A Tall Glass of Revenge

Chapter 3

“This changes everything,” Adrain said tersely, gazing at the report sheet in his hands. Marisa eyed him worriedly as she sat in the chair across Adrain's office desk.

“If we don't generate revenue in the next month, the government will have no choice but to shut us down.” declared Malcolm, adjusting the rims of his glasses on the tip of his nose. Adrain tossed the sheet on his desk, and took a long hard stare at his secretary.

“And the investors?” Adrian questioned finally, glancing between the two people seated in front of him.

“About that,” Marisa disclosed with a sympathetic look, placing her palms on her laps. “I have not been successful with getting investors. The reason is clear as day, our revenue has tanked over the last two years. We are deep in the red, so we are industry bad news. No one wants to deal with us.”

“That is the most unfortunate answer I have heard in a while.” Adrian mumbled in frustration and shrugged his shoulders. “We may be f****d for real this time.”

“Or,” Malcom suggested warily. Marisa turned to face him, her eyes telling him not to say what he had in his mind. It turned into a nod battle between the two.

“I'm waiting,” warned Adrian impatiently, tapping his left foot on the hardened glass floor.

“Ask your father for help.”

Marisa shut her eyes in fear. She knew Adrain did not like to discuss any topic relating to Matthias, but she also knew that Malcom had a point. Although she was his best friend since their childhood, Adrain had refused to tell her the reason he fought with his dad so much. It had to be really grave, as that was the only secret kept between them. Adrain's eyebrows creased in a deep frown, not liking Malcom's suggestion.

“Why do you suggest that?”

“Because of who you are. Your family for generations has been a business prodigy in the hotel business and real estate. The rest of us working here, see your refusal as baseless pride–”

“Stop it Malcolm,” Marisa snapped at him, shaking her head in disapproval. “You are still an employee, and it is best you remember your place.”

“I'm aware of my place. But, I'm speaking out of concern. The stakeholders have requested time and time again for their refunds. How are we going to pay them off? Our salaries of everyone working here are barely peanuts, because they have been slashed by fifty percent, and more than fifty percent. There are whispers in every corner of this establishment. Uncertainty hangs heavily in the air, and most of our employees are on the verge of submitting resignation letters. I have been putting out information to calm everyone down, but at this point, it's no secret that we are going under. If you could–”

“Out!” Adrain roared suddenly, stopping Malcolm in his speech.

Marisa flinched in her seat. In as much as Adrain hated his father, there were times they were more similar than they thought. Malcom shrugged his shoulders, got up and walked out of his office. There was an even silence after he had shut the door behind him.

“You are not going to lecture me now?” He questioned Marisa. She responded by shaking her head.

“I'm more worried about you,” Marisa whispered softly, and placed her hands on the hardened desk, leaning into the table. Adrian watched her carefully.

“You need to take a break. I expected you to, especially since Liam passed. You are here nonstop, and the situation around us is not making it easy for you.”

“I'm fine, Mari. It's just–” Adrain started and paused, wondering if he should continue. He buried his face in his hands. Marisa stood up and walked across the desk till she was beside him. She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, and Adrian looked up at her, his eyes deeply conveying his sadness and hurt. “I really want to be left alone now.”

“Okay,” Marisa mumbled softly, trying to hide the hurt caused by the walls that Adrian was building up between them. He didn't want to discuss Liam's death– of course it was a shocker to her, but if Adrian kept bottling up his feelings the way he did, he was going to self-destruct. She sniffed and blinked her eyes, and got up, then adjusted her skirt.

“I'll check up on you in an hour,” she declared, while walking towards the door. At the doorway, she turned to face him, a bold, determined look on her features.

“We've got to fix this company, Adrian. And I'm ready to do it, with or without you in it. So you need to get back on track, if you don’t wanna be left out.”

With that, she shut the door behind her. Adrian half smiled at her words, before slipping back into his own world. It had been two weeks since Liam died, and it still seemed like a fuzzy dream. Liam's funeral was hasty and private, and the details obtained from further investigation yielded one result– his death was purely suicide. His fingerprints were all over the knife he had used to slit his wrists open, and only his blood was spilled on his floor. His phone had no other fingerprints apart from his.

But the events surrounding his death were not convincing enough for their father. More scenarios puzzled their family.

Micheal, the friend that had raised the alarm about Liam, had informed the family that Liam had begun acting unusual after he had begun dating a certain lady six months ago. They had never seen Liam so happy, but then he began missing out on events with them.

The few times they met and he was bombarded with questions about the woman, he would release so little details to go on, or act so guarded around them so much so, that they began to advise him about quitting the relationship.

Liam took this the wrong way and stopped hanging out altogether. He had even exited their group chat. They had still checked up on him regardless. But gradually, they stopped when Liam became unbearable to deal with. His character had changed towards them, he was unhappy, irritable, nagging, and had oftentimes overstepped his boundaries. Micheal further explained that they had advised him to begin therapy.

On the day of his death, Michael had gotten a strange message to check up on Liam. He had ignored it, but after sharing it with the rest of the group, they advised him to heed it. He had called him for two days, before heading to his apartment.

The family was astonished that the supposed ‘girlfriend’ did not show up for Liam's funeral, or make any attempts to show herself throughout the mourning period. Adrian tried to think that the woman was not brave enough to face the family, but the revelations so far showed that there was more to what had happened.

Liam was ‘potential commodity’ for gaining millions of followers on social media, so there was no way any woman who got her hands on him wouldn't show him off to the world, not to talk of capitalising on his death for their own benefit. With all these events and speculations, he couldn't help but entertain the possibility of Liam's death being a murder.

Lately, Anna had made bold attempts to convince him to close up his company and join the family business– a move he was very sure that Matthias had put her up to.

He took in a deep breath, slightly angered by his father's audaciousness. He would not be surprised if his father had a hand in the downfall of his company.

Malcolm barged into his office suddenly, interrupting his thoughts. He was grinning ear to ear with excitement. Adrian raised an eyebrow in annoyance.

“I've got good news. Marisa found a new investor.”

Adrian could feel his heart race instantly as he sat up straight. “Who is it?”

“It's Utopia City!”

Adrian's eyes widened in bewilderment.