Becoming Her

Chapter 1: FALLEN EMPIRE

CHAPTER ONE: FALLEN EMPIRE

“It's all over the news!!!” Mr. Michaelson shouted at the top of his voice as he slammed his fists against the long glass meeting room table. His chest heaving, his breath shaking, his eyes bloodshot. Mr. Michaelson was a tall huge man in his late 50s, dark haired, healthy body, well respected, hardworking and ambitious, some say ‘too ambitious’ he could kill to get whatever he wanted, CEO and owner of one of the top three companies in the whole of the united states. This was a fatal blow to him! His income, his respect, his power was going down the drain before his very own eyes.

The board members were all frightened, not knowing what had gone wrong, what had actually happened, who was behind this fall.

“Sir, this has to be a mistake” Mr. James said, his brow furrowed, looking totally confused, “I’m gone for one week! One bloody week and the whole lot of you fools have my company bankrupt!!! I will have you all killed for this if there isn't a bloody damn solution!” Mr. Michaelson was not known for making threats but when he did, he never bluffed.

The board members remained on their seats trying to make head of what happened as they looked to the head of the long table at the extreme corner of the meeting room, there was a projector showing clearly on the clean wall the smooth slope of the incomes and profits drastically going down. “Someone did it, it had to be someone from the inside and I swear if I get whoever that is I will have his head” Mr. Michaelson said as he stormed out of the huge office room.

________________

There was a soft knock at the door “Excuse me sir” a stout man in his early 40s walked in “Didn't my secretary tell you I don't want to see anyone?!” Mr.Michaelson said in a matter of factly, “she went to coffee sir, but I'm sure you'll want to listen to what I have to say” Mr. Michaelson looked up from his desk “Go ahead…” he said raising his brow, the man closed the door shut behind him and walked over to Mr. Michaelson “sir, it is very obvious one of our rivals did this, it's an inside job, they hired a hacker, cleared up all our accounts and proof of taxes somehow cause we don't have any paid taxes receipt and the government says we owe them Three hundred and forty-five billion in taxes. All our funding has gone low, this building might be seized too sir ....” “Get to the point Edward, you think I don't know all this??”

“What I'm trying to say is maybe it's time we take the K&Js as an ally sir….” “Are you trying to insult me?! The K&Js indeed ""Sir, they are the top competitors, they are global, do you think the company below would want to help us? They’ll happily stomp on us and take the title as the second top company and we sir, we are not even going to be among the first hundred, everything you’ve built will come crashing down, you’ll see the people you love suffer, the people that work for you have families and this instant downward slope is not going to be met well sir”

“And what makes you think the K&Js would want to help us?”

“ The CEO of this great company is no giver of loans or help, no sir but there is one thing I hear he seeks the most but have no time for it”

“What does that old filthy man want that he hasn't got” Mr. Michaelson rolled his eyes

“You could use a wife as collateral sir, he has always wanted one, that is what I have heard, but is too busy here and there and I'm sure you think it's an old way of life but ask him for help first and if he disagrees, then give him this offer. The man is getting old and surely he has no family, I'm sure he'll be tempted with the idea of having a woman in his house for once and also end the rumour saying he f***s around with young boys, oh how much he hates that rumour”

Mr. Michaelson let out a heavy sigh “I'm afraid you're right Edward….” His phone buzzed and he looked down and saw a contact ID. Dr. Drew had sent him a message attached to a file.

______________

Arrya sat on the huge sofa, legs crossed, nursing a bowl of popcorn in her arms. This was one of the few times she didn't hate her life, sitting in the well air conditioned huge sitting room, with a big theater stationed on one of the tall walls of her father's huge mansion. She felt more of a maid than the first daughter of her billionaire father, what had gone wrong? How did her mum suddenly die and leave her to suffer alone in this cruel world? How could her father marry his secretary just a month after her mother's funeral? She was just 8 when all these happened but she remembered all like it was yesterday. One minute she was the apple of her father's eyes, the next she was being shoved into the deepest corners of the basements by strangers she hardly ever saw. Tears started to slowly fall from her eyes, she hugged her popcorn and tried to enjoy the little time she had while her father's wife and children were out, she couldn't call her her step mother, there was still mother in it and step mothers were a lot nicer than the beast she had to put up with here.

She heard the great gates open automatically and she hastily arranged the sitting room as if she was never there, turned off the Television, quickly hid the popcorn and picked up a piece of cloth.

Hearing the voice of Mrs. Margaret alone made her tremble in fear. She walked into the sitting room, a giggling girl by her side and a boy, older than arrya by a year or two and who was a constant reminder that her father was busy cheating outside while her mother suffered in the hospital. The look of him alone made arrya hate her father even more than she already did. The boy looked exactly like Mr. Michaelson, just younger, he was even named Michael. The girl, Madison, had blonde hair like her mother and was slim and just 4 years older than arrya, she was supposed to be in the most prestigious college in the city but she got dropped due to excessive bad behaviours and too many warnings. She was Mrs. Margaret child from her late husband but her father seemed to love her more than he loved his own daughter.

“You foolish child! Come here” Mrs. Margaret scolded as she almost stumbled on a crease in the thick rug. Arrya slowly walked to her and when she was within sight, she was grabbed by her ears “owww….” She winced in pain “didn't I tell you to make everywhere clean, smooth and leveled you bastard!!” “She never listens, maybe we should cut her ears off since she has no use for them” Madison said her eyes glued to her phone “I'm going to my room, don't ever make me your escort to the mall again” Michael sneered and went to his room shutting his door loudly. “I'm sorry ma, I must have missed that spot, my apologies” arrya said still in pain “in case you have forgotten, let me remind you what you are arrya. You're a stupid child, born of a stupid mother and you’ll die stupid just as your mother did and God help me I don't be the one to murder you myself you cunt! The next time this happens I'll make sure you're too numb to feel pain any longer, get lost”

Arrya scampered away, back into the basement, she cried and wept. For 11 years now she has been tormented by this woman, she didn't know why she still clung onto the hope that one day someone would take her out of here. She had always dreamed that maybe a relative of her deceased mum would come and ask for custody or she would wake up one day and all this would be a terrible nightmare, just a big bad dream. She whimpered as she tried to clean her tears, she looked around the room, her small space in the basement, little but neat and well arranged. A kid sized bed, her childhood bed that had never been replaced, a side table with a white lamp now dark yellow darkened by time, some flip flops by the side of her bed, clothes that were falling apart and almost torn if not for a few stubborn threads holding on arranged and hanging neatly on hangers which were hung on nails pinned on the wall. She, a billionaire’s daughter, didn't even have the decency of a closet for her clothes. Hot tears started rolling out from her eyes again and she sniffed, she reached for under her bed and her hands touched what she was looking for after searching for a while, she pulled it out. A little dark framed picture of her family, her dad wearing a black suit grinning from ear to ear like a little boy obviously very happy, her mum with her dark long hair, slightly pale skin, sparkly blue eyes and the slight curves of a goddess, holding 5 years old arrya in her arms, both with smiles that reached their eyes and slightly lifted the ears. They looked very happy, what had gone wrong “I hate you!” She spat at the side of the frame her dad was on, she reached under her bed again and brought out a fork, then she scraped off the face of her father as she cried harder, then she held the picture close to her chest and cried even harder “I miss you mummy…...I miss you soo much”