Chapter 8 #2
I managed not to flinch. I’d trusted Martina to take care of all the legal stuff, but I had no idea in what direction she was heading. This was not what I was expecting.
Yvette’s mouth dropped open, and she stared at me.
“Insanity. Insanity!” Cheryl stabbed a finger at me. “See?”
“While my client was being involuntarily held,” Martina continued. “She was forced to sign a non-disclosure agreement by her parents-in-law, so she was legally unable to discuss the details of her commitment to anyone.”
“But she was arrested for trying to kill her husband! We can’t have someone like that working here, Yvette. Security!”
Martina held Yvette’s stare. “If you want to be buried in lawsuits and have the company's name dragged through the mud, please. By all means, call for security and throw us out.”
There was a loaded silence. “Go on,” Yvette said, her jaw tight.
“The non-disclosure agreement is now void, because it was signed under duress, so I can tell you exactly what the ‘gap in employment’ was about.” Martina fastidiously put air quotes around the words.
“The arrest, the charges, and Susan’s incarceration were all a conspiracy engineered by her parents-in-law.
As of this morning, the Andresanos are the subject of federal investigation for several crimes, including dozens of charges of falsifying evidence in order to have Susan arrested, drugged, and incarcerated against her will. ”
Wow, Martina moved fast. We were already knee-deep in the civil suits—in fact, we were due to have a court-ordered mediation meeting with the Andresanos tomorrow—but I assumed it would be a while before the feds started investigating what my evil in-laws had done to me. Months, if not years.
But then I remembered the casual way Donovan bought my apartment building overnight. It was probably easy getting things moving when you had billions of dollars greasing every wheel.
Martina went on, “Several detectives have just been suspended pending investigations, including one Detective Michael Striker. Two nights ago, he unlawfully detained Susan, falsified more records, and caused her serious injury. We believe he is in the Andresanos’ employ.”
My skin buzzed. It was a harmless lie, though.
Martina could hardly tell them that Detective Striker was a rogue werewolf who worked for a genocidal fae prince.
I managed to keep my face blank, hiding my relief at hearing the news that Martina had managed to get his badge taken off him in record time.
Although a man like Striker was bound to have endless complaints recorded against him, so with a little pressure from Martina, it was probably easy.
“So, that was why my client was absent yesterday. Susan has endured many hardships, but, as you freely admit, she still performs her duties to a level that is far more than merely satisfactory.”
Cheryl panted, her huge chest rising and falling, on the verge of another eruption, barely holding it together. Yvette sat very still, looking at me.
I could tell what she was thinking. Was I worth all this drama?
She could still fire me. I might file a lawsuit, but the company would make sure the case was batted around in the courts for so long, I would go broke before it reached trial.
Luckily, Martina knew what Yvette was thinking, too.
“As you can imagine, there is a lot of media interest in Susan’s case.
I’ve already received requests from several reporters begging for exclusivity.
” She let the silence hang in the air for a second to let the weight of her words sink in.
“It would be a shame if Susan’s story of adversity and hardship ended with her being fired from her job for reasons outside of her control.
After all, she’s a victim of a horrible crime. ”
The implication sank in. It would be a public relations nightmare for the company.
“I understand.” Yvette let out a sigh and leaned back, rubbing her temples. “I don’t like being dragged into this kind of mess.” Her eyes shot up to meet mine. “I mean, I’m sorry that all this happened to you, Susan. It sounds awful.”
“Thank you, Yvette. It was awful. And I do apologize for not filling you in, but not only would I have been breaking the NDA, I didn’t want any of it to sully your opinion of me. I just want to get on with it and do my job.”
Cheryl made a fist and thumped the table. “We’re here because of her. All this drama means she can’t do her job!”
“You’ve already admitted that she does her job very well,” Martina said. “And there’s a reason we’re here today, and it’s not because of Susan.”
Yvette frowned. “What do you mean by that?”
Martina looked at her. “You’re here because your Human Resources manager, Cheryl Chamberlain, has broken the law.
Two days ago, she admitted to performing discriminatory hiring practices on behalf of the company.
Susan confronted her and requested that she cease such illegal practices immediately.
” Martina threw a sheath of papers on the desk.
“Here's the transcript of the conversation and the records that Susan has access to regarding the new hires. You’ll note that out of all the applicants, the only ones who proceed to the interview stage are the ones with Anglo-sounding names, despite the fact that there are far more applicants for the roles who are more qualified and experienced.” Martina let a little of her emotions show.
Her lip curled, just a little. “Cheryl decided to get rid of Susan to cover her own ass. That’s why we’re here. ”
There was a long moment of silence. Yvette’s face seemed to have frozen.
“No.” Cheryl blinked. “No, that’s…”
When Yvette spoke again, her voice was suffused with ice.
“Thank you for your time today, Ms. Norwood. I very much appreciate you bringing this matter to my attention. I will take it from here.” She turned to me.
“Susan, please accept my apologies for all this confusion. You’re free to go back to your office and continue with your day. ”
Cecil gave a little huff and jumped down off his chair. I nodded. “Thanks, Yvette. I hope we can move forward with a relatively drama-free work environment from now on.” I stood up to leave and saw that Cecil was peeing on Cheryl’s coat.
I caught his eye, and he mouthed at me. Now it’s a peacoat.
“Wait.” Cheryl stood up. “But?—”
“Sit down,” Yvette snapped. “We’re not done here, Cheryl.”
She sank back into her chair, her face white. I gave her a happy, two-finger wave as I left the room.
The rest of my workday was mercifully, blissfully mundane.
Even Cecil behaved himself and didn’t pee on anything else.
Although I did hear rumors that the vending machine in the staff room was mysteriously dispersing premixed cocktails instead of normal soda, but by the time I made my way over to investigate, all the cans were sold out.
I conducted the team leader interviews quickly and offered both of them the jobs. Carol—who had already been doing most of the team leader admin for that lazy weasel Richie Curran for at least six months—was so happy to finally be getting paid for all the extra work, she hugged me.
Yvette stopped by hours later and apologized. It took her almost the whole day to officially fire Cheryl, and Luis walked her out with her personal items in a box, making sure to detour so he could strut past my office and wave at me as he went by.
Yvette thanked me again before she left, but there was a wariness in her eyes that wasn’t there before. I knew what it meant. Now Yvette knew I was sharper than she was, and she was wondering if I was a threat.
For some reason, it made me more uncomfortable than it should. I didn’t want anyone to think I was a threat. I’d have to work hard to persuade her that I wasn’t after her job.
That led me to an interesting train of thought. What did I want?
I used to want it all. The position right at the top, CEO. I wanted the prestige and the glory.
But now I was wearing two distinct hats, and they were showing me two perspectives, as well as pulling me in two different directions.
I was the Chosen One—and, potentially, the Ruler of All the Worlds. It was so much responsibility. It meant that I had to care about people collectively, not individually.
I wasn’t sure I wanted that. Not as the Chosen One, and not as Corporate Susan, either.
Yvette was in the executive team now; she only had five department managers to deal with. I had over forty staff under me, and I relished the direct contact with every single one of them. I liked solving their problems. I liked being the one that they could count on to handle any crisis.
I was starting to think that if I climbed the top of the corporate mountain, the view would blur the faces of the people I wanted to look after. I wouldn’t be able to do the things I loved anymore.
Another unsettling feeling lingered beside the crushing weight of responsibility inside me—a faint sense of dread when I remembered the wariness I’d seen in Yvette’s eyes.
It was the same as what I’d seen in Bronwyn’s eyes when I accidentally used my Siren command on her.