AS SOON AS she recovered from her shock, Sapphire suddenly took her burner phone, which she hides in her cabinet, and called one of her people— Theo, her private investigator.After a few rings, the man on the other line answered.“Greetings, young mistress.”Theo is a middle-aged man who worked with Sapphire in exchange for the protection Sapphire was giving him. He is wanted all over the country for a crime he didn’t even do. With Sapphire’s help and influence, he was able to fake his own death, create a new identity, and live his life to the fullest.That’s why he’ll always feel indebted to Sapphire, and he’ll follow her commands, no matter what that is.Without him knowing, Sapphire was indebted to him, too. Because of him, Sapphire now knew where to focus her attention— Who was the real oppressor, and who was just framed up."The email you sent me." Sapphire looked again at the photos attached to the email. For a moment, she couldn't believe her eyes. "Is this true?""Of course,
AS AUGUST and Charles ended their conversation, the time went fast, and it was already seven o’clock in the morning. Sapphire was continually banging on his door, telling him to prepare faster as she needed to leave early because she had tons of things to do, especially the problem with the product recall.If only Sapphire could leave early to work, she would. But Charles made it a habit for the Remington family members to go to the company together. She found that habit weird, especially when it’s the rule maker— Charles— who disobeys that rule sometimes. There are times that Charles leaves early in the morning without her knowing.However, she couldn’t complain. At least, not with Charles.“Aren’t you done preparing?” Sapphire asked, slightly annoyed while standing in front of his door. “I need to leave! Father and I are waiting!”“Sorry,” August apologized sincerely. “Wait for me for a minute.”As he was done preparing, he stared at his large vertical mirror for the last time. Hi
“STAY HERE. I’ll go alone,” said August as he gazed from side to side. “It won't take long.”Nicollo couldn’t do anything but nod and watch August as he went inside the mausoleum, and closed the door.“Mrs. Johens,” greeted August. He placed the bouquet of flowers he had bought earlier on the streets on top of her tombstone.“It’s been a long time. I’m sorry that I wasn’t visiting you as much as I promised before.”He smiled bitterly before he sat on the floor.It’s been a few months since Mrs. Johens died, yet the pain in his heart still remains like it just happened yesterday. But what’s more painful was the thing behind her death.“I had too many things on my plate. I wasn’t able to investigate your death for a while…” August placed his hand on both his cheeks as he continued speaking. “And even though I have leads, I couldn’t find any evidence that would lead me to what happened to you.”Suddenly, the wind went colder. Instead of being afraid, August smiled as he took it as a si
“THIS IS the proposed revised version of the digital blood pressure machine…” explained August as he tapped his fingers on the picture. He tapped particularly on the right bottom side of it, which made everyone’s brows furrow as they couldn’t decipher what could be the purpose of the small red button on it. “Nothing had changed. It is still the same as the old machine— except that we’ll be more cautious now in terms of the ingredients for the manufacturing— so the same problem wouldn’t occur again.” Charles nodded, the same as Sapphire and the other people from the meeting. With just one introductory sentence, August was able to get everyone’s attention, and he made them listen to him, and only focus on him. On the other hand, Katie’s brows pressed more onto each other. Annoyance consumed all over her body as everyone suddenly lost interest in what she had explained earlier. Everyone’s attention is on August now, and she felt betrayed because of that. “However, I placed a red bu
AFTER AUGUST left the meeting room, he worked at the CEO’s office and did errands. He organized some documents and schedules. The work time didn’t take long for him as was busy, and a couple of hours later, it was already lunchtime. He almost wasn’t able to notice it if his gaze didn’t move on the wall clock.He was just waiting for Charles to stand up first and stop working. August was already famished, but if the CEO isn’t taking a break yet, neither could he.He stared at Charles for so long, who doesn’t seem to mind working for a long time. Charles was silently reading one of the documents when he noticed August, who didn’t even bother to look away, even when he caught him. “It’s rude to stare, child,” said Charles as his brows furrowed. Confusion was evident in his expression as well. “You wanted to ask me something?”“Aren’t you going to eat, sir?” asked August. His gaze flickered between the wall clock and Charles. “It’s lunchtime.”“I’ll eat later.” Charles continued what
“YOU WEREN’T doing your job properly! What kind of a proposal is this?! This isn't a proposal, but trash! Just like you, you're trash!” It was Katie and Fiona in an abandoned storage room, taken a few days before Katie fired Fiona from the company, and even gave her a failed evaluation on her internship so she could have a hard time finding another job. Katie threw away the white folder onto Fiona, who sat on the floor as she felt her knees wobbly because of fear. “I-I’m sorry, ma’am—” “You’re sorry?” Katie raised a brow, irritated. “What can you apologize for?! Time is running fast, and you’re just wasting it, making worthless proposals like this!” “I-I’ll make another—” “Of course, you should!” Katie’s loud slap on Fiona was heard all over the room, making the latter scream in shock and pain. However, it wasn’t enough for Katie. Despite Fiona pleading with her to stop hurting her, Katie still pulled Fiona’s hair and slapped her on both sides of her cheek. “Do. Your. Job. Prop
WITH HIS brows furrowed, August waited for Maxine to speak. However, after a few seconds, Maxine did was to heave a sigh repeatedly. Her lips opened and closed like she was contemplating what to say.“It's okay,” August assured her when he saw her pained expression. “If it's that hard to say, then you can keep it to yourself for now—”“Master Charles is sick,” said Maxine as she suddenly found the courage to speak.“What?”August was stunned. He blinked his eyes twice, his lips parted in shock, and he even forgot to breathe because of the shock he felt.“I'm sorry.” He leaned his face towards Maxine. “Pardon?” The tip of his brows pressed more as he waited for Maxine to speak again. He wanted to believe that he just heard her wrong.But by looking at how tears cascaded from Maxine's face, he knew that he heard everything right. He was just in denial of it.“Master Charles… is sick,” Maxine spoke again slowly and with a lower voice this time.August closed his eyes, feeling the sudden
“RUMOR?” Sapphire’s statements got Maxine’s attention this time. Staring confusedly at Sapphire, she asked. “What rumor?”“That August did something bad to master so he could take his position!” Sapphire exclaimed, louder this time as she couldn't contain her emotions anymore.“It has been circulating around the company over a while now. I don't know who spread that news, but everyone seems to believe it…”A hint of annoyance and worry was evident in Sapphire's voice. However, her eyes were still fierce and brave. She was still against the idea of August being a part of the transactions, not because she envies August, but because of how painful it will be for him…August would experience hell again for the second time, yet he looked like he didn't care at all.“As frequently as I hear it, the more ridiculous it sounds to me.” August even chuckled lightly as he shrugged. The wicked smile never left his face as he continued reading the document. Suddenly, his eyes fixated on one page