CHAPTER THREE
1472 Words
Locked out
Florence couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She stood frozen, like her world had just cracked open beneath her feet. Her eyes darted between the men, searching for any hint—any sign—that this was all a mistake, a misunderstanding, maybe even a cruel joke.
She felt weak in her knees and almost fell, but she was held by Amelia, who quickly got her a chair. Florence lost the knowledge of ways she could process her grief. She wanted to cry, but the tears didn't come; she wanted to scream, but couldn't find her voice; she wanted to fight, but had lost her strength.
She just sat there and looked at the men who had quickly moved on with the meeting like she wasn't there. They handed the project documents to the man she had seen earlier in the corridor and finalized it with signatures from both sides.
She could see their mouths moving, papers being signed, hands shaken—but everything was muffled, like she was underwater. Time hadn’t stopped, but her world had.
The man she had seen earlier in the corridor never took his eyes off her—not once. His gaze was calm, unreadable, and coldly curious, like a predator observing prey. He didn’t blink, didn’t flinch—only stared, as if watching her unravel was the highlight of his day
After the men had concluded the meeting, they all left the room. The man was the last person to leave the room; he gave Florence a mild smirk like she was exactly where he wanted her to be.
“Ma,” Amelia said while touching Florence lightly.
Florence turned slowly to look at her with a very blank expression.
“The chairwoman is on the line one of the office phones she wants to speak with you”
Florence's eyes widened, and then she replied with fear in her voice
“My aunt?”
“Yes ma”
“Let's go back to the office then,” Florence said. She knew her aunt would never miss an opportunity to make her feel like her whole life was a mistake and worthless, so unlike the other times, she would rather avoid it; she was ready for it this time.
They headed back to the office, but immediately they stepped out of the conference room, all eyes fell on Florence. Like they say, bad news travels fast. Some looked at her with pity, and some people's faces were expressionless.
Florence's legs stuck to the ground and she couldn't move when she heard some side comments that the employees were making.
“She doesn't deserve it”
“Is she really an Everest, why is she treated like a slave then?"
“Poor her, her aunt kicked her out already”
“What business does Dante King have with a biotech contract?”
“I heard Dante King has had his eyes on our company for a while now”
“What is she supposed to do now? Become a laboratory attendant?”
“It's so shameful, I wonder how she's still standing”
Amelia who had gotten to the office and tried to open the door with no success ran back to inform Florence
“Ma, your office is locked”
Florence was immediately alarmed, she took her key card and headed straight to her office. She swiped her key card several times on the door lock, but her card kept declining. She was still trying to figure out what was going on when her phone rang, Amelia quickly handed her the phone.
The name that flashed on the screen was “Aunty”, she picked up the call and the first thing that she heard was
“You ungrateful b***h” Genevieve's voice came strongly through the phone then she continued
“Of all the persons you could have lost the contract to, because I knew you were going to lose it, you are good for absolutely nothing, you lost it to Dante King? Someone with no basic knowledge about technology” Florence could feel the rage in her Aunty's voice as her Aunty kept on talking.
“You are a failure. I am not only disappointed, I am disgusted by your ability to still hold up your head high and walk around the company when you should be covering your face in shame,” Genevieve said with disdain in her voice.
Then she continued, “For your information, you have been suspended from your duties till further notice. If you want a job, you can start as a cleaner at the company, no interview needed.” Genevieve hung up the phone.
The moment the call ended, Florence dropped to the floor, her legs giving out beneath her. This was more than a setback—it felt like the end. She fought back the tears that had welled up in her eyes, but she lost. She cried bitterly as she clung hard to the key card that was still in her hand like it was her lifeline.
Then she started saying to herself
“He doesn't get to ruin my life and get away with it,” she said multiple times until she believed it herself.
She wiped her tears that had ruined her makeup, and she quickly got up from the floor as if she had just gotten a new reason to fight.
She politely asked Amelia, “Can I use your table for a minute?”
“Yes ma” Amelia replied sharply
Florence grabbed her laptop from Amelia and ran towards her table. The employees, seeing Florence's new spirit, quickly dispersed, each back to their posts.
Florence slammed her laptop on Amelia's table upon reaching it, she quickly clicked the search bar and typed in “Dante King”
The headlines were flashy
“Dante King—the business mogul expresses his new interest in the biotechnology Field”
“Dante King opens a new restaurant making his restaurants around the country a total of 110”
“A good start as Dante King easily acquires the contract that had the whole biotech industry on their toes for months”
“Dante King is definitely who he thinks he is”
“Dante King expresses his interest in acquiring the largest tech company— Everest Dynamics”
Florence slammed her laptop shut, clenched her fists so hard that her legs shook, and it was obvious that she was holding back a lot of emotions.
“So it was him, he came right into my company to steal my contract from me,” Florence said, soliloquizing realizing that Dante King was the man she had seen earlier in the hallway.
“It's not enough that he stole my contract from me, now he wants to take my company,” Florence said, picking every word carefully.
“Dante King… I swear, I’ll destroy you,” she said through gritted teeth, her voice shaking but full of fire. Heads turned, but she didn’t care anymore.
“A cleaner, right? Yes, I will be whatever I have to be, to get to you and destroy you.” She continued with desperation in her voice.
Florence stood up from the chair and made her way to the laboratory. She knew she had to handle her issues in order of priority. First, she needed to get her serum, then she needed to settle into her new position as a cleaner.
She got to the lab, she swiped her card but yet again, her card declined.
“I should have expected it, but I will do anything to get my serum, it's mine” she said and made her way to the cleaners quarters, she wanted to see the superior and plead with her to put her in charge of the lab cleaning so she can have access to a key card that can open the lab.
On her way to the laboratory, she saw someone who looked exactly like the man she had seen with Dante King earlier, walking towards her, but he was dressed in all black, like a normal employee.
When he got to her, his eyes glowed like a yellow bulb for a minute before they returned to normal, Florence was scared and confused.
He handed her a note and said
“This is for you, ma’am,” and he turned to leave before Florence could utter a word.
She looked at the note she had in her hand, and it looked nothing like the note she had received earlier.
This one had an image of a wolf on the back and she was wondering what company uses that kind
of logo.
Then she read what was written inside the note.
“Stay away from the serum, this is your final warning”
- Writer
