Episode3
1958 Words
Days after the bomb Frank dropped on us, the house felt quieter.
I was on my way to the kitchen when I noticed the light on in Mark's office. The door was left slightly open.
I peeped and saw him sitting behind his desk, with his glasses, eyes locked on a screen filled with multiple numbers.
What are you doing? I asked, gradually moving towards him.
He didn't look up at first.
“Hey, wife,” he teased again. Just trying to figure out the errors in some files.
I moved closer to him.
“I want you to teach me,” I said. “Everything I need to know about this matter, I want to help.”
He hesitated at first, quietly staring at me.
After a long pause, he nodded.
“Alright,” he said, smiling.
Mark began teaching me everything.
Balance sheets. Voting shares. Market manipulation. Power.
At first, I was confused; the numbers looked like a foreign language. Columns blur together. Percentages make my head ache.
“I’m slowing you down,” I mutter.
“You’re not,” he replies calmly. “Stop panicking. Just take it one step at a time.”
He didn’t raise his voice when I made mistakes. He did not sigh. He explains again. And again.
For the first time since this marriage began…. I don’t feel like something he was protecting. I felt like a partner.
That night, I fell asleep at the desk in his office.
When Mark returns, he finds me there…..head resting on scattered files, pen still in my hand. Mark returns.
He paused, walked over quietly, and lifted me carefully into his arms.
Strong arms, he gently carries me to the bedroom and tucks me under the sheets.
The next morning, I woke up in his bed.
Fully dressed. The room is so quiet.
Mark is asleep on the couch.
He didn’t touch me.
That matters more than I expected.
I left his room to get ready for the office.
Today, I plan to test something.
As we arrived at the office, I walked straight to the CFO.
“I need access to the old company archives,” I said casually. “Historical investment records.”
His smile is polite. Too polite.
“Of course,” he replies.
Hours later, while checking through the old archives, I find something shocking.
My mother’s name.
Years ago... before she died, she invested in Vincent Industries.
My hands trembled as I kept checking
The shares were transferred to me.
They were not massive, but if I combine my shares with Mark’s own?
We control sixty-five percent.
Majority.
Frank will not be able to force a takeover.
My heart pounded so loudly I could hear it.
I ran to Mark’s office immediately.
“We can stop him,” I breathe.
He looked up.
I placed the file before him.
For a second, he stares.
Then something strange happens.
His smile faded slowly. He looked at me and asked, You have shares here?
“Yes,” I replied happily. Turns out my mother bought some and kept them for me. So now we can sort all this out. If you add mine to yours, we beat Frank.
He stared at me with shock. You want to give me your shares?
I responded, Yes, of course. That’s the least I can do. You saved my father, remember?
He stood up immediately, smiling.
Not cold. Not calculated. Proud.
“Thank you very much,” he says softly.
And then — unexpectedly — he pulls me into his arms.
A real hug. Not possession. Not control. Gratitude.
“Go home,” he says after a moment. “I need to handle something.”
“Okay,” I whispered.
On my way to the parking garage, a cloth covers my mouth.
Darkness swallowed me immediately.
When I woke up, my hands were tied. A blindfold tightened around my eyes.
I didn't panic. I listened.
The engine’s rhythm, the number of turns.
The smell — oil and metal. “Warehouse”
When the blindfold was removed, I was right.
Metal walls. Concrete floor.
And there he is, standing in front of me.
The CFO.
“You don’t look surprised,” he said.
“I suspected you from the beginning,” I answer calmly.
His polite smile disappears.
Before he can respond —
Sirens.
Loud. Close.
The police storm the warehouse. Chaos erupts.
By the time Mark storms in with the police, the CFO has escaped.
Mark rushed to me, cutting the ropes with shaking hands,
His hands are trembling so badly.
“How did you find me?” I ask.
He hesitates. “I put a tracker on your phone,” he admits quietly. “Without telling you.”
I stare at him.
Then I shake my head and smile faintly.
“Control issues,” I murmured. No. “Survival instincts,” he corrects.
But the way he looks at me now—
It’s not about control anymore. It’s fear— fear of losing me.
That terrified him more than the corporate war he's currently dealing with.
Frank picked me up, and we went home.
The days after the k********g were exhausting. Both physically and emotionally.
Mark and I barely slept. We spent hours in his office going through files, emails, and financial documents. We found different mistakes that confirm our doubts about the CFO. He definitely has been hiding something for years.
I looked at Mark, and I could see the weight on his shoulders. This definitely isn't about money anymore; it's about control and survival. He could lose everything. We gathered evidence carefully and sent backups to my dad just in case. Mark no longer trusts anyone in the company. Strangely, he just trusted me.
One evening, while reviewing old security footage, I noticed something strange. A time was missing. There was a gap in the original footage of the explosion. My heart starts beating faster than usual.
I kept searching, then I found it—the unedited footage. The real one, I copied it immediately and ran to Mark’s office.
“I found it,” I said, almost out of breath.
He looked up quickly. “Found what?”
The original footage from the explosion. The unedited one. This proves the CFO changed the files. I think he thought he deleted the footage completely.
“Are you sure?” he asked.
I nodded and handed him the laptop. We watched it together in silence.
The footage showed someone entering the control room before the blast.
The CFO.
Not by accident. Not by mistake. He was there.
Mark let out a slow breath. I could see the relief on his face for the first time in days.
“This is what we needed,” he said quietly.
For a brief moment, we allowed ourselves to feel hope.
We both smiled. A sign of happiness that we are finally getting closer to winning.
Then my phone rang.
I glanced at the screen….. Dad.
I answered immediately. “Dad?”
His breathing sounded unsettled.
“Come home quickly,” he said.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, already getting scared.
Before he could answer, I heard another voice in the background.
Slow. Calm.Controlled.
Frank.
“If you don’t come now,” he said clearly, “your father will suffer for it.”
The call went silent.
My blood turned cold.
Mark was watching me.
“What happened?” he asked.
“Frank is at my father’s house.”
I didn’t wait. I grabbed my bag and rushed out.
Mark followed me to the garage.
“I’m coming with you,” he said sharply.
“No,” I replied quickly. “If he sees you, this might turn into a war. Let me handle this.”
His jaw tightened.
“This is not something you can handle alone.”
“He wants me,” I said. “Not you.”
We stood there for a few seconds, quietly staring at each other.
He looked worried and angry, but he stepped back.
“I’ll be close,” he said quietly.
I nodded and drove off.
The drive felt longer than usual. My hands were literally shaking on the steering wheel.
I kept replaying Frank’s voice in my head.
When I arrived, the house looked normal. Too normal.
I stepped inside carefully.
“Dad?” I called out.
“I’m here,” he answered weakly.
I walked into his bedroom.
He was sitting on the bed.
Safe and untouched.
I signed out of relief, then I noticed him.
Frank was standing near the window, his hands in his pockets, watching me.
“What do you want?” I asked.
He turned slowly. “You came,” he said with a weird smile.
“Leave my father out of all this.”
He ignored that.
“I want your shares,” he said. “Sign them over to me.”
My heart dropped. “And?”
“And you marry me.”
For a moment, I thought I heard wrong.
“What?”
“You heard me,” he said calmly. “Marry me. Give me your shares. And this ends peacefully.”
I stared at him in disbelief.
“You’re insane.” You know I’m married.
He walked closer.
“ Divorce him, he said. “With your shares, I will gain control of the company. With you as my wife, everything becomes simple.”
“You’re blackmailing me.”
“I’m offering you protection,” he corrected.
I let out a short laugh.
“Protection? From who? The only person I need protection from is you.
He looked at me in a way I'd never seen before.
“You don’t understand how dangerous this is becoming. The CFO was only one piece. There are a lot more. You are getting in the middle of something bigger than you.”
“I refuse,” I said clearly.
His jaw tightened.
“You’re choosing Mark over your own future.”
“I’m choosing myself.”
For the first time, his mask cracked.
“Watch your back,” he said quietly. “Because I’m coming for you.”
The way he said it made my stomach twist.
He walked toward the door.
Before leaving, he looked at my father.
“Next time,” he said softly, “I won’t just talk.” Then he left.
The house felt heavy after he was gone.
My father looked at me with so much worry.
“What is happening?” he asked.
I forced a small smile. “I’ll handle it, Dad.”
But inside, I knew this had just become more dangerous.
I stepped outside and called Mark.
He answered immediately. “What happened?”
“He wants my shares,” I said. “And he wants me to marry him.”
There was silence on the line. A very cold silence.
“He threatened your father?” Mark asked.
“Yes.”
Another pause.
“I’m staying here for a few days,” I said. “Dad shouldn’t be alone.”
Mark didn’t respond right away.
When he finally spoke, his voice was different.
“Okay.”
But I could hear something beneath it.
Anger. Fear. Possession.
“This isn’t just about business anymore,” I said softly.
“I know,” he replied.
“And Frank won’t stop.”
“No,” Mark said. “He won’t.”
There was something different in his tone now.
Not just strategy. Not just calculation. War.
“This is personal,” he added quietly.
I looked back at the house.
At my father. The only person I’ve been trying to protect.
“Yes,” I whispered.
“And it’s far from over.”
- Writer
