Arabelle

Chapter 13 - Preparation

Derrick’s POV

This morning I had taken my time in getting ready, I had enjoyed a cup of delicious coffee with a plate of French toast, then I had a long bath before finally dressing up in the suit I had worn the previous day, checking the time, I saw I was almost an hour late, I checked out of the hotel and headed to the office, I drove at a casual pace, enjoying the breeze and scenery as I drove, when I finally pulled up in front of the office, it was 10:00 am, I parked my car and got out, I looked at king’s Enterprise, still as striking ever but today, I didn’t find it as impressive as before, I arranged my suit and headed inside,

I was greeted by everyone as I passed by, I answered their greeting with a small nod of the head, I had better things to deal with today, first of all, I had to deal with those hags in the board meeting , today they were going to come at me with everything they got, especially Ruth, she had the most to gain if I should get kicked out of my position, after me and mum, she had the largest shares, and I also heard that she was already meeting secretly with other members of the board, she had been trying to convince them that she was the perfect candidate for the position of CEO, the only thing she had been looking for was an opportunity and I had given it to her yesterday when I missed the board meeting, today, she won’t hide behind fake smile and words that held no meaning, she will attack me head on and we will see how that worked for a change,

I got into the elevator and pressed the button leading to my office, soon enough, I arrived at my office, I opened the door and walked in, I fell into my chair, I flipped through some of the files on the table, they were the files I was supposed to use yesterday, I pulled out my phone and was about to dial Alfred’s number when I heard a knock on the door,

“Come in” I said,

A few seconds later, Alfred walked in looking as serious as I had always known him to be but his eyes were saying something else, I could the relief in his eye, I smiled inwardly,

“Good morning Sir, it’s great to see that you are doing okay, did you have a goodnight?” he said,

I nodded and answered “I had a very good night, how was things at the office yesterday?”

“I was able to set a meeting with the foreign investor scheduled for today by 2pm, and the meeting with the directors has been scheduled for 4:00pm and the meeting with the board members is scheduled for 11:00am” Alfred said,

I nodded my head thoughtfully and said “You did well Alfred, you can go now and make sure everything is ready for the board meeting, there will be no mistakes today”

I saw a small smile cross Alfred’s face but it quickly disappeared, “That is a relief Sir” he said,

“You can leave now Alfred, I will call you when I need anything” I said,

“Yes sir” Alfred said and turned to leave but stopped when he got to the door,

I raised my head to look at him “Is anything the matter Alfred?” I said,

“I was just wondering if you were able to get in touch with your mother, she kept calling me yesterday, she is really worried about you Sir, it will nice if you could give her a call” he said,

I was quiet for a few seconds, then I said “Thank you Alfred, you can go now”

He gave me a nod and walked out,

I looked at my phone for a while before picking it up and dialing my mother’s number, it rang for a few seconds and then I heard her voice from the other end,

“Hello” was all she said, nothing else, she asked no other questions,

“Good morning mother” I said,

“Good morning Derrick” she answered and said nothing more,

“Alfred told me you asked for me yesterday” I said,

“I did” she said,

“And what was it you wanted?” I said,

“Will you be attending the meeting today or are you going to pull another stunt like yesterday?” she asked completing ignoring my question,

“I will be attending the meeting” I answered,

“And I hope you have prepared a strong defense because your actions yesterday were inexcusable” She said, her voice was ice cold not possessing even the tiniest hint of emotion,

“I believe I have” I answered,

There was silence from the other end for a few seconds then she said “I will see you at the meeting then” and then she hung up before I could reply,

I exhaled and put the phone on the table,

“Just a typical conversation between mother and son” I said to myself as I got ready to begin the affairs of today.

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Unknown POV

I have found her, she was so close and yet I could not find her but now, there was nowhere she could hide again, I had felt her magic very close to me, I could smell it, the smell of her magic was pure and untainted, I hated how innocent she was, and how he always thought of her, even now, he still thought of her, his thoughts were only of her, I hate her so much, he belonged to me before he ever became hers but now she has stolen him away from me,

I had enjoyed the smell of the air as her flesh burnt that day, I felt joy like I had never known before, and when her bones crumpled down into ash, I felt my heart leap in my chest, I was exhilarated, she was not going to bother me anymore but somehow she had wormed her way back into his life again and now that I had found her, I will make sure she suffers more than she did before, I will make her lose her mind before I finally end her in the most slow and painful death imaginable,

This time Arabelle will stay dead for good and I will make sure of it, no magic could save her this time, this was my vow and I will make sure I honored it.

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Bella’s POV

I was supposed to pay a visit to Ian in his office today, we had a few things we needed to discuss about the plan, when I had told mum I was going to see Ian, she kept giving me some creepy smiles, I felt bad for her, I wished I could tell her what was really going on but I had to keep her safe from all this, because once this was over, I wanted us to be able live our lives peacefully with no disturbance from the past.

I pulled up in front of Ian’s office, it was a towering building with magnificent ambience, I had no idea their company was so huge, I walked over to the security checkpoint

“Good morning, I am Isabella Mavericks, I am here to see Ian Langrove, I believe he is expecting me” I said,

One of the men gave me a bright smile and said “Yes he told us, you will be coming, just go inside and ask the lady up front to show you how to get to his office, it should be very easy to find”

I returned the smile and thanked them as another one held the door open for me, I walked in after saying goodbye to them,

Inside, I was greeted by a breathtaking lobby, it was beautiful and welcoming, the lobby was furnished with polished wood and black leather, it had a classic feeling attached to it, I liked it very much,

With a smile on my face, I walked up the receptionist, she was a beautiful young woman, perhaps older than me with a few years, she had blonde hair and striking blue eyes, she had pretty red dress on,

“Good morning Miss, I am here to see Ian, can you please tell me which direction I can find his office?” I said,

The lady gave me a look that showed she was displeased about my question, I couldn’t help the smile that crept into my face, she was obviously jealous and perhaps she felt insecure about seeing me, I did look very pretty in my wine colored high waist skirt and cream colored lace top, the skirt came flowing all the way to my knees, I had a pair of cream heeled shoes, my hair was flowing to my waist,

“Do you have an appointment?” Blondie asked me, she had a voice that could be considered high pitched,

I smiled once more and said “You can call him and tell him Isabella is here, I am pretty sure he is expecting me”

Blondie looked me up and down and said “I am sorry Miss, but I can’t let you in without you having an appointment, Mr Langrove is a very busy man and I can’t disturb him unnecessarily, so please come back when you have an appointment”

With a smile, I pulled out my phone from my purse and dialed Ian’s number, he answered on the second ring,

“Where are you Bella? Have you arrived already?” he said the moment he picked the call,

“I am in the lobby but your receptionist refuses to let me in without an appointment, could you talk to her please?” I said,

Ian laughed and said “Don’t worry about Yvonne, she is usually like that, give her the phone for a second please”

“Sure thing” I said and handed the phone over to Blondie whose name was apparently Yvonne,

She collected the phone from me and gave me a look that I think was supposed to make me feel intimidated,

I found it very hard to wipe the smile from my face, I was finding this all very entertaining,

The moment Blondie put the phone to her ear, her entire face changed, she was suddenly smiling and talking softly into the phone,

“Interesting” I said to myself,

After about a minute later, Blondie handed my phone back to me and said “you can just go that way and you will find the elevator, take it to the fourth floor, then you will find two doors, the one on your right is Mr. Langrove’s office,

I collected my phone and flashed her a bright smile then said “You have been super helpful Miss, thank you for all your help”

She gave me look then muttered something I couldn’t hear and continued with whatever it was she was doing before I came in,

With a smile on face, I followed the instructions Blondie had given me and true to her words, after knocking on the door she had told me to, I heard Ian asking me to come in, I walked in and Ian’s face lit up with one of those charming smiles of his

“Bella you are here” he said as he stood up and gave me warm brotherly hug which I happily returned,

I gave him a smile as he gestured for me to take a seat, his office was furnished with polished wood and black leather just like the lobby, I took one of the plush chairs facing him,

“You look rather different in your business suit” I said, he did look different with his comb back and gelled, he looked very professional in his charcoal black suite and crisp white shirt, he also had a black tie on,

“You mean I look more handsome right?” he said and gave me a rakish smile,

I laughed “How did you get so full of yourself? Remember you are still the kid in sweaters with elbow patches” I said,

Ian laughed as well and said “What can I say, I have come a long since then”

I laughed and said “Obviously”

Ian chuckled and said “if we choose to sit here and discuss my dramatic change from nerdy kid to captivating, handsome, heart stopping, jaw dropping hunk, we might be here till the new year, so I suggest you discuss other matters”

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at him but still he was right, we had matters that needed discussing

“So what’s the plan and what do we need to do?” I said,

A smile that would have looked evil had it not been on Ian’s face crossed his face and then he said “Very simple, we take what matters the most to him and raze it to the ground” he said

“And what might that be?” I asked,

“King’s Enterprise” Ian said and flashed me a smile,

“Interesting” I said with a smile, I was already beginning to see how everything will play out,

“We got lot of work to do, are you ready Arabelle?” Ian asked, suddenly sounding serious,

I was quiet for a few seconds then I said “I was reborn for this”

Ian smiled and said “Let’s do this”