Beneath the scars

Chapter 3

It had been almost a month since I came home from the hospital.

For nearly a month, Kelvin hadn't come home.

Not even once.

There wasn't a single phone call asking how I was recovering. No messages from him either asking if I had eaten or if I had made it through another night without waking up from the same nightmare.

If Grandma hadn't insisted on updating him the day I was admitted, I would have wondered whether he even knew I had survived.

That morning, I carried my breakfast into the study with a cup of coffee balanced in one hand. The dining table had started feeling too big for one person, so I'd gotten into the habit of eating while working instead.

My laptop sat open in front of me. Emails had piled up over the past few weeks, and although I couldn't officially return to work yet, nobody could stop me from reading reports.

I reached for my phone and called my secretary.She answered almost immediately.

"Good morning, Mrs. Fletcher."

"Morning. I need the Henderson acquisition file and the latest reports from my department. Send everything to my email."

There was a sudden pause from her end of the phone call.I frowned slightly and put my coffee down.

"What's wrong?"

"...Nothing, ma'am."

"If it was nothing, you wouldn't have gone quiet."I said to her while still trying to understand what was happening.

"I'm sorry…ma’am .”

My fingers stopped above the keyboard on hearing that.

"Sorry for what?"

"I... I can't send those files."

I thought I'd heard her wrong for a minute.

"Why not?"

"You don't have access anymore."

I chuckled lightly because I’ve been locked out of my system like a few times…clumsy I know but you can’t blame me.

"Did the IT department lock me out again?"

"No, ma'am."

The smile faded from my face instantly.

"What do you mean?"

She lowered her voice.

"Your access was removed weeks ago."

I sat back in my chair, trying to make sense of what she had just said.

"My access to what?"

"Your department."

"My department?how is that even possible…?”

"Yes."

I looked at the laptop screen for a second before speaking again.

"Who approved that?"

"Mr. Fletcher."

I stared at the wall in front of me.

"And my office?"

"...It was reassigned."

"To who?"

She hesitated.

"They transferred everything to Miss Ja—"

The sound of the front door opening echoed through the house just before she could finish her sentence.

I turned instinctively.

Kelvin walked inside carrying his suit jacket over one arm, his phone still in his hand.

I lifted the phone back to my ear.

"I'll call you later."

I ended the call before she could finish.Kelvin looked up when he noticed me sitting in the study.i could sense the shock when he saw me like I wasn’t supposed to be there.

"Oh….You're home."

I closed my laptop with my fingers trembling on the side of the table just to contain my anger.

"My secretary just told me I no longer have access to my department."

He didn't look surprised at all like he had rehearsed what ever he had to say next before even getting here.

"I approved the transfer."

I held his gaze.

"Why?"

Kelvin placed his keys on the console table before answering.

"The company can't stop because one person isn't available."

His answer came so quickly that it was obvious he had already justified it to himself.

I nodded once.

"So it wasn't even worth a phone call?"

"I was going to tell you."

"When?"

"When you were better."

"I've been home for almost a month…kelvin,how were you supposed to even know when I’d be better when you never called”.

He didn't answer immediately.Instead, he loosened his tie and finally looked at me properly.

"You should've been focusing on recovering, not work."

"My father built that company."I said while trying to get up from my sit to directly meet his gaze.

"But he trusted it to me,so….i can do what best for the company."he instantly shot back at me.

"Really…what best,how pathetic and yet I had to hear from my secretary that I don't even have access to my own department anymore."

Kelvin exhaled.

"It wasn't personal."

I looked at him for a long second.

"Well then…can you tell me who you gave it to."

He opened his mouth to answer and before a single word came out, the front door opened again.