Chapter Ten
Damien had been trying his hardest not to feel so impatient, but it was obvious that he was as he continuously tapped his palm against his thigh, waiting for Mr Rudiger’s arrival again today.
After a few moments of checking his watch at intervals, his secretary finally rang to inform him of Mr Rudiger’s arrival. He immediately ordered her to him in and looked up in anticipation when the door swung open.
“Give me good news,” He said, ignoring the presence of the other man who accompanied Mr Rudiger.
He frowned when he saw Mr Rudiger take off his glasses and rub his forehead. “We have been tracking the Connors like you requested, but so far we haven’t been able to get any information on the immediate family, or how their empire crashed. It’s almost like they all vanished into thin air.”
Damien’s face crumpled in anger. “That’s all you’ve come up with? It’s been days. I’m starting to think you’re not the right person for this job. I need something beneficial.”
Mr Rudiger nodded. “Fortunately we were able to get a hold of some of the shareholders of the dissolved company.”
Damien leaned forward at the mention of the positive piece of information. He needed something, anything at all. If he didn’t know how the empire crashed, or where the rest of the Connors were, he would not be able to carry out his sweet revenge.
And that wasn’t something he could leave with.
“But unfortunately, no matter how hard we prodded, they blatantly refused to disclose anything to us.”
Damien’s brows furrowed in confusion as he wondered what they were so adamant about. All of this was getting more complicated with each passing day.
“Mr Paul here has a reasonable explanation for that though. Which is why he’s here with me. He will be aiding me in the investigation from now.”
Damien nodded briefly at the other man who had already taken out a document from the folder he held.
“That is an NDA,” The lawyer explained promptly as Damien looked through the document. “A non-disclosure agreement. That’s a sample of what it looks like. The most probable explanation for their silence could be this. My theory is that Mr Connor made his investors sign this. After signing this, under no circumstances are they allowed to disclose any sensitive information regarding certain business deals. Probably due to media purposes.”
Damien nodded. It made sense that Mr Connor wouldn’t want whatever it is he was trying to hide come out in the open.
But Damien had sworn to get to the bottom of this as it was crucial. No matter what it took.
Opening his drawer, he procured a checkbook, flipping open a page and writing a check of one million dollars. He swiped it across the desk to Mr Rudiger.
Facing him sternly, he said, “That should help with whatever investigation you want to carry out. I don’t care how you use it, just bring back the necessary information. And if you show up empty handed a second time, you won’t have a place to show up to anymore,” He warned.This is from NôvelDrama.Org.
Mr Rudiger knew what those words meant and so he nodded in understanding before leaving with the lawyer.
“Fuck!” Damien yelled, hitting his hands against his desk in frustration. He hated how the investigation was beginning to seem stagnant. It had gone nowhere at all. And the slow paced only postponed his plans further.
He needed to bring the Connors down. Every single one of them.
As he thought of the family he thoroughly despised, the only one he had once loved came to mind.
Madison.
He hated the way his memories of her easily came to mind. Without knowing exactly why, he thought of the younger version of her. All the times they had spent together.
He remembered how the sight of her used to take his breath away. How she always smelled of lavender and primroses, her strawberry blonde hair that perfectly framed her face, and her smile…
She had always had a beautiful smile.
He felt a twinge of pain as he remembered the night of the event. She had looked nothing like the Madison he knew. And the last image of her was one of her sobbing, her eyes swollen as she picked up pieces of the glass that cut into her skin. She was obviously in pain.
His face hardened.
She was in pain, just like he was. She had hurt him, betrayed him.
She deserved every damn thing that she was going through, he decided. And he would make sure that it would get a lot worse when he was done with her.
The sound of his ringtone brought him out of his thoughts and he picked up on seeing the caller ID.
“Mom,” He answered, trying to sound a bit excited. The whole thing with the investigation was still pissing him off.
“How are you doing, baby?” He heard his mother’s voice from the other ended. “I’ve missed you. We haven’t seen you in a long while.”
“I’m sorry about that, Mom. I’ll make it up to you, I promise.”
When there was silence from the other end, he knew she was about to ask him something.
“Well, we’re having a family dinner in a few days. It would be nice if you came. And bring your girlfriend as well.”
.
Damien shut his eyes, trying not to groan out loud. He wanted to refuse but he knew it would hurt her. “Fine,” He gave in, although reluctant.
“Great! It’s going to be so nice having you home after so long.”
He wanted to remind her that it had only been a few weeks but he didn’t, listening as she began to list out the things she wanted to prepare.
He chuckled. “Yes, Mom. Chicken is fine.”
…….
Madison could feel her lungs hurt with each shaky breath as she tried to keep her teeth from chattering to no avail.
She clutched some of the money Alvarez had given her in a tight grip.
She still felt terrible for accepting the money.
But there was nothing she could do about it. She had to eat. She crossed the street to the tiny eatery across the motel, still shivering.
The only protection she had against the cold was a thin coat, which was ridden with tiny holes from wear.
With the little money she held, she got a tiny piece of bread and a hot bowl of soup. She feared that she had gotten a cold, and she couldn’t afford to get medicine.
Hopefully the soup would do the trick.
Since she had gotten the soup as takeaway, she hurriedly crossed the street back to the motel, desperate to get out of the cold.
As she walked through the doors, she saw one of the two receptionists look up at her and begin to chuckle. “That’s her,” She laughed, going to the extent of pointing a finger at Madison.
The other receptionist quickly looked down on a magazine on her desk, breaking out in laughter when she looked back. “Oh my god, she looks even worse in person.”
Taken aback in surprise and embarrassment, Madison looked down at their desk to see the reason for all of this ridicule, and she nearly dropped her food in shock.
A picture of her in tears, picking up shards of glass with bloody fingers was plastered on the front page of the popular magazine.
The memory of that night flooded her head and she felt tears formed in her eyes.
The entire world was reveling in her humiliation.
Just because of one mistake. And one person…
How could she show her face in public after this?
Would anyone even want to hire her?
Tears streaming down her face, she stormed down to her room, the laughter of the two women ringing in her head the entire time.
She slumped to the floor once in the comfort of her room and sobbed for everything that she had lost.