TWIST OF REVENGE

CHAPTER4

The death of Martins Reynold created a big hole In Samantha’s heart. For weeks, she could barely sleep, eat or even come to the office but she didn’t allow her predicament weigh her down. She stood up stronger and better and worked harder towards achieving more for the Velvet fashion industry. She controlled the industry with iron fist and no one dared to question her. She terminated any staff that does anything that displeased her.

Once, she went to the industry to pick up a design for a job the next day, when she entered the building, she heard noises but ignored them when she entered her office, her eyes couldn’t believe what she saw. The janitor and the the designers were having an affair in her office.

“What!? Are you both crazy?! How dare you come into my office and do this nonsense?” She screamed.

“Um… ma… I’m sorry… we’re sorry…. I was just trying to clean up.” The janitor stuttered.

Tah! Tah!! Tah!!

Samantha slapped the janitor before she could finish talking.

“Out of my office! Now! And never come back. You bunch of illiterates.” She yelled in disgust.

And just like that, the janitor and the designer never came back to Velvet fashion industry.

On another occasion, the brand ambassador for Versace wanted to inspect the industry. Samantha gave an instruction that every single staff should put on something corporate with a touch of gold in their outfit. The head of all seamstresses wore something corporate but her outfit didn’t have a touch of gold in it.

“Why isn’t there any gold color on your outfit, I thought I made myself clear yesterday or aren’t you seeing your fellow staff?” Samantha asked.

“Please, you didn’t hire me here and I can do whatever I want to do and you wouldn’t do anything about it.” Jessy, the seamstress said nonchalantly.

A gasp filled the hall.

She had been away on honey moon with her new husband for six months so she wasn’t aware of the new changes in the industry.

Samantha looked at her sternly and said, “ I am going to get the documents for this occasion, by the time I’m back and you’re not out of this whole premises, you would be surprised by what will befall you.”

Jessy hissed as she watched Samantha walk out. Some of the staffs advised her to leave the building while some advised her to apologize but Jessy listened to none.

Samantha came back and this time, with a trope of soldiers. Immediately they came, Samantha didn’t have to say a word. The senior soldier held Jessy’s hair upwards and gave her six slaps on the right cheek and another six on the left.

After that, they dragged her to the ground and whip her.

“You know how to disrespect huh? I would teach you a lesson you would never forget. How dare you disrespect my boss.” The senior soldier said, still dragging her all over the ground.

“I’m sorry, please, forgive me, I didn’t know she was the new boss, I’m really sorry please.” Jessy cried out loud.

“You aren’t sorry yet young woman.” The senior soldier said. Then, he flogged her fifty nine strokes on the back and when he was about to tear her clothes, Samantha stopped him.

“Enough! That should do.” Samantha said with a wicked smile.

“Now take her out of the premises, my business partners would soon be arriving.”

The soldiers obliged and threw her out of the building.

Meanwhile, in Runway fashion house, things weren’t working out for Lucas. They had little or no recognition since Samantha left. Because, Samantha usually always posted about the fashion house, advertise to people far and near to audition for a place in the fashion house.

Staffs in Runway fashion house started leaving the fashion little by little. It started from the head of staffs down to the lowest worker things continued like this until all the staffs were gone except Sophia Patel, Lucas personal assistant.

On a sunny afternoon, while Lucas was figuring out what to do about his almost ground level fashion house, Sophia came to have a talk with him.

“Hi boss.” Sophia greeted with a grin.

“Hey Sophia, what’s up with you.”

“Well… nothing much, it just really bothers me that the business we’ve built from scratch is now going back to the ground level.”

“I’m not gonna lie, it bothers me so much and at this point, I don’t even know what to do. I’ve texted media houses to help promote the fashion house but none of them responded to my emails and texts.” He sounded concerned.

“Do you have any idea what we can do to elevate the company?” Lucas asked.

“Um… no I don’t. But! I do know a fashion house in the north where you can start all over because from the look of things, this fashion house is dead to me.” Sophia said.

“No! I can’t do that! I have my own business, I can’t go back to square one of serving someone else.” Lucas screamed in dismay.

“Oh well, suit yourself. As for me, I’ve gotten another job in a micro finance company and I’m resuming next week. I only came here to give you a little advice and say my final goodbyes.” She said and dropped her identification card, the fashion house uniform and her resignation letter.

“What? Sophia you can’t do this, Sophia come back!” He begged.

Sophia turned deaf ears to everything Lucas said.

“Fine! If you wanna leave, good bye! Have fun in your new office! As for me, I’m going to work hard and build this brand back to the top and you would regret ever leaving here.” Lucas screamed in frustration.

The next day, he came to the fashion house and saw that the wreckers had already started demolishing the place. He rushed to them and asked the one inside the truck.

“Hey! Hey! What you doing? This is my property!” He yelled.

“You’re wrong mister, this property belongs to a wealthy man in the south, he has been away for six years and now he’s back. He said this building isn’t his and he wasn’t informed about it.” The wrecker said.

“Okay so can I at least pay or something please this is all I have.” Lucas pleaded.

“You would have to pay the sum of three hundred million dollars in cash in less than 24 hours, or else… your fashion house is gone.”

“In 24 hours? How am I supposed to raise that amount of money in 24 hours.” He said in agony. He continued. “Can I at least talk to the owner of the land maybe he could consider.”

“No sir, the owner of the property is unreachable and since you won’t be able to pay the money in less than 24hrs we have no choice than to do our job.”

The wrecker didn’t let Lucas respond. He crushed the building aggressively like he had personal problems with Lucas and in less than an hour. Runaway fashion house was bad to the dust.

Lucas was very devastated. He had no help. All the girls that were all over him then were all gone. He was alone in this harmless world. He didn’t know what to do.

That same night, the landlord lost patience and was tired of asking for the month’s rent so he sent him out the house.

For the night; Lucas slept under a sewage by the road side. Everything he has worked for, all gone.

The next money, he woke up and had no idea on what to do. Suddenly, he remembered what Sophia, his former personal assistant told him but he didn’t have money to go to Northview. So, he went to the bus station and asked for the driver going to Northview. He walked up to the driver and said to him

“Good morning, my name is Lucas and I have no money on me but I want to go to Northview to visit my family, I promise I would do anything.” Lucas knelt and pleaded.

“Sure! Good thing you came, my bus needs thorough washing….it’s not been used in 3 months and the last time it was used, it was in in muddy area.” The driver responded.

The driver handed the cleaning equipment to Lucas and he began washing.

When Lucas was done washing, he entered the bus and in three hours they got to Northview.

When Lucas got to Northview, the first place he went to was Velvet fashion industry but he was intimated and looked down on himself to even work as a janitor there. One day, he was picking dirt by the media house. Then he saw an advert on the bill board of vacancy in Velvet fashion industry and the vacancy was opened to anyone regardless of their class, race and tribe. He knew this was his only opportunity to work in this industry.

The next day, he managed to bath by the river side and went to the building, there was a crowd of people looking forward to working in the industry. He passed through the screening process and was told to enter an office. He couldn’t believe his eyes when he entered.

“Samantha?”