Chapter Seven. #2
“Oh dear, what a surprise. Let me guess, Serena was looking under T for the word The or under S for Sinclair.” I tutted as she flushed.
“If Serena had been working on the project, surely she would have known it’s filed under the project title.
What’s the name of the Harrison venture, Serena?
” Dead silence fell around us. Nobody knew how to take my poise or sarcasm.
At least they couldn’t see how badly I was shaking internally.
She swallowed, and Mark turned to her. “Serena?”
Serena began stammering. She didn’t have a clue. Because she’d never once held the file or project, because it was in the beginning stages.
“Serena clearly doesn’t know. Some manager she is,” I sneered. Cale flushed red. “The Harrison project title is Emerald Track. Proceed to E, then ET.”
Moments later, Mark lifted it.
“And the final undertaking. Serena? The name?”
Serena smirked. “Danish Dreams.”
Cale closed his eyes.
“It is actually called Dream Designs. And you’ll find it under DD. You’ll find all files are in alphabetical order by project title. Not under the client’s name or the word ‘The’,” I stated. Serena was deathly pale now. This had backfired hugely on her.
When Mark held the final file up, the office was waiting with bated breath. I remained terrified at the confrontation, and Joseph realised that. He placed a comforting arm under my elbow.
“I believe an apology is warranted,” Joseph said.
“Kindly come this way,” Mark replied in a stilted tone.
“Oh no, we’re not sweeping this grave insult to my client under the rug. A public one, please. As you accused Miss Jasper publicly.”
Mark ground his teeth and sent Serena a murderous glare.
“We are very sorry about the accusations and slur on your reputation,” Mark forced out.
“Everyone else?” Joseph raised an eyebrow, facing Helen, Cale, and Serena. I smiled serenely as they apologised.
“Thank you for your time; again, we apologise,” Mark announced and turned away.
“Excuse me, we haven’t finished,” Joseph declared, and Mark turned back with a frown.
“What?”
“My client is suing for workplace bullying, breach of privacy, false slander, and a multitude of other employment law breaches,” Joseph stated. One of his colleagues stepped forward.
“This is notification of the suit Miss Jasper is bringing against you and a list of the charges.”
“This is rubbish! Lyra acted most unprofessionally. She up and quit without notice because her boyfriend had broken up with her and began dating someone else!” Helen exclaimed.
Joseph held up his phone, and I steeled myself. The whole horrible scene played out again, and Mark and Helen paled. Everyone in the office looked away. They’d witnessed it the first time.
“That happened here?” Mark gasped.
“Yes. Those present right now participated. They bullied a young woman, highly humiliating and embarrassing her. We have other evidence proving that Lyra was doing Serena’s job and Serena was taking credit for it.”
Helen looked at the paperwork Mark had thrown at her.
“We’ll settle out of court,” Mark said.
“No, you won’t. Your employees are to be publicly named, shamed, and forced to testify about what bullies they were.”
“You’ll ruin my company!” Mark exclaimed.
“Like Cale and Serena tried to destroy me,” I whispered.
Mark looked at me and paled. “Lyra…”
“Nobody learns a lesson if this is swept up and forgotten. Wealth can’t buy everything.
The hurt they caused cannot be smoothed over with money.
Public apologies can’t erase the humiliation they dished out.
Your work atmosphere is toxic because of several people.
Joseph knows what I want. Collaborate with him, and maybe you can avoid court.
If not, I’ve the funds and inclination to drag you into a very public scandal.
How long do you think you’ll keep your clients then? ”
With that, I turned and sent Serena and Cale a scornful look. I offered Helen a disgusted glance. “Despite my warnings to check CCTV and investigate, you didn’t. I said you’d regret this. Some HR manager you are.”
With that, I walked away. I had to get home. I needed my haven.
When drama hit, it seemed to keep rolling. I climbed out of my vehicle and, high heels sinking into the deep snow, trudged towards the entrance.
“Lyra!” someone shouted, and I glanced toward the road.
“Oh, no!” I whispered. “Not him.”
Keith Keating came closer, his boots letting him move faster than me. My feet were turning cold as they sank into the snow.
“I’ve an offer you can’t refuse!” he called with a huge smile.
“Leafpoint is not for sale. Please excuse me.”
I turned and began walking again, but Keith caught up with me.
“Seven hundred and fifty thousand,” he chortled. “Isn’t that a fine sum!”
“I’m not selling!” I snapped.
“My company wants this land.” Keith got in front of me.
“Your company knows what it is to want. Nothing you could offer would make me sell. Excuse me, but my feet are freezing!”
Keith blocked me from walking inside.
“Sign the paperwork,” he demanded.
“No! Leafpoint isn’t for sale!” I declared, exasperated.
“Everything and everyone has a price. Sell!” he ordered. “You live out here alone. Accidents can happen, and there’ll be nobody to help!”
“Was that a threat?” I gasped.
“Die!” William intoned as he flowed through the door.
He became transparent, his lower body vanishing.
I gaped as he angled towards Keith, who screamed and shoved me backwards.
My arms windmilled, and I landed on my back.
William chased Keith for a few beats, cackling as he did before returning to me.
Muttering under his breath, he materialised and scooped me up. “Silly shoes,” he muttered as I shivered in his embrace.
“It was only a few steps.”
“Until that dimwit stopped you.”
By the time we got inside, I was shivering violently. William had taken to murmuring to himself as he carried me upstairs.
“Undress and get into your warm nightclothes,” he ordered and disappeared.
I didn’t bother arguing and did as William said, climbing under the duvet. I was trembling uncontrollably and waited for the heat to soak into my bones. If not for Keith, I’d have been in the snow mere seconds, not several minutes, bickering with him.
William reappeared carrying a mug. “Hot chocolate. I think I made it correctly,” he remarked. I didn’t care. It was warm.
“That man. He was bothering you?”
“Mr Keating wants to buy the lighthouse and the land. One of those pushy idiots who just see pound signs. They fail to acknowledge the history or beauty of things. He thinks I’m poor and he can bully me,” I replied.
“Aren’t you?” William asked. “You don’t have the title.”
“No. But I got the property and the fortune. I am the heir, the oldest female. When Charles died with his sons, his daughter inherited everything but the title. She put the estate into a trust so men couldn’t take it from her.”
“Wise decision.”
“Since then, it goes to the eldest girl in each generation. That was me this time. But Sonia, who had it before me, had four boys. She cut them all off. I was her oldest granddaughter. But while I can live here, we’re not allowed to sell any of the Jasper assets.
So, Keith can chase me from here to kingdom come, but I can’t sell even if I was inclined to,” I added, still shaking.
William fetched a blanket and wrapped it around me. He was frowning.
“So, you had nothing?”
“No. I grew up poor. My dad, Lyle Jasper, left my mum once he knew she was pregnant. Mum raised me alone.” Oops. That clearly affronted William.
“Scoundrel,” he hissed.
“Yes, Charles’ bloodline certainly didn’t hold up well in Sonia and her sons. Anyway. Would you explain something?” I asked, finally warming up.
“I can try.”
“William, if you were dormant, how did you stop evil rising?”
“It is relatively simple. I was never dormant, as you described it. The evil was trapped with my death. It was, one might say, put to sleep. I kept people out by haunting Leafpoint. In that time, I realised Leafpoint was helping me confine him.
“Then, just before Christmas, a surge of power erupted from the ley lines. Ajax told me there’d been a battle and the ley lines had absorbed a lot of energy.
I think that awakened him. Leafpoint and I were struggling to keep him under control, and then Ajax came along, and we both got a power boost. Leafpoint almost woke up compared to how sluggish she was back then.
And as for me, I could perform many things I couldn’t previously. ”
“Have you considered that me being a Jasper means I should be here?” I asked.
“Do you realise, I’ve no idea what is trapped here? It could be anything or anyone. The only thing I am certain of is that it’s male.”
“It could be a man or a creature?”
“It could be a damn siren for all I know,” William stated and rubbed his chin. “Tell me, did you win against your ex-beau?”
“Yes. And Joseph is filing charges against Cale and my former employer.”
“Can you afford to pay?” William asked with a frown. I cottoned on to what he was thinking. William was trying to figure out if I would somehow wrangle the land sale.
“Let me explain my inheritance. You don’t have to worry.”
“I’m not,” William denied.
“Of course not,” I replied, but went ahead and explained, anyway. It was the least I could do.