Chapter Seven

SCHEMES AND PLANS

“I can't believe this. No!” Rowena raged. She took the glass of wine she was drinking from, on the marble table and threw it against the wall, splashing the wine all over the place. “Clear this mess,” she ordered Abigail, one of her house maids who rushed to clean up the shards of glass and mopped the wine off the floor.

Rowena stood up from her seat and walked to Mira. “What happened? Tell me!”

Mira shook her head, strings of tears sliding down her cheeks. “I swear it wasn't my fault, mother, neither was it Maxwell's fault.”

“Maxwell was involved too? You two couldn't impress the young master, the new heir to the Fitzgerald's conglomerate?”

Mira sniffled.

“You're such a disgrace to this family, Mira. I should have known how worthless you are. You couldn't even bag a job as a secretary?”

The anger in Rowena was evident. Her vei

Mira didn't know how to explain to her mom about what happened today and what had unfolded. Her mom was far disappointed in her, and if she told her such a ridiculous thing, Rowena wouldn't take it lightly with her.

“You couldn't even secure a job as a secretary? You couldn't even impress the young master?”

How was she supposed to impress the young Master when she had mocked and ridiculed him? When she had betrayed and left him for someone's else.

“I should have known. Your sister Anna would have been better. I bet she would have secured the job. I bet she would have impressed the young master. Who's he by the way? Who's the new heir? How could he do such a thing to us? How could you let him do this to us?”

There was a moment of silence that engulfed the room. Mira has gone dumb as she couldn't utter the name of the new heir.

“I'm asking you, Mira. Have you gone dumb? Who's he?”

Mira shuddered. “Mom, it's….it's Xavier!’

Rowena burst out into a bout of laughter. “That good for nothing? You must think I'm joking with you, Mira. Does it look like I'm joking?”

“No, mom, I'm not joking. I saw him. Hee's the owner of the Fitzgerald conglomerate.

“What?” Rowena asked again, still chuckling.

"The pauper finally got a job. And you're mistaking him for the CEO. I can't believe how dumb you've become. Your marriage with that lowlife really messed up your senses.. Let me guess, is he a cleaner, or a security staff or he works toilet duties. That's the only thing that good for nothing is capable of being."

Rowena took a few steps closer to her daughter and placed her hands on her shoulder. “I'm asking for the new heir, and not your wretched ex-husband, Mira.”

"Mom, I'm serious. I saw him and I couldn't believe it, apparently he's Mr Dean Fitzgerald's son. He owns the whole company, mom. He's the CEO. Xavier is the CEO of the Fitzgerald firm." Mira said, causing the room to go silent.

Rowena's nerves calmed down. The seriousness of her daughter's tone meant that she wasn't lying at all. She was saying the truth. How could it be that that good for nothing pauper would become the CEO of the Fitzgerald's conglomerate

“Can you believe I scorned him when we first met there, I'm so stupid." Mira bellowed. "The pauper you publicly embarrassed is the richest man in the country." She continued in between sobs.

Rowena, unable to fathom the whole situation, stood in shock. She remained in that position as she watched Mira stagger upstairs to her room.

***

Rowena knocked lightly on Mira's door.

The news she had brought earlier was totally distasteful and it had brought darkness over the whole house.

"Honey, please open the door, I need to talk to you." Rowena said for the fourth time, it has been ten minutes since she started knocking.

"There's nothing to talk about mom, I felt like a complete sucker today. I was so embarrassed, he looked at me like filth." She wailed.

" Just open the door, let's talk about it."

Rowena walked in as Mira opened the door.

She looked around and saw the mess Mira had made.

"It's not the end of the world Mira, you just need to calm down and be reasonable about this." Rowena said in a cold tone, clearly disappointed in the way her daughter was handling things.

"Have you spoken with Maxwell since you came back?" She asked Mira but Mira only rolled her eyes.

"How did he react to it? To the fact that Xavier is Mr Fitzgerald's son and the owner of his conglomerate."

She jeered, not liking her daughter's reactions.

"He was as shocked as I am. He kept staring at me, as if waiting for my reaction.

The nerve of him to think I would want to spend the day with him." She snorted as she folded her arm beneath her breasts.

"So what now mom? You talked me into getting engaged to Maxwell. You made me see reasons to leave Xavier, now we are all at his mercy."

Rowena had thought long and hard. She knew her reasons for pressuring Mira into getting engaged to Maxwell. And now things are slipping out of her control. She walked to the bed and sat down beside her daughter.

"Do you trust me?" She asked as she scooped her daughter's face into her hand.

"That's not the point, mother. I trusted you and now I'm not with Xavier. He looked at me with pure disgust, he hates my existence. The main reason why I agreed to marry Maxwell is because of his status.

Xavier is now richer than him, you don't expect me to force Xavier to take me back do you?" Mira retorted.

She knew how greedy her mother was and how much more she could become.

"If forcing yourself on Xavier is what it takes for you to get him back then that's all you have to do."

She said in a stern voice, ignoring Mira's anxiety.

“You'll get this job, you'll put a smile on this family's face by securing that deal. Listen to me Mira, we're going to be opportuned to work for the Fitzgerald's, and you're going to end up being with Xavier.”

Rowena let out a deep sigh.

“For now we need Maxwell, before I can figure out what to do next. You have to keep him close.

We need his affluence Mira, you can't lose both." She attested, looking Mira straight in the eyes.

"Call him, call Maxwell and apologize for leaving like that." She commanded, causing a frown on Mira's face.

"I do not want to hear his voice, Mom. I just need to clear my head.If it's so important to you, I will just send a text message." Mira countered.

At that moment, Mira's phone rang and she went ahead to answer the call. "Hello? Yes this is Mira…. What? An interview..?" Mira stuttered as she answered her phone.