Out of the Woods

Chapter 3

Baril

For a moment, everyone went silent. Nobody dared to talk.

Tiningnan ko isa-isa ang mga taong nakapalibot sa akin. I already know all of them. I know who they are, what school did they go to, who are their family members. I even know every bit of their dirty little secrets. I know everything.

A sophisticated lady in brown dress decided to break the silence. "Excuse me young lady, but... do you have a proof for your claim?" she asked.

I signaled Mr. Chandler, my secretary, to give her the documents that proves that I am the owner of the company.

She quickly scanned the documents. Then, she turned to me with a friendly smile. "Nice to meet you, Yukina. I'm your mother's friend, Graciella Salvador, and the Head of the Board of Directors. I can't believe you grew up into such fine lady. Manang-mana ka sa mommy mo hija. That temper of yours, you really got it from Harumi. "

I smiled at her. "Thank you."

I know her. She's one of my mom's few trusted friends. I've seen her on pictures. I also know her track record and she's clean. Walang bahid ng korupsiyon.

"How old are you now dear? I cannot quite remember when was the last time I saw you."

"I'm seventeen na po."

I heard the whispers of the board. Nagulat ata sila na bata pa ako.

"She's still seventeen? How can we trust a kid to run the company?"

"There's no way I'll allow myself to be ordered by a seventeen year-old girl."

"She's too young for the job. She should be playing instead of running this company."

"We cannot entrust the company to someone as young as her. We will go bancrupt for sure."

I smirked.

Fools. I'm sure I can even run the company better than them.

"Ms. Astrophel has six degrees. She has a degree in business, law, civil engineering, physics, chemistry, and computer science. She also has masters in business. She has an Intelligence Quotient of 154. And for four years, she has been secretly running the company. She-"

I raised my hand to Mr. Chandler to make him stop bragging about my credentials.

"Enough for that. Now I want to hear the company's status for this month."

Tumayo ang isang lalaki at nagsimula na siyang mag-ulat.

Tiningnan ko ang mga dokumentong hawak ko at napakunot-noo.

"Our sales have dropped drastically for this month and I also noticed that some of the transactions didn't end up well. Can someone explain this to me?" I asked them coldly.

"Uh, miss Astrophel, our low sales was caused by Mr. Andrada's recent assault scandal. The consumers were not happy and decided to boycott our products," Mr. Lucena answered nervously.

Mr. Andrada stood up furiously. "Ano? We all know that I was wrongly accused. The people just over-reacted. Wala silang alam sa totoong nangyari."

Ngumuso ako at tiningnan mata sa mata si Mr. Andrada.

"Talaga bang napagkamalan ka lang Mr. Andrada?" I asked playfully.

"As far as I know, it was really you who punched that poor waiter for messing up with your order. You just bribed the police, the waiter, and the media for you to get away with all the charges and allegations," I said as a matter of fact.

Namutla si Mr. Andrada.

"Not only did you assault the poor waiter. You also did a handful of nasty things. You raped the daughter of your housemaid and ended up empregnating her. You destroyed the young girl's life. And oh! You also pocketed some money from the company. All in all, you are a complete trash who's trying to come clean from all of your sins, forgetting the things that you have done to others  and here you are trying to pull the I-am-wrongly-accused card to me? Come on. Hindi ka ba nahihiya?"

The people around the room looked at him with disgust. Hypocrites. Parang wala din silang tinatagong baho.

"Starting today, I am removing you, Mr. Paulo Andrada from the Board of Directors. Please prepare yourself because the police will be here soon to arrest you." I said with finality.

"W-what? No! Miss Astrophel, this is a mistake! No, please. I ask for consideration," he pleaded.

Tiningnan ko siya, tinging naaawa "Mr. Andrada..."

"Rot... in... prison." I said mercilessly.

"Guards! Throw him out of here, please, and give him to the Police when they arrive."

"No! Miss Astrophel, you'll regret this! You bitch!"

When Mr. Andrada was finally removed from the room, I looked at each one of them. Takot ang nasa kanilang mga mata.

Ha! Tama nga yan. Matakot kayo sa akin dahil hindi niyo alam ang kaya kong gawin.

Nabigla ang lahat nang may isang bruhildang pumasok.

Oops. It's Ethel, the bitch.

Nagsigawan ang lahat nang bumunot siya ng baril at itinutok sa akin.

"Walang hiya kang bata ka? Bakit ka narito, ha!? Akin ang kompanya na 'to. Akin!" she shouted with all of her might.