Reopening the Case

Damien left Eric’s house disturbed. Maybe it was because of what he said about reinvestigating the case from four years ago but, his mind was troubled.

After the incident with Harriett four years ago, he found out the truth about the picture being fabricated but because of the guilt from sending Harriett away, he gave up finding the culprit. Evelyn was also in support of his decision to forget about the culprit and move on.

Now that Eric brought it up, he realized that it would be the first step to winning Harriett’s heart once again.

How didn’t he think of this before?

Of course, Harriett wouldn’t want to have anything to do with him when he was unable to find and punish the person behind those pictures.

Even his relationship with his brother, Adrian turned sour because of that incident. Since Adrian was also a victim in that incident, he decided to seek his help in exposing the culprit.

“Well, look who it is.” Adrian’s voice boomed from the other side of the phone.

“I’ll go straight to the point, Adrian. I need your help.” He said without hesitating and judging from his tone, Adrian could tell that he was in no mood for a banter.

“Go on.” Adrian hummed.

“The incident from four years ago. I’m goons to reinvestigate and try finding the culprit.” He said and the line went silent for a few minutes that he almost thought that Adrian had cut the call.

“What’s the use now, Damien? You’ve already destroyed your relationship with Harriett and she has divorced you and moved to another part of the world. You gain nothing from reopening that case.” Adrian’s reply shocked Damien because he thought that Adrian of all persons would want to catch the real culprit.

But then again, Adrian wasn’t the type to be bothered. All he was after was Damien’s trust and since he couldn’t get it during that period, he gave up and decided to move on with his life.

“You’re wrong, Adrian. Reopening that case is my only chance at correcting my wrong and getting back with Harriett.” He explained.

“Harriett? Isn’t she long gone already?” Adrian asked. He had no idea that Harriett had returned to New York as he left the country a few months after the incident to manage the branch in Canada.

“She was but, she’s back now. Harriett returned to New York last week.” Damien revealed and Adrian felt his heart race with excitement, already making plans to come back to New York.

“That’s not all. She came back with children.. my children. She was pregnant when she left, Adrian. I was such an idiot.” Damien blurted out, taking Adrian by surprise.

“You know what’s funny?” Damien chuckled dryly, adjusting his ear plugs as he drove to his office.

“She named my son after you.” He laughed but he couldn’t tell if it was from jealousy or amusement. When he heard the name for the first time, he thought it was her way of getting back at him for accusing her of sleeping with his brother but, he later realized that it was just a coincidence.

Apparently, she had other options but that stood out to her the most and so, she took it.

Adrian didn’t know how to feel about it but he knew that although his brother was wrong four years ago, it was a good thing that he had finally come to his senses.

“I’ll help you. It shouldn’t be hard to find out who was behind the pictures. I’ll help you with that, you should focus on Harriett.” Adrian said and a tear nearly slipped out of Damien’s eyes at how generous his brother was being even after everything.

He had to admit, he was terrible at making good decisions when it came to people.

Damien got out of his car and walked into the company building, heading for his office when he noticed that there was a small commotion at the receptionist’s desk.

“Are you kidding me right now? Don’t you know you I am? Let me in right this instant!” A groan left Damien’s lips as he recognized the voice.

“What the fuck is she doing here now?” He thought, referring to Evelyn who was screaming and throwing insults at the receptionist.

“I’m so sorry, ma’am but, we have orders not to let anyone into the CEO’s office until further notice.” The receptionist remained calm and collected despite the aggressiveness from Evelyn.

“Do I look like ‘ anyone ’ to you? Listen, the second Damien gets here, you can kiss your job goodbye, you disrespectful peasant!” She screamed at the innocent lady who looked like she would cry at any second.

Since she was causing a scene and disrupting the effective flow of the company, Damien had to step in.

“Damien? You finally came.” Evelyn immediately rushed to his side the second she sighted him, putting on her victimized expression to gain his pity.

“I just wanted to see you because you weren’t home but this woman kept trying to throw me out.” She cried, holding his arms as she pointed at the receptionist.

“People like her shouldn’t get to work here, Damien. She is a threat to your company. I suggest you fire her before it-”

“I apologize on her behalf. You can return to your activities.” Damien cut her off and apologized to the receptionist before grabbing her arm and pulling her to the elevator as they headed to his office.

He was barely able to hold himself from scolding her Infront of everyone. He was completely disappointed in her behavior and this time around, he wasn’t going to let her get away with it.

All through the elevator ride, she kept throwing questions at him but he remained quiet until they got into his office.

“What has come over you, Evelyn?!” He asked, frustration spreading across his face.

“What are you talking about, Damien? If it is because of what happened outside, I already explained to you that she was at fault! Who does she think she is to try stopping me from coming into your office.” She rolled her eyes and folded her arms.

“The company’s receptionist, Evelyn. That is who she is and she was only following my orders! If there’s anyone that has no right to be here, it’s you!” He screamed, letting his anger out.

He was suddenly disgusted by her recent behavior.

Evelyn was taken aback by his sudden outburst and she flinched in fear as he raised his voice at her.

This was becoming to frequent and she wasn’t happy with it. She could sense that something was about to go wrong so, she quickly apologized.

“I’m sorry, Damien. All I wanted was to see you. You have been really distant these days and you know that you are all I have. I’m really lonely these days.” Tears began to fall out of her eyes and her face fell to the ground.

Damien ruffled his hair in frustration as he was once again at a cross road. He felt like a terrible friend for abandoning her but then he also had Harriett in his life and the last thing he needed was Evelyn getting in his way so, he decided to make a suggestion that might break her but would do more good to him.

He went closer to her and pulled her in for a hug, patting her back slowly. Evelyn relaxed into the hug, a smile appearing on her face as she snuggled closer to Damien. She was happy that her old tactics still worked perfectly on him. But, her smile faded quickly as he uttered his next words.

“I think you should return to England and be with your family, Evelyn.”