TWISTED BOND

CHAPTER 4

Liam sat in his luxurious office, staring at the city skyline. The CEO of a successful tech

company, he had everything he could ever want. Wealth, power, and influence. Still, all these

were on the verge of falling. All because he had yet to fix a scandal that was a complete lie.

Ever since, his day had taken a sharp turn from routine precision to chaos.

What had he not done? What had not been investigated? Yet it seemed the perpetrator was

indeed up to his game. Not even a single trace could be detected. He had only succeeded in

stopping the news from spreading further but hadn't gotten enough proof to debunk it. But

beyond debunking this lie, he needed to know the brain behind it. Who was that desperate to

see his downfall?

The sound of the door creaking open, interrupted his thoughts. Emily popped her head into the

office, before stepping in fully. Liam sighed as he watched her approach him.

Mr. Harper, the board meeting is in an hour. Here are the reports you requested," she said,

placing the documents on his desk.

"Thank you, Emily," Liam replied, barely glancing at the papers.

Claire hesitated for a moment "It's going to be fine sir. You'll see.” Her voice sounded so

encouraging but not enough to lift his spirits.

Liam forced a smile and sighed.”Emily you know, it's just crazy. Like for close to two weeks,

we've got no idea of how this came about. I feel like I'm losing my mind.”

“Relax Liam. Trust me, it will get sorted out soon. This is proving difficult but we are tougher.

We'll get to the root of this and make sure the perpetrator understands whom he's messing with.

But you need to relax sir, please.” Emily said, concerned. It broke her the more she saw how

distressed her boss grew due to this.

Liam sighed again. “You're right. Em, ensure everything is set. I'll see you all in an hour.” He

said, taking the papers into his hand to give a closer look.

“Yes sir” she replied, as she turned around and left his office.

A few minutes after she left, Liam returned to his thoughts. His mind raced with possibilities.

Could it be an insider's job? it be a disgruntled employee? A former partner seeking revenge?

The questions multiplied, each one more troubling than the last.

He just also couldn't help the fear of Hexadigital slipping through his hands overwhelmed him. If

someone was able to create such a scandal so cleverly that he couldn't figure it out in these

past weeks of rigorous investigation, then he feared how protected Hexadigital was.

He kept syllogizing, trying to fix the dots, when Emily came in to announce it was time for the

board meeting. After pulling himself together, he got up and headed to the hall, where the

meeting was to be held.

The board meeting was a mix of his top executives, PR team, and legal advisors. Everyone still

pondered on what could be done to rectify the damage and how they could identify the person

behind the damage.

The meeting continued with intense brainstorming and planning. Each team member

contributed their expertise, but Liam couldn't shake the feeling of unease. He had always prided

himself on being one step ahead of his competition, but this time, someone had blindsided him.

He couldn't add any contributions this time, as his thoughts seemed to be all over the place. And

despite his fights to get it together, it just wasn't working. He only contributed to the meeting,

when being asked a question.

The meeting came to an end but the puzzles were yet to be solved. Still, everyone was

determined to play their part very well in bringing the culprit to book. More importantly, the

employees were interested in getting strong evidence to debunk the news and let the truth

prevail.

If Hexadigital suffered consequences from such lies, not only would Liam lose his sanity, but

they also stood the risk of losing their jobs. Their partners and investors who had found out

about the scandal, were already asking questions. Many threatened to terminate the business

deals they had if something wasn't done about it.

The PR team was quite dedicated to this too. The fight to redeem the company’s image proved

futile despite their efforts but giving up was the least idea they could come up with. They kept

searching and investigating, desperately fighting to know how to resolve this.

They continuously investigated Liam's meeting with Margaret, seeking to find any means they

could use to build strong evidence. Knowing the meeting was about her charity organization,

they investigated the organization too, desperately looking for any means to debunk the lies.

Thankfully, Margaret was cooperative, as she too needed to clear her name. It wasn't only

Hexadigital could suffer the downfall if the scandal escalated. Her charity organization

would close down in a matter of time.

While researching Margaret's charity organization, they had come across some unattended

requests and for some reason, they had tried checking through them. One of the requests

seemed to be coming in repetitively. The head of the PR team, Claire, picked interest in this

request and decided to do some background checks.

Having done her background checks and gaining the necessary information required, an idea

struck her. She shared this with the team first. It seemed awkward. No one accepted it. And of

course, no one could imagine Liam accepting it. But as it seemed, they were out of choices. And

the company was at the risk of collapsing. All their labors over the years could be washed down

the drain, all because of a baseless scandal if no action is taken fast.

After contemplating this for a long, and agreeing that this was the only possible way, they

decided to let Liam know about it. Of course, it was ridiculous. But Hexadigital was more

important than any sentiments they harbored. And so on this note, they reached out to Liam.

“Mr. Harper, we've got a solution.”