CHAPTER2
914 Words
Chapter 2: The man behind the letter
The skyline stared back at him- steel, glass, and all the things he built from nothing with
sweat and hard work.
Jordan didn't blink. He just adjusted his cufflinks as the office door opened behind him.
“She got the letter already”
. Layla said, stepping into his office.
“Confirmed by the courier. Opened it last night”
.
“She was very stunned”
, Layla sounded concerned.
“Good,
” Jordan said with a tiny smirk on his face.
“No reaction”
, layla said trying to check for any response.
Jordan still didn't turn.
There was more silence in the room.
“Pale, stiff, and quiet,
” Layla replied.
“There was no outburst but she was surprised.
”
“She read it over and over, probably about three or four times.
”
“She will come”
, he said coldly.
“She doesn't have a choice but to.
”
“But why do you have to do this?”
, Layla asked.
Jordan went silent again.
“We both know she's innocent.
”
He walked up to his desk picked up her file again,
“Maya Chen. Age twenty-three. Freelance
writer. Low income. Dependent mother. No assets. Part-time job as a waitress.
”
No leverage but herself.
“You sound so sure that she's going to come”
.
Jordan finally turned,
“I am. She will.
”
Layla finally sits at his desk and crosses her arms as she studies him,
“This isn't like you. It's
very unusual of you. You don't get personally involved with people.
”
“This is different. It's personal,
” he said coldly.
She waited for more. He didn't offer more.
“The handwritten part,
” she said gently.
“That was… interesting.
”
“Yes.
” “Do you have problems with it?”
, he asked firmly.
“No, no”
, she defended.
“I just wanted to know.
”
“It's necessary”
, he replied.
“Anyone can issue a debt reminder. But pain- that's a whole
other level and for that it needs a signature.
”
“You still don't want to let her know who you are”
, Layla asked.
“No, she doesn't need it yet”
.
Layla narrowed her eyes,
“You want her scared”
“No, I just want her aware.
”
“She's barely surviving, Jordan”
. Layla said, softer now.
“Are you sure she deserves this?”
Jordan's expression didn't change.
“She's his daughter.
”
“She's not who her father is”
.
“No”
, he said.
“But she carries his name. And that name tore through everything my family had and I'm not
ready to forgive nor forget.
”
Layla sighed, but couldn't say anything more. She knew better than anyone else to argue
with him when he got this serious.
”
He opened Maya's file again, staring at the picture that was clipped to it. Chestnut hair loose
and such beautiful eyes that could never hurt a fly.
“She looks too much like someone who hadn't learned the rules”
, he said.
He looked at the picture for a moment longer than necessary and then eventually flipped it
face down.
“Get the board meeting room ready”
, he told Layla firmly.
“If she comes I want the document
of agreement ready. We don't have to prolong this more than it should be.
”
“She hasn't agreed yet?”
, Layla was surprised.
“She will. She has to. She has no other choice but to.
” Jordan smirked confidently.
Layla moved to the door to leave but before she left she gave Jordan one last glance and
called out to him,
“Jordan,
”
He looks up.
“Yes?”
“She's not going to beg, Jordan. She doesn't look like the begging type”
, Layla said
confidently.
Jordan gave the faintest smile,
“No she won't. But what she would most likely do is to sign
the papers with her spine straight, her head held up high and her eyes full of resentment.
“You sound like you're looking forward to it”
, Layla said.
“Oh I'm not”
, he said sheepishly.
“I'm looking forward to the moment after most especially”
, he said turning back to the
window.
“ To the moment when she realizes her choices were never real to begin with. To
the moment she realizes she never had a choice”
.
Layla left the office without another word.
The office was quiet again as usual and as he liked it. Jordan stood alone, still facing the
window. Taking in the beautiful sight from his sophisticated glass tower that he built on
vengeance and silence.
The city looked so beautiful under his cold gaze.
His mind was racing with thoughts as usual but most especially his childhood and how his
family suffered because of a man and his bad decisions.
He thought to himself and said,
“They have to pay for what I went through. She has to pay
because she carries his blood and his name .
”
He finally said out loud,
"She'll come. Because they always do. But Maya Sinclair won't walk
out the same way she came in and I can guarantee it”.
.
- Writer
