Chapter 114. Painful words
Jackson Johnson
My blood was boiling as I realized that all of this must have been Georgina Vans' doing. What had alerted me were her words on the night of the event after finishing that dance. I couldn't believe that for a moment I had thought Lilly was the one who had embezzled, but immediately upon seeing it in her eyes, I knew she wasn't. But I had already opened my mouth, I had already hurt her, and I knew the trust between us had changed.
"How far can we go for ambition..."
I should have seen it coming, I should have listened to my intuition. Now the woman I loved was caught up in this mess just because another woman sought revenge for not being chosen.
"Do you know who it was?" Lilly's voice pulled me out of my thoughts. I turned my gaze to her, still seated in the chair in front of my desk. "You know."
"I think so," I confessed. "But I need to find the evidence." She placed the folder she had on her lap and then stood up.
"Let's find it."
"First, I need to deal with this," I gestured to my desk.
"But it's clear that it wasn't me. If that money is in that account, we can take it out and return it to the supposed buyers so they can give the apartments back." Her face showed a bit of hope. Seeing that I didn't respond, she pressed her lips together. "Jackson, I want to clear my name before this gets any bigger."
"Unfortunately, this has already come to light." Her eyes widened more than usual. "I'll fix it."
"What do you mean it's come to light?" I heard as Richard entered again with Angela from public relations.
"Mr. Johnson, the press conference is ready in ten minutes, the conference room is being set up, and..." Lilly interrupted by turning to her.
"What has leaked to warrant a press conference?" She turned her gaze to me. "Tell me it's not what I'm thinking." I ran my hands through my hair.
"I swear I'll find the person who leaked it to the media." I noticed a paleness in Lilly that I hadn't seen before. She was about to step back, and I thought she might be dizzy. "What's wrong? Are you feeling ill?" She didn't let me touch her, putting a distance between us that marked me deeply. "No, Jackson, calm down, it's the moment, she's stressed."
"The media?" I nodded slowly. "Oh my God, my family..."
"I'll fix it, I swear." Her paleness and weak tone of voice alerted me even more, so I didn't care and reached for her arm to make her sit in the chair. This time she didn't reject me. Richard approached with a bottle of water, which I handed to Lilly, who shook her head. "Take a sip, please." I insisted, then looked at Angela. "Tell my secretary to bring the emergency kit."
"I'm fine, it's just that all of this has overwhelmed me," she confessed. "It's too much..."
"Smelling some alcohol might..." Lilly stood up and ran to the private bathroom in my office. I ran after her, trying to enter, but she had locked the door.
"Open up, what's wrong?" I was worried, then I heard retching, followed by water... Richard approached, alerted.
"When I went to get her, before getting on the elevator, she also vomited and was less pale than she is now."
"What could it be?" I approached the door again. "Are you okay? Do you need anything?"
"No, thanks. You should get ready for the press conference," she said from the other side of the door.
"Fine, Richard will stay in my place. Wait here, I don't want you to return to the office until we talk and decide what to do, okay?"
"Okay," she responded.
"Take care of her, please," I told Richard. He softened his expression and then nodded.
"I'll stay here, don't worry."
I thanked him and then grabbed my blazer to put it on. I headed to the conference room, and as I entered, Angela came in behind me and gave instructions to the others. They had already set up a cameraman, and there were several people from two major TV stations in the city. They put a microphone in my suit pocket, and Angela handed me a speech. I read it quickly.
"Can't we omit these parts?" I whispered to Angela, and she shook her head.
"A lot has been leaked to the press. What we'll do is just omit Miss Bradley."
"Fine," I took a deep breath and exhaled through my teeth. It was the first time something like this had happened in my company, but someone had leaked confidential information and caused a stir that should have been handled behind closed doors and resolved. After this, I would conduct a thorough review to find out who it was besides Georgina. After reading the statement, the questions didn't wait. They had a lot of information, and I only answered what Angela allowed. One of them mentioned Lilly, and I was about to get up and start a fight, but Angela saw my intentions and discreetly stopped me. My heart was racing, and the flashes made me nervous. The last thing I wanted was to have an anxiety attack here in front of everyone.
I finished and headed to my office, feeling a bit relieved to have clarified part of what was happening, but I was furious inside about the person who must have leaked the embezzlement. I arrived at the office, and Lilly was sitting on one of the sofas in the room. I looked at Richard, who was still concerned.
"How are you feeling? Do you need anything? You still look pale." I addressed Lilly, but she shook her head.
"I watched the press conference," she said, now looking at me from her seat. I looked at Richard.
"Make sure no one interrupts us, please." He nodded and left us alone. I walked toward her, sat next to her, and she visibly tensed, so I stood up and put some distance between us. "Do you have any idea who might have leaked the information?" She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.
"I have a suspicion, but it really might be nothing." I moved closer to her and sat on the arm of the chair.
"About who?" she pressed her lips together, and I could see doubt in her eyes.
"Mr. Paige..." I raised my eyebrows in surprise.
"Why are you suspicious?" I asked.
"This morning I came in an hour early, and he was surprised to see me. I noticed he seemed a bit nervous and started asking me if anyone had figured out who had embezzled the money. I denied knowing anything. Then he said, 'It's thirty million dollars. That's five luxury apartments sold by someone. They must have figured out who it was by now. There should be a revolution in the company, but everything seems very calm.' I told him, 'Maybe Mr. Johnson doesn't want to make a spectacle out of this.' And then he said, 'Oh, you're right. I need to make a call,' and then he left. Not even fifteen minutes had passed when everyone knew about it. Could he have called to inform someone?" Everything she said made sense.
"I'll call Richard to investigate." I stood up and headed to the door. I opened it, and Richard was waiting. When he saw me, he stood up immediately and approached. "Paige," I said. He nodded.
"I have the security camera footage. I'll review it."
"It seems he made a call. Could you find out who he called?"
"I can do that, sir."
"Thank you." He then left. I went back inside, and Lilly was coming toward me. I closed the door immediately to keep her from leaving. "Where are you going? You're not working today. You're staying with me."
"I need to find out who dragged me into this situation." She paused and narrowed her eyes. "Who did this?" She crossed her arms.
"I don't have proof yet. I have a plan to find out."
"And what about Mr. Paige?"
"Richard is already looking into it, but for now..." she interrupted me.
"I can't stay in your office all day." I noticed the anxiety in her voice. I reached out to touch her, but she stepped back, and that sharp pain hit my chest again. "I'm sorry, but keeping distance is for the best."
"Please don't ask me that." Her brown eyes looked at me intently.
"Jackson, I'm in a huge mess because of someone," she paused and ran a hand through her tied-up hair, biting her lip briefly, then looked at me, "I'm stressed. I had to tell my parents what's going on. They suggested hiring a lawyer, and..." I grabbed her wrist despite her attempt to pull away. I didn't let go, pulling her closer, but with her other hand, she created a barrier. "I'm mentally exhausted, going in circles trying to figure out who could have done this to me," her lower lip trembled, then she shook her head, "I would never do something like this to you." She then broke down crying, and I couldn't take it anymore; I hugged her. "Let go of me, Jackson," she exclaimed, but I didn't. She stopped trying to pull away, but her crying grew louder and louder. "I would never do something like this to you," she said while crying. "Your words hurt me more than you can imagine," her body trembled in my embrace. Her pain had transferred to me, the way she cried, the way her fingers clung to my dress shirt, and the bitterness in her words.
"If I have to apologize for the rest of my life, I will. Forgive me, honey." She pushed away abruptly, then shook her head, creating distance.
"Don't call me that, Jackson."
"You're my girlfriend," I said in a low tone, filled with some emotion as she asked me not to call her that. "We're a couple..."
"We were." When I heard those two words, they almost suffocated me and dragged me to hell.
"What?" I stammered.
"You broke a pillar between us, that pillar that held us both up." I closed my eyes and tried to control my heartbeat. "I'm sorry, but I can't be with someone who doesn't trust me." I opened my eyes, and my lower lip trembled. "I'm sorry, Jackson. But I'll resign as soon as we find the culprits of the embezzlement, and it's best that once this is resolved, we each go our separate ways."
"Tell me I'm not hearing that you're going to end us." Her brown eyes filled with tears again.
"It's sad to find everything you want in a place where you can't stay." She said it through tears. I tried to approach her, but she shook her head and stepped back again.
"Please!" I exclaimed in pain. "You can't leave me, Lilly. We can fix this together."
"Understand that the trust is broken!" she replied to my words, wiping her cheeks harshly. "That pillar we both cared for has fallen beneath our feet. Maybe you were right to question if you really knew me." I closed my eyes, and for the first time in a long time, I started to cry.
"I-I made a mistake, I know." I turned my back to her so she wouldn't see me like this. "Jackson, stop," I tried to control my broken voice as I turned back to her. "I thought there was something really strong between us."
"Jackson, stop," Lilly sobbed.
"Unfortunately, there is evidence that implicates you, and for a moment I thought, 'Why didn't she come to me if she needed money?' But you know what? I never thought of ending us. I just wanted to fix it. I know I said things, but I regretted it as soon as I looked into your eyes. I've apologized. Don't you think I should be acting like you are? I didn't care about the damn money! I cared about you! About clearing your name, understanding why you didn't come to me. I should be the one ending this! Not you! And you know you're breaking my heart with your words!"
"You did the same!" Then she dodged me and left the office, leaving me in shambles, overwhelmed with conflicting emotions. This can't be real; it must be just a damn nightmare.