CHAPTER 007
1101 Words
ETAH'S POV
Marcus always waits until after meetings to send texts. He always appears. When I received the message—"Boardroom. 9 PM. No excuses.”—I could tell this wasn’t going to be a pleasant conversation. It seemed to be a sign of danger.
Even so, I went. What else could I have done? Ignore it? Not in the case of Marcus. You can’t ignore him unless you’re willing to give up everything.
The office building was tall and sparkling during the day, but at night it seemed like a huge glass coffin. Cold. Empty. Waiting.
As soon as I got out of the elevator on the top floor, the hallway was very quiet. The usual sounds of late-night workers and printers were missing. Only the sound of my own footsteps. The lights seemed to be dimmer than they usually are.
I walked into the boardroom.
There he stood. Marcus. At the very end of the table. The jacket was placed over the chair. Rolled up sleeves. His fingers moved across the glass, keeping a steady beat. That was always a bad sign.
“You’re late,” he said without paying attention to me.
“I was cleaning up after you,” I said, walking in and closing the door.
He looked up and seemed calm. Like always. But tonight, there was something else that stood out in his eyes. Coldness. Resentment. Perhaps even fear.
“This time, you’re the one who made the mess.”
He opened a folder and moved a stack of papers toward me. I didn’t interact with them. I was already familiar with what I was seeing.
Photos. Me. Vanessa. Hotels. Envelopes. All of it is important. The sort of things that could drown a person in a very short time.
“Private investigator?” I asked.
“No,” was his reply. I bought them with my own money. You have to pay for it yourself.”
“You’ve been watching me?”
“Not spying. Protecting myself.”
I laughed, even though it was hard to breathe. When did you start standing up for yourself?
He didn’t return my laugh. Since you began having an affair with our client’s wife. Since you began using our charity to launder your money. Because you decided the company was not big enough for you.”
I didn’t say anything. Not because I was in agreement. But I didn’t know what to say that would really help.
“We are being watched by others now,” he added. “Reporters. Regulators. Investors. You are handing them matches and wondering why the house is on fire.
“Do you really believe I did everything by myself?” I snapped.
“No,” was his reply. “Still, you kept going.”
He stood. I opened another folder. I added more documents to the pile on the table.
Bank transfers. Fake receipts. Shell companies I hadn’t visited in a year. He was blessed with everything. Everything.
“You’ve been preparing for this,” I told him.
“Preparing,” he said, correcting himself. You’ve been going downhill for a long time, Ethan. I will not let you take me down.
I went over to the window. I gazed at the city from my window. The lights appeared like stars. So far from me. So useless.
“If people find out about this...”
“It is already happening.”
I moved quickly to the side. “What?”
He didn’t show any sign of fear. Some of the files are? I gave them to others. With legal. With a reporter I can rely on. With one of your rivals.”
“You’re bluffing.”
He smiled. “Call them.”
I felt my heart beating fast. I grabbed my phone. Thirty-two calls that went unanswered. Half of the calls came from numbers I didn’t recognize. One by Vanessa.
“We should talk,” she wrote in her text.
I stopped using the phone.
“You bastard. You’d destroy everything?”
He began walking toward the door.
You were the one who started it, Ethan. I made sure there was a fire escape in the building.
I moved closer to him. “If you destroy me, I swear to God—”
He moved slowly as he turned. “You’ll what? Should you call your fixer? Did you leak something about me? You believe I’m afraid of that?”
I didn’t say anything.
“It’s not only about making money now,” he explained. “It’s all about the person you have become.”
I squeezed my hands into fists. I could barely speak because I was so nervous. “You don’t want to be the one who destroys everything here.”
He smiled.
That’s exactly what it is, Ethan. I am no longer in the house.
He then departed.
The sound of the door closing was as loud as a gunshot in the room.
I was by myself.
The papers had not been put away. I was still feeling shaky in my hands.
I sat down in a chair. I couldn’t stop feeling nervous. All the noises seemed dangerous. All the lights are too bright.
That’s when I heard the sound.
A laugh.
Soft. There is something outside the door.
I got up from my seat, moving slowly.
A shadow appeared on the frosted glass. It moved.
I quickly opened the door. “Hello?”
Nothing.
Just the hallway is what I see. Silent.
I went outside and checked both directions. Nothing. Not even a janitor is what I am.
I knew what I was hearing. It wasn’t just my mind playing tricks on me.
I returned to the boardroom. Secured the door. Sat down. Tried to take a breath.
Another message came through.
Unknown number.
Try to smile more often. The end is almost here.
I felt a chill run through my body.
I responded: "Who are you?"
No answer.
I stood up again, feeling my heart pounding. I was being monitored. There was someone who knew everything. Perhaps more than Marcus.
I grabbed the folder. I began to look through the book. In the back, I noticed something I hadn’t seen before.
A picture I hadn’t come across before.
Me. At home. Sleeping. Captured from the window.
Someone had been nearby. Real close.
I let go of the folder.
This wasn’t only about making money.
It became personal for me.
A person was playing a game.
I didn’t know the rules at all.
Who was it that was watching me?
What will they do after that?
- Writer
