I sat up straighter and listened to him intently. What he said next made my heart lodge in my throat. Like the ground beneath me had disappeared. I was scared. Once he told me what I needed to know, I cut off the call with a shaky hand.
"Skye? Skye? Skye!" Katherine's loud voice pulled me out of my running thoughts. "What's wrong?"
"It's Valerie."
"What about her?" She leaned forward and even though she wasn't showing it, she seemed worried too.
"She followed a media guy and is now somewhere in Midtown at some warehouse kinda place. Shivaay is gonna send me her location soon. I need to go," I announced, standing up
Katherine followed suit, crossing her arms across her chest. "I am tagging along." It wasn't a request.
"No, Kathy. Look, you try getting inside the ZAE Inc. I'll go get Valerie out of this situation because right now my company needs you more than I do."
Clenching her jaw, she sighed but relented nonetheless. "Okay. And you take care, Skye." She patted my shoulder and I just gave her a forced smile because all my thoughts were churning around one person. Valerie Jones.
"Oh, and Kathy, you were right. It's a BOD member. And Shivaay just gave me the name of the person who has started this fiery drama. Valerie's found him."
"Who?" She asked eagerly.