Heart's Dilemma

Leaked Document

Chapter 5

One day, she got a call from the CEO to see him in office in two hours’ time for an important discussion.

Mr Peters handed her sealed file when she arrived at his office. “This is a sensitive document stating our short-term, middle-term and long-term goals for the initiative. I believe you can deliver on this and I trust you with this too,” the CEO said.

Anna nodded. As she left, she wondered why the CEO would just have to believe in her for the job. “Is there not a motive behind it? Is there anything going on in his heart which he is not ready to disclose with me?” She reasoned.

Well, she believed that as the time unfolded, she would get to know. For her, she had started having a feeling for him because of the way he had demonstrated his professional relationship with her. In her heart, she promised not to disappoint him in any way.

One evening, as she was listening to the news, a rude shock happened. One of the rival companies publicly revealed the same document containing the short-term, middle-term and long-term goals of the initiative the CEO handed to her.

She froze. She could not believe it. She was the only one who knew about the document. How the rival company got to know about it, she could not explain.

Grace, Richard and Biggs were the first to be seated at the board meeting. They had jointly called for the meeting wanting to demand an explanation of how the document got leaked to the rival company.

“I said it. Anna is inexperienced. This is a corporate breach of the highest order. Since Anna was the only person entrusted with the document, the fault lies with her,” Richard explained.

“I did not leak it. Somebody must have mysteriously done that,” Anna said as she sobbed.

“Do you have an evidence to prove to us?” Grace, the Chief Operating Officer said mockingly.

Anna looked towards the direction of the CEO with a sad countenance expecting him to explode. “I believe in Anna's integrity. However, we will have to dig deeper into this case to conduct a thorough investigation,” he said.

The meeting was adjourned and the three executives filed out.

Anna was desperate to clear her name. Quickly, she reached out to one of her friends whose name was Katie. She was an IT and System Analyst. She had always respected Anna for her ethical way of handling her job.

“Can you investigate for me a document leaked to a rival company? Also, I want you to find out the person behind it,”she asked.

“I will do that for you. It will only take some time. Kindly send the details to me,” Katie responded.

Some days later, Katie delivered. “The leaked document was traced to a dummy account created using Grace's corporate credentials,”she explained.

“Grace again!” She exclaimed with an anger boiling within her. But before she could have the time to confront her, she got an e-mail from Richard.

“We need to talk privately. 6.30p.m today at Sunbird Hotel,” she scanned through the message.

At the Sunbird Hotel, Richard and Anna exchanged greetings. “Anna, you may find it hard to succeed in this project because you lacked in-depth knowledge about the company but I can help you,” he said.

“What will that cost me?” Anna asked with a serious tone coupled with coldness.

“Step down voluntarily and say that you are ready to do the job. I will ensure to protect you from the fallout of the leak and your reputation will be intact,” Richard assured.

“Okay, give me some time to think over it and I will get back to you,”she said.

With her hear beating faster, “was this a trap? How could Richard come about this proposal that was against her wish?” She thought and left ready to strategize.

Later it dawned on her that Grace planted the leaked document and Richard was offering her a proposal to claim the project for himself. But she could not really say where to place Biggs in this matter.

What if she was not the target? What if the target was directly at Mr Peters, the CEO to undermine his effort? All these were her thoughts in respect of the matter in question.

She was determined to dig further searching for the connections between the three executives. What she found shocked her.

Some many years ago, Mr Peters had orchestrated a merger that removed some senior executives from office. Among those affected were Grace's uncle, Biggs’ elder sister and Richard's father.

“Ah, this is about revenge. It is not about me,” she realized

Ten years ago, Mr. Peters had orchestrated a controversial merger that ousted several senior executives. Among those affected were Linda’s mentor, Charles’s older brother, and Richard’s father.

How will Anna and Mr Peters handle this matter to make their professional relationship intact? Will their professional relationship make them share the same feeling to bond together as a married couple in the future?