CHAPTER 2: THE SCANDAL
1280 Words
ELARA POV
By Monday morning, everyone was talking about our name.
But not in the good way Dad always wanted.
My phone buzzed like crazy and woke me up. My heart beating super fast.
I grabbed it and opened the news while still in my pajamas. Every big TV channel was talking about Hart Industries.
“They broke rules about the environment!” one lady on TV said with a serious face.
I put on my nice blue suit fast, like it was armor, and told
Tomas to drive me to the big tower right away.
Outside the tower it was crazy.
Reporters were everywhere, cameras flashed. Microphones pointed at me.
Security guards looked scared as they tried to hold everyone back.
“Miss Hart! Did your company tell lies?” one man shouted as our car drove past.
I kept my head high, but my tummy felt sick.
These was not the nice reporters from our parties. This was like an attack.
Inside the lobby, people whispered in scared voices.
The company's money was dropping fast, almost down twelve percent since morning. My tablet kept beeping.
Big customers were canceling contracts. They said they didn’t want to work with us anymore.
For the first time, I saw real fear on the workers’ faces.
Not on mine, I tried to be strong, but on the people who loved our company.
Sarah at her desk looked shaky and would not look at me.
Two old workers from the shipping department talked quietly.
“They are talking about firing people,” one said. “If more jobs go away, we are finished.”
“Forty years I gave them,” the other man said sadly. “What about my money for later? What about my kids?”
A young lady named Lisa was crying at her desk. “I can’t lose this job,” she whispered. “Not now.”
One of the bosses argued behind doors. “We need to fix this fast!” one yelled.
My heart hurt seeing them so scared. These were our people.
Our family.
I walked straight to Dad’s office and went in without knocking.
He sat at his big desk with papers all over. He looked tired.
“Tell me what is happening,” I said, shutting the door.
He put down his phone. “Elara, not now. I am handling it.”
“Handling it?” I pointed to the window where reporters still waited.
“Everyone is talking about us. Customers are leaving. Workers are crying and scared. This is bad, Dad. Talk to me. I am your daughter. I am supposed to help.”
He stood up slowly. “You don’t need to know everything. Just work on the party and the foundation. Harts stay strong.”
“That is not enough!” I shouted.
It was our first big fight.
“Mom is gone. It has always been just us. You taught me everything about the company, but now you hide things? I heard you breaking stuff in your office on Friday. What are you hiding from me?”
His face got tight. “Enough, Elara. This is my company. I will fix it. Go home if you cannot trust me.”
The words hurt.
Tears came to my eyes. “Trust? You are the one breaking it.” I turned and left fast before he saw me cry.
The rest of the day went by in a blur.
More meetings got canceled. The staff looked at me with worried eyes. I tried to smile and make them feel better.
That night I went back to our big house. Maria left some food but I could not eat. I walked around the library with all the old books and family pictures.
I could not sleep.
Around midnight, car lights shone outside my window. I looked out. Several black cars came. Men in suits got out. They were lawyers. I knew some of them.
My heart beat hard. Our nice life was breaking even more.
What had Dad done?
I went to our tall office building the next morning.
My heart felt very heavy. I kept thinking about the lawyers who came to our house late last night.
The building that used to feel like my second home now looked busy and scary.
There were men in dark suits everywhere in the big hall. They talked quietly with the bosses and moved lots of papers and loud voices on the speakers calling people to emergency meetings.
Everything felt fast and worried.
I got out of the elevator on the important floor and stopped.
I could not believe what I saw.
Workers were carrying boxes.
There were cardboard boxes full of pictures, coffee cups, and their own things all along the halls.
Our own security guards walked some bosses out, holding their arms.
Their faces looked sad.
The air smelled like old coffee and sadness. This was not fixing things.
This was the end.
Some workers cried near the break rooms. They held tissues and hugged each other.
A nice lady from the money office who always sent me birthday cards was wiping her eyes.
She was taping her box shut. “Twenty-three years,” she cried. Other people were mad.
“The Harts did this!” one man said loudly near the elevators.
He did not care that I heard.
“They lived in their fancy house while we lost everything.”
Everyone was blaming our family name. These were the people who loved us and called us family. Now they thought we made their lives bad.
My tummy hurt with guilt.
I made myself keep walking. I needed something to make me feel okay. That is when I saw him. Mr. Delgado.
The nice man who helped take care of me when I was little.
He worked at the company for forty years.
He started with hard work on the floor and became important. He let me pretend to drive the big machines when I was a small girl.
He always brought me lemon cookies and called me his favorite Hart. Now he stood by his office putting a picture of his grandkids in a box.
His shoulders looked sad and tired. I never saw him like that.
“Mr. Delgado?” My voice sounded small and shaky.
He looked up. His eyes were red but still kind. “Miss Elara. I did not think I would see you today.” A guard waited close by.
“What is happening?” I whispered. “They cannot do this to you.”
He tried to smile like he did when he showed me the noisy factory machines.
“Orders from the top, little star. The company is going broke. They are selling parts. I am sorry… I wish I could have saved this place for you.”
He patted my arm softly, like when I fell and hurt my knee as a little girl.
Then he picked up his box. The guard took him to the elevator. I stood there frozen, watching my childhood friend walk away.
This was not just a company breaking. It hurt my heart. The people I loved were paying for secrets I still did not know.
I felt angry and very sad.
I walked fast to Father’s office. I didnt bother to knock. I pushed the door open hard.
There he was ,my dad, Richard Hart.
He sat at his desk looking very tired. There were lots of papers everywhere.
His nice suit was messy and his tie was loose. He looked old for the first time.
“Why didn’t you stop this?” I asked loudly.
- Writer
