Immediately they got into his office, Derek turned around and said to the lady: "I don't know what it is you were thinking but you've put me in trouble.""What are you talking about?" the still confused Gina asked as she shut the door behind her. "I don't get you, Derek. What did I do?""Are you working with someone?""Working with who?""I don't know. Anyone that's planning to ruin my life by using you to get that done…"Gina shook her head in disappointment. "That's too much coming from you. You think I would want to ruin your life, Derek? Is that what this is about?""The only thing this is about is you coming on to me and then someone sending me a picture of you and me in such an intimate position that if my wife gets to see it, she could call off our marriage completely.""Wait, wait, hold on…" Gina said as she tried to understand the whole situation. "Are you telling me that there's a picture of two of us together?""I wasn't speaking another language."Although that came off as
"Welcome home," Catherine said as soon as Derek got in.He didn't respond at once as he first went to take a seat. What he needed was enough rest to make him feel better as his whole body was telling that he had a long day."Thank you," he said to his wife finally.When he looked at her, he noticed that she was on her laptop. She was fully immersed in it as she typed away into the system and Derek has never seen her looking more serious than this."What are you doing?" he asked her."Working," she simply said as she continued with what she was doing."Hmph," he hummed and then stood up. "I'll be in the room.""Okay."He looked at her once before deciding to head up to their bedroom.When he got in, he took off his top first before laying on the bed, the softness of the mattress giving him an instantaneous relaxing feeling.He wished he could stay like that all through because his body needed that rest. And it was really his one way of forgetting all about work and any other thing that
The sound of the door shutting was all that Derek needed to know that Richard was now in the car with him. All through he didn't even bother looking in that direction because he already saw the man coming toward there in the first place.After a long silence, Richard decided to break the ice."Why are you here? I thought our business together was done. What more do you want from me?""That's what you thought," Derek said. "I never told you that our contact is off. You only assumed that yourself.""I guess breaking off my marriage isn't enough for you, is it?""I have no hand in that. That's on you and your foolishness. Now let's get on with what I summoned you for instead of me sitting here and listening to you whine about your failed marriage.""Like yours isn't failing…"Derek turned his head toward the man, his expression revealing an ounce of rage. "What did you say?" he asked sternly.Richard Langston looked at him. He looked like he didn't care and the manner at which he decided
Except Richard Langston wanted to deny it, Derek was more than confident that the person in the picture was Catherine and not Anne.Ever since he had the discussion with Edna which allowed him to realize that there was something Richard was hiding, he has done a little digging himself.Edna sent him the picture of the anniversary date. And unlike the other pictures where there was skepticism about the person in the picture, this one had been as clear as crystal to him.His wife didn't have her usual sunglasses on and this gave him the chance to see the face of the person clearly enough to know who it is."It's Anne," Richard said eventually regarding the picture in the phone."Anne?" Derek asked."Yes… Anne. There's no way this is Catherine. I was never with her in the first place."Derek shook his head to discard the man's words. "You may want to deny it," he said, "but this one right here doesn't indicate you being with the girl you made to play dress up. I know who this is and you
"Do you know if she mentioned something about being followed? Or maybe she suspected something like that?" Derek asked the man. He was still in the middle of getting the truth about the matter."How was I supposed to know? We never had that type of interaction. The only interaction we had was a scripted one and that's all."Derek was sure of one thing now. Catherine knew all along. She knew she was being monitored in some way so she decided to give out an act that would spice things up.The problem now was that Derek wasn't able to tell what angle she was coming from for actually doing what she did.He couldn't tell if she did it to get attention on her or away from her… Or perhaps attention away from somebody else.Derek wished he could figure that part out but it wasn't something that he could. He would have to look into more proofs to actually make sense of this new information."Just so you know, you agreeing to something like that didn't do you any good. And I wonder what made yo
"How did you get that information that you sent me?" Edna first asked once she heard the beep that indicated she was connected with Derek."I made my findings," Derek simply told her."How? You want to tell me that you just did a mild research and then got this fact?" she asked."No.""What's wrong with you? Spill already.""I met with Richard."Perhaps it was the reason he was acting all reserved, Edna thought. It would make sense to her why Derek didn't want to say anything at first about who he communicated with just to get the needed info."When?""About an hour ago," Derek said."Where?""What's with all the questions, Edna? Do you want to know what I got from him or you want me to detail how I met him and all of that?"Edna sighed. "I don't even know," she said. "Just get on with it. What did Richard tell you?"Her eyes lingered about the park that was getting lesser in terms of the number of people that were around. Dusk was about to hit and that was enough to get everyone leav
"Sorry I asked to meet with you on such short notice," Derek apologized to the lady in front of him. "I could have texted you but I don't think it's safe anymore.""It's a good thing you mentioned that because I was about to ask you why you didn't just tell me what you want via the phone." That was the response he got from the lady.The lady was none other than Nadia. He had summoned her to meet with him after thinking through his options of finding a good way out of his predicament.She wasn't his first choice but she seemed like the most feasible option. And what was left now was for him to make good use of that option."So what's the issue that you so badly had to call to see me?" Nadia wanted to know as she sat uprightly to listen to what Derek had to say. All along she was sitting very relaxed because of her nonchalance of being there with him."The first thing you need to know is that I'm not trying to blackmail you this time around…""Oh good. Then I think I don't have any busi
"Still nothing?" Derek asked, a little surprised a while after the call he put through to the man got picked."Nothing," Marcus admitted over the phone. "I've tried and tried but nothing seems forthcoming. I won't lie to you, it's a dead end.""I thought you have friends that are into stuff like this. Can't they help us out?"Derek was already frustrated as he asked that question. He hoped to get a better answer from his friend because that was the only way he could actually feel better to hold this conversation."And you think they didn't already try?" Marcus asked him. "Derek, I already told you that the line was like an encrypted one. It was going to take a lot to knock it down.I put in a lot of effort into knocking it down. My people too. But nothing came out of it. Just some bunch of nonsense that wasn't going to be useful."With his hand running through his hair, Derek stood up to think. He hoped to get a better flow of thoughts from that point as he did that but it seemed stan
"What are you talking about?" Marcus asked, his expression a mixture of confusion and surprise."You know what I'm talking about. Stop acting like you don't," Derek said."Well, I don't. And I'll be leaving now before you consume me with your bullshit.""The past two weeks made me realize something, Marcus. And it's the fact that your enemies are actually the ones closer to you. You have been my enemy for but u didn't know all these while.""Did you drink something? Why are you speaking nonsense? And since when did I become your enemy?"Derek stood up, facing the man directly. "That's a good question… When?""Can you two sit your asses down and explain to me what is going on here?" Catherine said to them, almost screaming at them.Derek looked at the woman. "I haven't said you should talk," he told her."And since when did you get to give me how and when I should talk?""Since I found out that my allegation against you has always been true."Catherine wasn't getting a hang of what was
As Marcus was reluctantly finding a way to get in between the couple, Catherine, who still had a frown etched on her face, whispered to Derek."What is he doing here? I thought it's supposed to be just you and me," she said with a stern tone."I know I said that. But Marcus is just here to join us briefly. I can promise that his stay here won't be for long then we can have the time to ourselves," Derek told his wife.Catherine wasn't buying that. And she was this close to telling him to send Marcus away when the man eventually came back with an empty chair which he placed in the middle of the couple.Marcus took a seat but was still confused about what was going on because this wasn't what he had in mind when he got the invitation from Derek to show up at Kingston Hotel."What's going on here, Derek? Why is there a cake on your table? Is it someone's birthday?" Marcus directed the question to Derek while trying to make a guess.He couldn't deny that he noticed the hard stare Catherine
"I'm home," Derek announced as soon as he got into his apartment. "Where are you, Kathy?" he called out as he went to take a seat just so be could relax himself."I'm upstairs," was the response he got from his wife to which he nodded."Alright, I'm coming."Two minutes later, after getting a cup of water, he was on the way to their room upstairs with his briefcase in his hand. He was sure that the woman would be busy when he gets there and it was no surprise that she was on her laptop when he got there.She was sitting close to where the mirror in the room was and he watched her from where he was standing, seeing that she was typing into her laptop. There was also a document on her laptop which she kept glancing at occasionally.He dropped the briefcase on the bed and then took off his jacket which he also placed on the bed. Then he walked over to her, standing right behind her.In that position, he bent and put his hands around her waist. "What are you doing?" he asked as he whisper
"How did it go?" Derek asked the lady who seemed to be more interested in the ice cream she was consuming than him."How did what go?" Gina asked in return as she scooped a mouthful from the cone. As the cream melted down her mouth, she felt a sensation that made her giggle without a care in the world."Now that was weird," Derek stated but then got back to his question. "How did the meeting with Eugene go? Was he able to convince you this time around?"Gina wanted to take another scoop from the ice cream when she heard that question which then put her to a halt."Hmph, of course not. I already told you that I wouldn't be accepting his offer, didn't I? It seems like you forgot to relay my message to him," she said and then got back to her ice cream.At that point, Derek was getting annoyed with how immersed she was in it. He just had to hold in his annoyance lest he snaps at her."I did relay your message but it was too late for him to turn back," he told her."So you mean you just to
"I think it would have been better if you had called me before coming over to the company. What if I was away? It means you would have wasted a full trip down here," Derek said in a scolding manner to the woman sitting opposite him.Edna didn't care about what he was saying and she revealed that completely through her expression. It was as if she just wanted him to talk and then get through with it."At least I met you in, didn't I? I don't understand why you're making a big deal out of it," the woman said.Derek didn't respond to that, perhaps worried that he was going to speak out of line if he did."So, why did you reject my offer? You had a long time to decide and at the end of it, you said no. There has to be a reason. And it had better be a good one."He sat there quietly for some time before he finally decided on saying something."It doesn't feel right, Edna."The woman's gaze at him was a mixture of stern and confusion. "What doesn't? Owning a business or my offer?" she asked
Derek felt a little tired as he walked back into the Cora Limited after having lunch at the eatery down by the road. It was supposed to be his go-to place whenever work got overwhelming but today was just different.He just wanted to try something different other than skipping meals or simply just having something little in the company's eatery which only made light snacks.He knew that having a meal at his go-to eatery would affect his work rate but he was willing to risk it.A honk from a car caught his attention right after he passed by the parking lot. He was sure that it was for him which was why he turned around to find out which car had honked at him.It didn't take him too long to find the car as well as the person who operated it. And right out of that very car, Eugene Leviathan stepped out, looking all smiley like there was something good he wanted to talk about."Mr. McKay. Good to see you again," Eugene Leviathan said to Derek like it was the first time he was seeing him i
"Who's that again?" Gina asked, trying to rack her brain for any information related to the name Derek just told her."The ex-wife of Richard Langston," Derek responded."Wait, isn't that the man that you thought was having an affair with your wife?""Yes.""Oh. So when did you get this close to his wife so much that she offered you her business to handle?"The way Gina said it made it seem like he was having an illicit affair with Edna and that didn't look good at all."Ex-wife, Gina. They are divorced now. And the way you say it, it sounds like I'm doing something wrong with her.""I never implied it that way. You're the one with the ideas here," she defended herself."Whatever," he said. "Edna and I kept in touch after we both realized that we were chasing the wrong thing. But it didn't change the fact that her husband was a chronic cheat.Anyways, their business was handed over to her by the court but she doesn't want to be around here anymore which is why she wants someone else t
The sudden sound of something slamming on to his desk knocked Derek out of his thoughts. It came as a shock, that for a few seconds, he couldn't get a hold of himself."What did you do that for?" he asked through gritted teeth. He was furious at the person that did that just to get his attention."I've been calling your name but you didn't hear me." He heard Gina's voice and that meant she was that person."Well, you should have called harder."He had to put both hands over his face just to take out the wobbly feeling that had overwhelmed him from the shock.He was still furious at that point. If it had been someone else other than Gina, he would have taken his frustration out on the person. He could only keep his rage to himself because of her."I'm sorry," Gina apologized. "I shouldn't have done what I did but I was getting scared when you didn't answer which was why I resorted to that."He looked up at her. "What happened to tapping me, Gina? Wouldn't that have been much better?""
"You do realize it's my weekend you're consuming," Derek pointed out to Jasmine who was dragging him."I know," she said. "But there's no one else I could call."She came to his place that afternoon and told him that she had an event to attend but didn't have anyone to go with which was why she decided to come to his place.He had declined the offer at first but she kept insisting and even resorted to pulling him out of the house. If Catherine had been home, the sight wouldn't have been pretty.At one point, when they were about to get to his car, he pulled his arm out of her reach."I can't follow you," he told the lady who turned around to face him."But why?" she asked with a pout."I've got to go to work tomorrow, Jasmine. I can't afford a day out at this time when I should be resting.""And I'll be out of the city by tomorrow too. Let me have this, please."Her emphasis on the 'please' was a bit infuriating due to the way she made mention of it. It was as if she wanted to do anyt