A Degree in Murder

Chapter Seventeen: A Rock and a Hard Place

Eleanor had been unable to focus on her work since her mini mental breakdown two days ago. She got up from the table in her flex room turned office, walked over to the bookcase on the far side of the room and pulled out the one book she felt would help her. It was a book she had finished binge reading within the first four days of her suspension.

A modicum of revenge, a book by Sam Winston, was a story about a wife in a physically and emotionally abusive relationship with a powerful Wall Street banker. She hung in there for the sake of her two children but after more than a decade of marriage, she threw in the towel. Divorce was no longer an option for her. She wanted to see the bastard six feet under for all the pain he put her through. For an entire month, she painstakingly planned how to commit the perfect murder. Ultimately she managed to pull it off and lived happily ever after with her children.

Is there really no other option?

The first option had not worked out the way she'd hoped. Not only did Eleanor receive zero backup from her boss and fellow OPTC members during her impassioned outburst but she was nearly fired for her efforts. The chain of command which was supposed to help people in her situation had been completely decimated.

The second option was hardly any better than the first. The nondisclosure agreement she had signed upon joining the OPTC barred her from reporting this to the only people who could do something. A part of her thought of breaking the NDA and shutting the whole thing down but she knew better. There was no guarantee that she would win the lawsuit filed against her if she took that route for two reasons. Firstly, she had no concrete proof of what Zhang intended to do. The second point was the simple fact that the other side had far deeper pockets than she did. This gave them the added option of dragging the case out until Eleanor's finances were bled dry.

A horrible truth that Eleanor knew deep down but would not admit to anyone was that she had sacrificed so much to get where she was. To throw it all away now would break her heart and probably kill her.

Stuck between the proverbial rock and a hard place. Shit.

Option three involved her quietly serving her suspension, returning to work and towing the company line. Her conscience would not allow her to go about her business like nothing shady was happening on her doorstep.

Eleanor cradled the book against her bosom and slumped down to the floor. This left her with the final option: taking matters into her own hands much like the character in the book, Lisa Thornburgh. Other than the name, she shared similar characteristics to her beloved friend. Could she live with the consequences of her actions? If she were successful with this crazy mission, she would have to live with the consequences of her actions for the rest of her life. On the flipside, her life would be over if even one step in her planning went awry. Not only would her career be over but Eleanor would definitely receive the needle for her efforts. There was no way in hell they'd let her live.

Such a decision could not be taken lightly. Whatever her choice would be, she had to be absolutely certain otherwise she would not be able to move forward. It was either her career or her sanity. On paper, it didn't seem like a difficult decision to make but life was not lived on paper.

The world was so much simpler when everything was in black and white.