Chapter 2
1083 Words
Diana sat in her office, staring at the numbers on her computer screen. They didn't make sense. They couldn't be real.
But they were.
Her company was going bankrupt.
"Ms. Wilson?" Her assistant Amy knocked on the door. "The board meeting starts in ten minutes."
"Tell them I need more time."
"They've been waiting for three days. Mr. Peterson is getting impatient."
Diana rubbed her temples. Richard Peterson was her biggest investor. If he pulled out, her company was finished.
"Fine. Tell them I'll be there in five minutes."
Amy left and Diana looked at the numbers again. Somehow, three million dollars had vanished from her accounts. Just gone. And she had no idea where.
Her phone rang. Her mother.
Diana almost didn't answer, but Margaret would just keep calling.
"What, Mother?"
"Is that how you greet your mother? I raised you better than that!"
"I'm busy. What do you want?"
"Ryan invited us to dinner tonight at his house. All of us. Even your... husband." Margaret said the last word like it tasted bad.
"I can't. I have work."
"Work can wait! This is important! Ryan wants to discuss a business opportunity!"
Diana felt suspicious. "What kind of opportunity?"
"I don't know! But Ryan is rich and successful, so it must be good! We're going at seven. Wear something nice. And tell that husband of yours to shower for once. He smells like a homeless person."
Margaret hung up before Diana could say no.
Diana threw her phone on the desk. Perfect. A dinner with her ex-boyfriend who couldn't take no for an answer. That's exactly what she needed today.
Her phone buzzed again. This time a text from an unknown number:
Your accountant is stealing from you. Check the transfers to overseas accounts. - A Friend
Diana's heart stopped. What the hell?
She quickly pulled up her banking records and started searching. After twenty minutes, she found it. Small transfers, fifty thousand here, seventy-five thousand there, all going to a bank in the Cayman Islands.
The transfers were authorized by Michael Chen, her head accountant. The man she'd trusted for two years.
"That son of a b***h," Diana whispered.
She grabbed her phone and called building security. "This is Diana Wilson. I need you to detain Michael Chen immediately. Don't let him leave the building."
"Yes, Ms. Wilson. Is there a problem?"
"He's been stealing from my company. Call the police."
Diana hung up and felt her hands shaking. Her company was already dying. Now she finds out her accountant was stealing from her?
This day couldn't get worse.At the Wilson house, Marcus was cleaning Derek's car. Again. Third time this week.
His phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out carefully, making sure nobody was watching.
A text from Victor: The money transfer went through. Diana's company has been saved. The mysterious investor story is planted in the news.
Marcus smiled and texted back: Good. Make sure it looks completely anonymous. Nobody can know it came from me.
Victor: Already done, King. But are you sure about this? She treats you like garbage.
Marcus looked up at the house. Through the window, he could see Margaret watching TV and eating expensive chocolates. The same woman who'd thrown water on him this morning.
He texted back: Diana is different from them. She's just... lost. Give her time.
Victor: *You're too soft, King. But it's your money.”
Marcus deleted the messages and went back to cleaning the car.
"Hey! Trash!"
Marcus turned around. Derek was standing on the porch with two of his friends.
"Yes, Derek?"
"Come here."
Marcus walked over slowly. Derek's friends were laughing already. This wouldn't be good.
"My friends here don't believe me," Derek said. "They don't believe I have a personal servant living in my house. Show them what you do."
"I don't understand—"
"Get on your knees."
Marcus felt his stomach drop. "Derek, please—"
"I SAID GET ON YOUR KNEES!"
Derek's friends were recording on their phones now, laughing.
Marcus looked at Derek's face. At the cruelty in his eyes. By the way he enjoyed this.
Marcus got on his knees.
"Now apologize," Derek said.
"For what?"
"For being born! For existing! For wasting the air that better people could be breathing!"
Derek's friends were laughing so hard they could barely hold their phones steady.
Marcus looked down at the ground. "I apologize for being born."
"Louder!"
"I apologize for being born!"
"Again! Like you mean it!"
"I APOLOGIZE FOR BEING BORN!"
Derek and his friends exploded with laughter. "Oh my God, this is gold! I'm posting this everywhere!"
Marcus stayed on his knees, head down, while they laughed at him. His fists were clenched so tight his knuckles were white.
"Alright, get up," Derek said, wiping tears from his eyes. "Go finish the car. And when Diana gets home, tell her we're all going to Ryan's for dinner tonight. Seven o'clock. Don't be late."
Derek and his friends went back inside, still laughing.
Marcus stood up slowly. His knees hurt from the concrete. His pride hurt more.
He pulled out his phone and texted Victor: "Add Derek Wilson to the list. When the time comes, I want him to suffer the most."
Victor texted back immediately: "With pleasure, King."
---
Diana came home at six-thirty, looking exhausted. Marcus was in the kitchen making dinner that he knew he wouldn't be allowed to eat.
"Diana," he said quietly. "Derek said we're going to Ryan's house for dinner at seven."
Diana looked at him for the first time in weeks. Really looked at him. She saw the dirt on his clothes from cleaning the car. The bruise on his neck from this morning. The tiredness in his eyes.
For a moment, she felt something. Guilt? Pity? She wasn't sure.
"Yeah, I know," she said. "My mother already told me. Go change into something clean. And try to... not embarrass me tonight, okay?"
The words came out harsher than she meant. She saw Marcus's face fall slightly.
"I'll do my best," he said quietly.
Diana went upstairs to change, and Marcus went to the storage room to find his one clean shirt.
Neither of them knew that tonight at Ryan's house, everything was about to change.
Because Ryan Blackwood was planning something. Something that would force Marcus to show a glimpse of who he really was.
And once that door opened, even just a c***k, there would be no closing it again.
- Writer
