8: THE MESSAGE
1218 Words
“I'll do it”
The room reacted instantly.
Scoffs were heard. Mocking laughter. Shaking of heads.
Benson raised a brow.
“You sound confident.”
Kayla met his gaze calmly.
“I said I’ll do it. Not that I’m confident.”
That shut him up for a second.
And then there was complete silence.
Even Irene’s expression shifted slightly then she smirked.
Perfect,
This was exactly what she wanted
And this little b***h picked the bait.
Dylan finally looked at her properly.
“For the company’s sake,” he said slowly, “I hope you know what you’re doing.”
Kayla forced herself to smile. She also hoped she knew what she was doing
Irene’s smile deep. Her gaze sharp, warning. Like she already had a plan in mind
“Be careful, Kayla. Don’t embarrass your father.”
Kayla met her eyes and smiled back.
“I wouldn’t dream of it, Mother.”
The meeting ended with whispers and doubt.
The shareholders left unconvinced. Irene left satisfied. Benson left confident.
Kayla left with a ticking clock and a secret weapon she wasn’t ready to use yet.
As she walked out, she suddenly regretted it.
Irene was trying to push her to accept to handle the deal, she shouldn't have acted rashly.
Her phone buzzed pulling her out of her thoughts.
Unknown number.
*Message: I heard you need help with the Vance contract. Funny how small the world is. – A
Kayla stopped walking.
She looked around the empty hallway.
No one was there.
But for the first time since she walked into this building, she wasn’t alone. And that made her hairs stand on her neck
***
Kayla didn’t blink.
Her phone screen had gone dark, but the words were burned into her mind like a logo she couldn’t erase.
I heard you need help with the Vance contract. Funny how small the world is. – A
She sat perfectly still
Too still.
Because if she moved, she felt like something would collapse.
“A…”
She repeated it under her breath.
She didn't know if this person was a male or female, no identity, no face.
Just uncertainty and a letter that now felt heavier than her entire day at the company.
Her phone vibrated again.
Kayla flinched.
But it was nothing.
Just system noise.
Still… her grip tightened.
She finally stood up.
Her room felt smaller than usual.
Or maybe it was her thoughts getting louder.
Everything from the boardroom replayed in fragments:
The laughter, the judgement, Irene's fake smile, Benson's smirk and the highlight of the day.
The god-damned message!
Kayla walked to the window.
Outside, the traffic moved like nothing had happened like she wasn’t inside a collapsing system of lies and power games.
Like she wasn’t being watched.
By who?
Her phone rang soon enough.
Unknown number she felt it was the mysterious A.
She stared at it.
One ring.
Two.
Three.
Then silence.
A message popped up right after.
“Don’t ignore me. You already made your choice by walking into that boardroom.”
Kayla’s breath caught.
Her fingers went cold.
“How…?”
The phone vibrated again immediately cutting her question short.
“You want the Vance contract. I can get it for you.
But I don’t do charity.”
Kayla’s heartbeat slowed.
Not from being calm, but from recognition of danger.
This wasn’t Lucas or Irene.
This wasn’t even family politics.
This was something else.
Someone watching her.
Someone playing with her.
She typed slowly.
“Who are you?”
Three dots appeared instantly.
No delay.
Like they were waiting for her.
*A friend, for now.*
Kayla exhaled sharply.
A friend didn’t feel like this.
And then the final message came.
*Meet me tomorrow. 6PM. Don’t bring anyone. Or don’t come at all and stay irrelevant.*
Then the screen went dark again.
Kayla stood there for a long time.
Still thinking. She couldn't find out who this is, she couldn't find out what they want from her they might just be messing with her. This might be a trick from Irene to play with her.
But she thought
Fuck it!
She had nothing to loose anyway.
She unlocked her phone again.
And typed back:
“Okay.”
Kayla stared at the darkened screen for a long moment after she sent the text, waiting for who knows who to reply but her screen was still dark”
Her chest was tight. She was panicking.
Was it a prank, were they tired already. Does he/she think I'm a liability and want nothing from me again?
Do they think I'm useless?
Her thoughts weren’t calming down.
If anything, they were getting worse.
She dropped her phone on her bed like it burned her.
Then immediately picked it up again.
Stupid.
Why did she do that?
Her fingers hovered over the screen.
She wanted to delete the message but it's made her seem like a coward.
To send another?
She'd seem desperate.
Kayla walked away from the bed, pacing instead.
Then she sat back again with a sigh
Her mind drifted back again to the boardroom.
The stares, the humiliation.
And Irene's words that kept ringing like a warning
“Be careful, Kayla. Don’t embarrass your father.”
Her jaw tightened.
“Embarrass him?”
She whispered it out loud.
As if the room would answer her.
Her phone vibrated again.
This time she didn’t flinch, she looked at it immediately with hope.
Unknown number.
Another message.
*You think Carter Enterprises is yours to prove something in. It’s not. You're too emotional.*
Kayla’s breath caught sharply.
That was not random.
That was targeted.
Was this person helping or taunting her?
She typed instantly this time in anger.
No hesitation.
“Stop playing games. Who the f**k are you?”
The reply came almost immediately.
Too fast.
Like they never stopped typing.
*I’m not playing. I’m giving you a chance.*
Kayla laughed under her breath. She was frustrated, angry, and filled with fear for this stranger that was taunting her
“A chance for what?” she muttered.
“To be used again?”
Her hands were shaking now. Badly enough for her to notice
Her phone buzzed again.
*To stop being powerless.*
That line stayed on the screen longer than the others.
Because it hit too close.
Kayla swallowed hard.
Her mind flashed again
Lucas, isla, the slap, the boardroom.
Powerless?
Is that what she was?
She stood up abruptly.
“No.”
She said it firmly.
Like the word alone could fix everything.
Her phone rang again.
This time she almost didn’t pick it up.
But she gave in.
Silence on the other end.
Then a low controlled voice spoke.
Familiar in a way she didn’t understand yet.
“Good. You still answer.”
Kayla froze.
So it was a guy
And his voice?
Something about it made her skin tighten.
“Who is this?” she asked again, slower now.
A pause.
Then he spoke again
“Tomorrow, 6PM,” the voice said.
“You’ll understand everything then.”
Click.
Call ended.
Kayla stood there for a long time again her face scrunched in anger then confusion.
Because whoever “A” was…
They weren’t random anymore.
They were close enough to touch her life.
And she had already said yes.
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