The tension in the room could be sliced with a knife. Alex stared at the indecisive expressions on the faces of Derek’s employees and something told him that the war was already won. Well, most of it. “We do not have time for overthinking right now. The presentation starts in the next ten minutes and we need to set everything up before then. What have you decided?”“Everyone, stay put!” Susan ordered. “Don’t listen to him. You work for Hunters’ Technokigy. Defecting to his side will mean that you’ve decided to go against your employee contracts and that would breed very serious legal consequences against you. Think wisely.”Three long, tense seconds crawled by…then one by one, Derek’s employees slowly walked forward and stood behind Alex, silently showing their support. Alex’s heart swelled with joy and relief as he watched Susan’s face turn crimson from rage.“Where the hell are you all going, you dimwits? Come back here right this instant. If you take another step, all of you wil
“…this man deserves to be thrown behind bars.”The hall erupted in a frenzy of whispers and clicking cameras. Alex was speechless as Derek continued to speak.“This msn kidnapped me, stole my business idea and presented it to the pandel as his. He needs to be punished.”Alex could not believe the lies that currently spilled from Derek’s lips.“Did you just say that I stole your business idea? You stole from me and you know it. Lying will take you nowhere.”Derek paused to catch his breath. At the moment, it seemed like he would drop to the ground very soon. “If you don’t believe me, I have evidence.”Even though Alex knew he was innocent, he couldn’t deny the manner in which his stomach tightened with dread as he watched Derek fumble with his phone. Miss Susan stood beside her boss and took the phone from him, staring daggers at the Hunters’ Technology employees who’d stood by Alex’s side during the presentation.“I told all of you, didn’t I?” She sneered. “ I told you that this man
The entire hall fell silent as everyone watched the video with various degrees of shock evident on their faces. “Do you all believe me now?” Derek sneered. “You heard it from his own men. This man had me kidnapped. He’s a thief and a traitor!”Everyone turned in Alex’s direction, their eyes filled with accusation as they waited for him to come up with some sort of explanation.“Well, don’t you have anything to say, Mr. Alexander?” Susan sneered. “Why are you so quiet?”Alex opened his mouth to speak but snapped it back shut. What was he going to say anyways? It was true that he’d ordered Derek’s kidnapping after all. But how the hell had the bastard been able to escape so quickly?Soon, whispers from members of the press and Derek’s employees filtered into the atmosphere.“…I’m sure he lied to us, didn’t he…?”“…oh, dear. Will Mr. Derek give us our jobs back…?”“…I wish I never supported him. He’s a traitor…”Alex opened his mouth to speak but just then, the door to the conference ro
“I’m sorry, sir, but you have to leave now.” Alex had barely recovered from the shocking news which Peter had thrown on him when an officer arrived and ordered him out of the premises. “It’s already past our visiting hours. You have to go.”Peter glared at him.“But it’s barely three PM. Visiting hours end by five PM. I have two more hours to speak with the young master.”A sliver of rage flashed in the officer’s blue eyes and Alex instantly knew they were fighting a lost battle. “You have to leave now, sir. Otherwise, we’ll force you off the premises ourselves.”Peter balled his fingers into fists but Alex stepped in quickly;“I’m sorry, Peter, but you have to leave. Inform the members of the conglomerate about my arrest. I think they’ll be in a better position to help.”“Are you sure, young master?”Alex nodded.“Yes. Please, go.”Although he could see the hesitation all over his face, Peter turned around and walked away. Just before the officer left, Alex called out.“Who are
“Release him. Now.” It only took those three authoritatively uttered words for the officer on duty to rush forward and unlock the gates of Alex’s cell.Alex was stunned. For a moment, he remained rooted to the spot. Tariq stretched his hand and beckoned on him.“Come on, kid, it’s time to go.”Alex could not remember the last time someone had called him a “kid.” It felt… good. He hurried out of the dark, dank room and stopped right before the giant of a man.“Thank you so much, sir. Is there anyway I can repay you? Any way at all?”Tariq draped a heavy hand around his shoulder and steered him down the hallway.“What you’ve done for me can never be compared to this, my boy. You rescued my granddaughter from being used in an evil science experiment. I should be asking you if you want anything.”Alex shook his head.“It was nothing. I promise. I’m glad I was able to help.”“No, son.” Tariq insisted. “It was something and because of that, we need to talk.”He took Alex’s hand and led hi
Alex took one look at the injured Martins and all the anger in his blood drained away. “What the hell happened to you?” He asked, storming the room that was used as a makeshift hospital in the mansion. “Who did this to you?”Martins was wounded and bleeding profusely. Most of his injuries had already been covered with white bandages. There was a thick bandage wrapped around his head and over his left eye. He was a mess. However, the moment he heard Alex’s voice, he ignored the pain, rose to his feet and bowed. “Hello, young master.”“You haven’t answered my question.” Alex replied heatedly. “Who did this?”“Sir, apparently, Derek Hunter has a GPS tracker attached to his person.” Peter replied in Martins’ stead. “Martins had already taken him to the hideout but unknown to him, Derek had activated the tracker. His father and their bodyguards were able to track him down to our hideout. When they arrived, Martins was obviously outnumbered. They beat him to a pulp. We had to send a ch
THE DAY OF TRIALAlex sat beside Blakely on the bed and held her soft hand in his. He was happy that most of the bruises she’d sustained from the kidnapping were gone. She was almost nicely healed. Almost. “Are you sure you’ll be able to make it to court today?” He asked for the one millionth time. “I could apply for the date of hearing to be shifted so you could rest more.”She smiled at him and his heart tightened with a strange emotion.“Yes, I’m certain. I’m fine. I know you have the power to shift the date but I just want to get this over with today. I don’t want it to go on for another day.”Alex nodded.“Okay. If that is what you want.”The room was strangely quiet for the next few seconds. Alex looked down and noticed that Blakely’s brows were knotted tightly like she was deep in thought.“Hey… what’s wrong? What are you thinking about?”She snapped out of her daze and fixed him with those beautiful bright blue eyes.“I’m worried, Alex. What if we’re defeated at court today?
Alex could swear that his heart nearly stopped beating as he listened to Ora. This was a disaster. If Ora’s testimony was able to convince the court that Blakely had harboured even an inkling of hatred for Cole because he’d refused to give her money, they might as well kiss the case goodbye. Everything will be lost. Beside Alex, Blakely had completely stiffened with shock. She barely moved. She barely even breathed. “Ora, sweetheart…” the lawyer coaxed get once more. “What did you say just now? Your mother called daddy a bad msn because he refused to give get money to go shopping?”Ora nodded and Alex’s heart dropped to the bottom of his shoes. “That day, I remember that mommy was crying and there was blood everywhere…”Shocked at the sudden twist in the story, Alex sat up straighter. “Mommy was bleeding and c-crying.” Ora continued, her big blue eyes were filled with sadness. “She didn’t have any money and she said that daddy refused to give her money to buy m-medicine for her