Another chapter of past

The sound of clicking keys and the constant ringing of telephones were the only sounds that could be heard in the closed room. Adjusting her glasses, Evelyn clicked on the new tab. A contended smile reached her lips as she finally got her hands on the file which she has been searching for days.

Evelyn immediately clicked the download option to save it on her system and mailed it to her ID so that she could make many copies of it. The file was confidential and she had planned not to reveal it to her two fly-by-night assistants. They had given her enough reasons to doubt their fidelity.

Suddenly her phone rang. She picked it up.

“What?”

“The clients have left for Maria Estates, Boss. They’ll be arriving in thirty minutes.” Joseph told her.

“Great. Tell Sara to be in the meeting room and check if anything has been missed out. Krystal and Justin will be welcoming them.” She paused before speaking in a low voice, “What’s the update?”

Joseph stiffened after hearing her grave tone, “Uhmm, I am still looking into it. Sara has been in the office since morning, working hard for the meeting and I have been busy tightening the security around the building to make sure that nothing goes wrong this time. That’s why I didn’t get the chance to spy on her Boss. I-I am sorry.” His expression turned rueful, probably ashamed as he couldn’t fulfill the simple task that Evelyn gave him.

Though Evelyn was enraged after hearing that, she took a deep breath to calm down and nodded, “Yeah, I can understand. The meeting is more important than checking up on the blonde. Let’s hope we taste success this time or else I will abandon the project.”

“WHAT?? No, Boss, it is important to you.” Joseph shouted in panic.

“So are all your lives Joseph,” Evelyn replied to him with a sigh, “Things have taken a vicious turn. Twenty-five families have been destroyed in the past few weeks just because of a single project. I know Ryan and Miller were evil, egomaniac bastards but they don’t deserve to die.”

She then leaned on the armchair and continued, “My motive to make you stalk Sara is just to get the name of the culprit who had fabricated all these crimes. I am sure Sara knows him or her because except you two no one knew that I was with Miller. Talking about Ryan’s death, I left the party with you and Sara delivered the gift to Ryan which turned out to be a box stuffed with explosives. No one knows about my whereabouts, my schedule, my records, and my secret agendas apart from you two. Not even my staff is aware of my activities so there’s no way an outsider can put tabs on me unless either of you two has colluded with him or her.”

Joseph was triggered. Her words offended him to no extent, “I have sworn my loyalty to you, Boss. You also know that I would never do such a thing.”

Evelyn smirked, she found his rage amusing, “Of course I trust you. But that leaves us to check up on our blondie who has been machinating devious plans behind my back. I hope that my speech would have instilled this fact in your mind that you need to expedite your half-arsed research before the new client ends up in a grave.” She suddenly snarled making him jump.

“Yeah, I am sorry Boss. I would keep an eye on her.” He blabbered in fear, it took him a while to understand why she riled him up.

“I don’t need your fucking apologies, Joseph.” Evelyn banged her fists on the table, her face turned dour, “Don’t you understand the gravity of the situation? I was well aware of your leniency towards that traitor that’s why I set up my team to look into this matter. In less than 24 hours, they succeeded in getting their hands on the footage of the night when the explosion took place. Jane told me that it was the manager of Grand Avenue who mailed it to them. Wanna know what I saw in it?”

Joseph gulped and checked his surroundings. He was currently in the basement with guards patrolling the premises.

He quickly rushed to a corner and spoke in a shaky voice, “What is it, Boss?”

He was dreading the truth as deep down; he didn’t want Sara to be accused. He had a soft spot for her, a crush most probably that’s why he was deliberately escaping Evelyn. But what he failed to see was that she already knew about his one-sided love.

“After you left, Sara swapped the gift with a man dressed in a black suit. She purposely gave Ryan the explosives-filled box knowing that it would claim his life.”

Joseph was blown away by the revelation.

*****

The tires screeched against the uneven tarmac creating a cloud of smoke. Sounds of opening and closing of the car doors followed by loud footsteps echoed as a group of men dressed in black suits rushed towards the black Mercedez. Joseph stood at a distance and watched how the employees as well as the reporters hounded their new client who just arrived in Maria Estates.

One of the men opened the door and soon a man dressed in a beige-colored Dior suit alighted the vehicle. His aura exuded elegance and charm. With a subtle smile on his face, he scoured the crowd, his hypnotizing eyes leaving people gasping for air. The clicking of cameras and flashes increased as his bodyguard led his way.

Joseph watched Krystal and Justin who immediately jogged to welcome the businessman. But his eyes hardened when he spotted Sara amongst the crowd clicking pictures of him sneakily.

“She was supposed to be in the meeting room.”

He spoke to himself. But soon realization sunk into him deeper, turning him alarmed when Evelyn’s words rang in his head.

Sara was a traitor.

“Move away sleazeballs.” Sara cursed as she shoved away the swarm of women drooling over the hot tycoon. No sooner she heard that the new client has arrived than she kept everything aside and rushed downstairs. Jungkook had strictly instructed her to inform every single detail of that mysterious man. But to her dismay, the business mogul barged into the premises with the large crowd on his tail. Security was trying their best to escort the man safely into the building but the problem was that the employees of Maria Estates were also affected by his handsome features. They were competing to be his host giving Krystal and Justin a hard time.

Sara couldn’t see his face due to the crowd blocking her sight so she decided to take his snaps from every angle. Maybe one of them would capture his face and her mission would be completed.

“What are you doing?”

Her heart lurched to her throat hearing a raging growl. She turned behind only to find Joseph glaring at her. His jaw was set and he looked extremely mad.

Terror seized her but she decided to act tough not to make it obvious.

“Nothing. Just taking some pictures.” She said and let out a nervous laugh.

“But Boss told you to be in the conference hall.” Joseph didn’t buy her lie and grated out.

She rolled her eyes, “Oh come on. Ma’am won’t find any reason to scold me as I have double-checked everything. So cut me a little slack, will ya?” she snapped at him and tried to walk away when Joseph snatched the phone from her hand.

“WHAT THE HELL?? GIVE IT BACK!!” Sara was startled and tried to get it back. But Joseph cleverly put it in his breast pocket and pushed her back making her trip on her heels.

She looked at him in shock, “What is the matter with you?”

“Nothing. Just go and handle the meeting.” He replied to her nonchalantly and turned to leave. Enraged, Sara rushed to him and grabbed his hand but he jerked it away. She then came forward and blocked his way.

“Give me back my phone right now.”

She gritted and tried to reach for his breast pocket but a scream escaped her mouth when he clasped her wrist midway and twisted it.

“If you don’t want me to tell this to Boss then fucking take your ass to the conference room.”

Sara was shocked as she had never seen him this angry before. Tears collected in her eyes but Joseph wasn’t a bit fazed as he roughly slapped her hand away and stormed away from there.

*****

Checking her wristwatch, Evelyn entered the meeting room only to find it empty. Anger bubbled inside her realizing that Sara was back to her shenanigans.

Heading onto her seat, she slammed the file on the table when the door opened revealing Joseph, Jonathan, and other employees. Ignoring them, she kept her eyes fixed on Sara who was hiding behind them. With her head hung below and hands clutching the hem of her skirt tightly, it needed no rocket science to tell that she was frightened.

Evelyn said nothing and glanced at Joseph who seemed troubled. Suddenly his gaze collided with hers. She saw the disappointment in them and thus, her doubts were confirmed.

“Here, Mr. Knight”

Her head snapped to the door hearing Krystal’s voice. Joseph immediately rushed to welcome the businessman. Evelyn also straightened her spine. With the evidence and Joseph by her side, she would be able to expose Sara. But that wasn’t her concern right now because the meeting was too important. Finally, after so many days there was a silver lining and she would make sure to get this deal done and dusted.

Putting up a smile, she walked to the door and greeted her clients.

“Welcome to Maria Estates.”

Evelyn spoke politely and bowed. She then lifted her head but her world stopped as soon as her eyes clashed against the almond ones. The smile dropped before it could reach her lips as she couldn’t believe her eyes.

Hearing her dulcet tone, the man raised his head and looked at her. Unlike her, he didn’t look surprised and looked calm and composed.

On the other hand, Evelyn blinked her eyes multiple times, her hand froze in the air as another chapter of her past unfurled in front of her.

“Xander?”

She breathed out his name in an inaudible voice, laughing bitterly at the games that God was playing with her.

Suddenly it dawned on her.

‘Mr. Knight? So the new client was none other than Xander Knight?’

She didn’t even realize that the company that was the biggest investor of Maria Estates belonged to none other than Xander.

Evelyn remained rooted on the spot, too stunned to react when a hand enveloped her cold ones. She flinched and looked at Xander who shook hands with her firmly but his cold gaze left her confounded.

Walking forward, he reduced the distance between them and spoke while looking deep into her eyes.

“Please to meet you, Ms. Clarke.”