41
When Amanda had opened the door to her cabin and found Lucas on the other side, her first instinct had been to throw herself into his arms.
Ever since he told her the truth about her father, she had constantly craved one thing. His comfort. She felt… No, she knew that if he held her, everything would seem better. Just like back then when they first met. He had been there for her every time things went awry since that time, and never had he given her a reason to doubt his intentions towards her.
But it was so hard, so hard to let go and give in to her need for him. Not when her brain kept reminding her of every time she trusted someone only to get betrayed at the end. First, it was Keith. Then Samuel. Tyra. And now, the last person she would have ever expected to betray her. Not to mention that her birth parents gave her away for money. It was as if every person she allowed to get close to her would eventually hurt her. As if nobody ever cared enough to want to keep her around.
Why should she believe that Lucas was different from the others? She had never questioned their intentions either, until their lies were revealed.
No, she wouldn’t let her feelings blind her. From now on, she was going to keep everyone at an arm’s length. That way, nobody got close enough to hurt her.
That’s the resolution that enabled her to hold her ground and keep from latching to him like a damsel in distress. It also gave her the strength to turn him away, especially after his confession.
If he had said those words to her a week ago before everything shot to hell, she was positive she would have said them back.
But now, everything had changed. Her entire world was going to change in the next few hours, and nothing would ever be the same again.
She was almost back to the city when she turned on her phone and set it on the mount on her dashboard. Immediately, tons of notifications loaded, alerting her of missed calls and messages. And, not even five seconds later, her phone rang.
A glance at the screen revealed it was Cara calling.
Cara was the only person Amanda had bothered to inform of her impending absence. Before Amanda had gone offline, she had sent her a message, telling her she was going to be absent for a few days because she was unwell. At least then, her assistant had a reason to give for her absence.
She received the call. “Hello, Cara.”
“Oh my God, Amanda. Thank God you’re alive! Why was your phone off? I thought something horrible happened to you! Are you alright?”
“I’m fine, I’m alright,” she assured her, touched by her concern. Other than Lucas, there appeared to be at least one other person who was truly concerned about her.
“Are you sure? You told me you were unwell, then you went offline. Have you recovered?”
“It was a case of bad flu,” she lied smoothly. “I’m good now. I’ll drop by the office soon.”
“Okay, okay,” Cara replied. “But I don’t think that’s a good idea with what’s going on right now.”
Amanda felt a sense of foreboding overcome her.
“What do you mean?”
“You… You haven’t been online?” Cara asked.
“No.” When she had left for the resort, she hadn’t brought her laptop, and with her smartphone off, there was no way she could have stayed on top of the news. Which was exactly why she went offline. She didn’t want to see or hear anything related to the Group.
“Oh my God,” Cara said, her voice lowering. “So, uh, some pictures were released.”
“What pictures?”
“Of you and Lucas.”
Amanda felt her stomach drop. Dammit, Tyra. She just had to have the last laugh, didn’t she?
“What kind of photos?” she questioned.
“Of you two at his boat and your apartment. Reporters are camped outside the office, waiting for your comment.”
At least they weren’t explicit. Had Tyra been following her around all this time?
She got a notification of another incoming call, from Lucas this time. “I’ll make a statement when I get to the office,” she told Cara.
“Really? Okay!”
“I got to go now, I have another incoming call.”
“See you soon,” Cara said, then hung up.
She received Lucas’s call. “Hello.”
“Amanda. Are you back yet?”
“Almost.”
“I don’t know if you’ve heard, but…”
“Cara just told me.”
“Oh, okay. What do you want to do about it?”
“I’ll handle it when I get back to the office.”
“I’m okay with whatever you decide to do.”
“I appreciate that,” she told him. Then cursed softly when another notification of another call came on. It was Rebecca. She didn’t have to receive that one to know what she had to say. “I’m driving at the moment,” she told him, “I gotta go.”
“Okay, I’ll see you later.”
She hung up and ignored Rebecca’s call.
Rebecca didn’t have to worry. She would be out of her hair soon.
***
When Amanda got to the company, she avoided the front and went straight to the basement parking. She had only one thing to do in her office.
Craft her resignation letter, which she would take with her to the Group’s headquarters when she went to confront Charles. It wasn’t going to be a long letter. It wasn’t as if Charles was going to reject it and try to keep her in the company.
She was aware of everyone’s gazes as she made it out of the elevator and walked to her office. Cara shot to her feet when she approached.
“Good to see you back, Amanda,” she greeted.
Amanda beckoned to her. “Join me.”
Grabbing her tablet, Cara followed her inside.
“I want you to get a box, and pack all of my belongings in this office.”
Cara blinked. “Pardon?”
Amanda fired up her desktop. Giving her assistant a quick look, she said. “I’m sorry to spring this up on you, Cara, but I’m quitting.”
“Quitting? But this is your company!”
“It’s a long story.”
Cara shifted on her feet, clearly confused. “What’s going on? Did your father transfer his shares to Rebecca?”
“He will, soon,” Amanda said. She knew he would. Maybe he already had, the moment photos of her and Lucas appeared on the media. That must have been a good excuse for him to push her to the sidelines further. “I’ll make a statement to the reporters outside, end this once and for all. So Cara, please, help me pack my things up.”
“Take me with you,” Cara blurted.
“I can’t do that.”
“Please, Amanda. I can’t work under that woman! She’ll probably fire me right away, anyway!”
“I’m sorry, Cara. I have nowhere to take you.”
If only Cara knew how much that was true.
“But you’ll still have your shares, right?”
Yes, she would still have them. She didn’t want them, because like everything else, they didn’t belong to her. And, she didn’t want anything to tie her to the Lemaiyans once she was done with them. She had considered relinquishing them to the Group, but now, she had a new idea. A better idea.
A smile flashing on her face, she looked up at Cara. “How would you like to become a shareholder?”
***
Amanda had her driver bring her car around to the front while she addressed the crowd of reporters outside the offices.
A myriad of questions flew her away:
“Are you and Mr. Erikson in a relationship?”
“When did it begin?”
“What do you have to say about the photos that were released of you and Mr. Erikson?”
With a lift of her hand, the noise died down, and the reporters and their cameramen awaited.
Clasping her hands together, Amanda announced,
“As of today, I’m no longer part of this company, or of the Lemaiyan Group. As such, my private life should be of no concern to you all. That’s all. Thank you.”
The noise came back on as the reporters shot forward more questions. But Amanda was done talking, and with the help of the security team, she went past them and into her waiting car.
One block away from the company, her phone rang. It was Rebecca, again.
This time, she received.
Rebecca seethed into her ear, “What the hell was that?”
“The news is already out? They’re fast.”
“I was there!” Rebecca retorted.
“Oh. I didn’t see you.”
“What kind of prank do you think you’re pulling this time? Do you want attention that badly?”
“Shouldn’t you be happy, Rebecca? I’m getting out of your way. The company is yours for the taking. Don’t call me again.”
She hung up, not giving her a chance to say anything else.
A couple minutes’ later, her driver pulled up to the headquarters, and Amanda walked inside.
It was obvious the staff here had already gotten hold of the news with the way countless gazes followed her. They had probably been following the gossip about her and Lucas all morning.
Heading to the executive elevator, she pressed the button and waited. It took several seconds to arrive. When she walked into it and turned to face the lobby again, she caught sight of at least three people pointing their smartphone cameras at her.
Probably everyone now knew that she was at her 'father's' offices. She was willing to bet every last cent she had that the crowd of reporters was already setting camp outside the building at that moment.
Lucy, Charles’s secretary, was waiting nervously when she walked out of the elevator.
“Hello, Lucy. Is the Chairman in?” she asked warmly, reaching into her bag to retrieve the letter she had prepared.
Lucy nodded. “Yes, he is, but…”
“I’ll only take a minute of his time,” Amanda told her, brushing past.
She went straight to Charles’s door, grabbed the handle, and pushed it open.
Charles was seated at his desk while his personal assistant stood on the other side, holding a tablet in hand. It looked like they were in the middle of a briefing or something. Well, that would have to wait…
The assistant went quiet, not expecting her sudden arrival.
“You can’t just barge into my office without permission,” Charles groused.
She noticed it right away. The change in his tone when he talked to her. He was obviously done with the ‘loving father’ show.
“Don’t worry, this is going to be the last time it happens,” she assured him, her tone clipped. She turned to the assistant. “Please excuse us for a minute, Sharon.”
Sharon looked at Charles for direction, and he dismissed her with a wave of his hand. When she was gone, Amanda slapped the letter on the desk. “Here’s my resignation letter.”
Charles looked at it, then at her. “Anything else?”
A part of her was having a hard time keeping up with this new version of the man she had called ‘father’ for twenty six years. She had spent three days coming to terms with the truth so that when she faced him, she would have her wits around her and not succumb to some sort of desperate emotion.
This was not the time to begin calling up memories.
“I want to know about my parents. My real parents. Where can I find them?”
“How am I supposed to know that?”
“You bought a baby from them. I’m sure you do.”
“My wife and daughter died because of them. And you. You had to pay.”
Her hands fisted at her side. “I’m sure I’ve paid more than enough.”
The door to the office pulled open and Rebecca stormed in. “What on earth is going on here?”
Amanda ignored her and kept her eyes on Charles.
Rebecca addressed him, pointing at her. “Father, do you have any idea what she pulled out there?”
“Yes, Rebecca, I’m aware,” he replied, reaching for a notebook and a pen. Scribbling on the paper, he told Rebecca, “You’re my only daughter as of today.”
“What?”
“Amanda is no longer part of the Lemaiyan family. I had wanted to keep all this silent, but since she already poked the hornet’s nest, we must address it. Schedule a meeting with PR pronto and come up with a statement.”
“How can I make a statement when I know nothing?”
Charles tore the piece of paper and handed it to Amanda. “That’s your mother’s name and the last place I know she lived. If you don’t find her there, you’ll have to look for her yourself.”
Amanda took the paper and studied it.
Ruth Pertet.
That was her mother’s name.
Not Adeline.
She was ready to turn and leave when Charles came to his feet and leaned forward, a stern glare on her.
“You better not be thinking about dragging my family into anything. Go quietly.”
She was going to go so quietly people would forget she ever existed.
But she wasn’t going to give him the pleasure of an assurance. She might as well keep him in perpetual paranoia of her going on TV interviews to reveal his foul play.
She narrowed her eyes. “No. You’re the one who should remain quietly, Mr. Lemaiyan. If your PR team so much as tries to make up sordid lies about why I left, I’ll be back. And I’ll destroy you.”
Charles laughed. “You have no name. Nothing. What can someone like you do to me?”
“You could try me and see.”
With that, she turned around and marched to the door. The last thing she heard was Rebecca’s voice; “What is going on, Dad?”
