Looking at Praise as she stepped out of the elevator, one would never have thought she had suffered a breakdown recently. Minimal makeup hid the bags under her eyes, and her hair was packed into an elegant bun, complementing the chic trouser suit she wore.
Her mask was placed on her face – that deceiving smile she constantly wore -, and ready to put her plan into action, she knocked on Mark’s door, before entering the office.
Unsurprisingly, Sean was there, and he gave her an averse once over before looking away.
“Took you long enough Praise,” Mark sneered. He picked up a newspaper from the table and threw it at her, the missile hitting her across the face before falling to the floor. “What is the meaning of this? You were supposed to be keeping an eye on Mr. Ark and he does this under your watch?”
Praise scoffed as she picked up the newspaper, tamping down the anger she felt as her face stung where it had hit her. Her words were scathing when she spoke, stripped of all respect. “You tell me to keep a watch over him, and then you also send an assassin after me. Tell me, sir, how do I obey your instructions? From the afterlife?”
Mark looked visibly surprised. “Pardon?”
“With all due respect sir, don’t act like you don’t know what you did. I thought that when you told me you would not interfere with my activities with him, you trusted me to keep him in check. But apparently, you trust me so little you want to get rid of me.” Praise’s words were scathing despite her cool appearance and Mark paused, as if hearing it for the first time.
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m tired of your games, Mr. Koenig. On Saturday, you ordered a drive by shooting of my house and also sent a hitman after Mr. Ark and I. If that doesn’t show you want to get rid of me, I don’t know what does.” Praise inserted a little quaver into her voice, one that made it seem like she was resolutely holding back the urge to cry.
It worked. Mark looked confused at the sudden revelation, and then he abruptly turned to Sean. “Sean, did you…?”
Sean looked at Praise contemptuously, leaning forward. “Cut the theatrics Praise, I know you got a text from Mr. Ark, telling you to meet him on Saturday. Why didn’t you report that to us? I’d never have thought you were the gold digger type but you’re living with him now. It’s obvious you’ll tell him anything to curry his favour.”
Praise bristled, his words striking a chord of annoyance inside her. “Excuse me Mr. Bishop but I agreed to meet with Mr. Ark because he said we were going to meet a friend of Mikel, in case Mikel had contacted him. I did not inform you simply because I forgot, not because I wanted to ‘curry his favour’.”
She took a breath, ready to sow the seed of discord. “Pardon me sir, but do you know what your actions have caused me? No one except for Tyler’s aides know he is in town, and therefore, no one except me could have known we were going to visit a friend of Mikel on Saturday. Tyler noticed the hitman you sent after us and has automatically assumed I sold him out because he is an influential figure, destroying any trust he had in me. As for living with him, he has only allowed it out of pity because he saw how scared my kids were.”
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Mark grit his teeth and knew he had taken the bait.
“Already I have been excluded from all his investigations despite living in the same house with him, and seeing as I work here, he is beginning to look for connections between his brother’s disappearance and this company. It may not be long before a lead comes up. Remember Tyler is as influential as you both, if not more so. The police will be working overtime to please him. I don’t see why you would do all of this just because of a text.”
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No Blessed ✓
Fantasy- Completed - For Mikel Ark, being offered a job by the world's biggest gaming company is a dream come true, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that will launch his career as a hotshot programmer. But what Mikel hasn't been told is that his employer's...
