Chapter 43: A NEW CEO

“Dude, dude, you need to see this,” Charles said as he barged into my office. A habit he has that I have to deal with.

“You know you need to quit calling me a dude at work.”

“Sorry, but I couldn't help it. Have you seen the news articles this morning?” The way he sounded, I knew something was up.

“No, I have been too busy to even touch my phone.”

“You need to see this,” Charles said as he placed the iPad he was holding in front of me. I picked it up, and the very picture I saw was that of Mr. Sebastian. 

“How on earth is he the newly appointed CEO of Glams Beauty and Fashion? Something is fishy about this; I mean, it hasn't been up to two weeks since Miss Barnard was reported missing after her parents deaths.”

I sighed as I went through the article. Charles was right; something was fishy. Mr. Sebastian claimed to be still married to Alda when she practically told me about their divorce. It's been a week since Alda went into a coma. A few days after I brought her to the hospital, her condition worsened.

She kept getting weaker with each passing day, and now she is in a coma. Mike and I are still left in the dark without a clue as to what happened to Alda or why Mr. Sebastian released a suicide note, which he claims Alda left for him.

The police have been looking for Alda, but I wasn't ready to admit that Alda was alive. The only people that know should be Mike and me. The other workers at the hospital couldn't recognise her because Alda has never been a public figure.

Once the first news article was out, Mike and I moved Alda to a private ward, where Mike and a few of his trusted workers attended to her. Mr. Sebastian was up to something, and I'm planning on finding out what that is.

“Xender, hello!” Charles said he was waving his hand in front of me as he called for my attention. I looked up at him, and he gave me questioning eyes.

“Why are you blacking out in the middle of the day? I need you to focus; we have a lot of trouble in our hands.” I looked up at Charles and felt sorry for not telling him everything that had been happening.

“Can you set up a meeting with Mr. Sebastian? Also, we are calling off our project with Glams Beauty and Fashion for now until we are sure of what is going on.” Charles nodded to my instructions before he picked up his iPad and turned to leave, but stopped and came back, staring at me suspiciously.

“Why weren't you surprised that Mr. Sebastian is married to Mr. Barnard’s only daughter?”

“Because I knew all along, Miss Alda told me.”

“Hmm, why do I feel like you are hiding something from me? You know something about this case, but why aren't you talking to me?”

“I need to figure out some certain things, then I will tell you everything, but now I need you to set up a meeting with Mr. Sebastian. He owns me and needs to start paying his bills, or his next ticket will be prison.”

“I will let you know once I'm able to set up the meeting, and Xender, your dad wants you to be at the up-coming celebration at his company. I think he is going to do a handover to Emily, and he wants you to be there.”

“When is the celebration?”

“Tomorrow, I will give you more information on it later.” 

“Okay, I know you have a lot on your hands, but can you wrap up for me? There is somewhere I need to be urgently.”

“Sure, I mean, I have been doing that for close to two weeks. You are hiding something, but I will just wait for you to come clean. Greet Mike for me; you two are up to something, but I will wait until you decide when to make me a part of it.” He said that and left.

I actually forgot that I could never hide a thing from him. I started wrapping up, as I was supposed to meet Mike at the hospital today. The police have been searching for a body that might possibly belong to Alda, which means we had to be careful not to get caught.

“Sir, are you leaving early again for today?” Rosa asked as she approached me with an envelope in her hand at the front desk. She has been doing pretty well lately.

“Yes, what's that on your hand?”

“It's mail; it came in this evening.”

“Any address on it?”

“No”

“Okay, let me have it." I said that and took the envelope from her.

“See you tomorrow, sir,” she said, but I was way too distracted by the mail in my hand to respond to her. I walked into the elevator, pressing the down-floor button, before tiring the envelope, only to have a little piece of paper fall out of it. I picked it up and read what was written on it.

“Meet me at our usual restaurant this evening; let's talk business.” That's it; that was the fucking message he had to send through mail. What happened to his fucking cell phone?

I angrily tore the papers into pieces and dumped them in the waste bin immediately after I left the elevator. I can't believe that idiot. Maybe I should just go meet him; that will also save me the stress of setting up a meeting with him.

I dialled Mike's number to inform him I would be late. I didn't waste much time before I started my car and headed for the location.

Siofra’s POV

I have been sitting in the space of this room, looking so lost, as her situation gets worse. It's been close to two weeks since I got here. Two weeks of not knowing how or what Alma has turned Álfheimr into in my absence.

I need to go home, but I can't do that without her. Hearing the doctor talk about her baby breaks my heart, but there is nothing I can do. I can't even save the baby, and the doctor has already concluded on removing the baby just so her life would be safe.

She has just been lying on that bed day in and day out, not waking up or even moving. I have tried to reach out to her from the inside, but the wall she had built was too strong for me to break. The least I could do was try to keep her stable.

The more I use my power, the more weak I become. If she dies, I die, and no one will be able to save Álfheimr. Just then, the machine that was always sitting besides her started giving out a beep sound.

I didn't know much about humans, but I know that whenever that machine beeps, it means danger. The doctor and two nurses rushed in as they started attending to her.

“We are losing her. Get me the defibrillator!!” The doctor called out as the nurses ran back and forth as they rushed out of the room. When they returned, they had another machine with them. They began using it on her.

I was too distracted with the doctor and nurses running about to notice that I was fading away, or should I say disappearing? I could barely see my body; it was like I was becoming invisible to my own self.

I looked towards Alda, whom the doctors were trying to save, and I felt scared. I have to try to be brave, but I was scared that this might really be the end.

“Go prepare the surgery room; we are taking her in now.” That was the last thing I heard the doctor say before I faded away.

Xender's POV

I stared at the man sitting in front of me in anger, but I tried to hide it with a smile. He just sat in front of me, eating and drinking so carefreely that he wasn't even worried about the world. All I wanted to do was strangle him until he spoke the truth.

"So, Mr. Armstrong, it seems the food wasn't cooked to your taste.” He said it to me.

“And why would you say so?” I asked, cutting a piece of my beef meat and putting it in my mouth.

“Because you are barely touching your food, it seems like you enjoyed staring at me more than the food.”

“Staring at you? Why would I want to stare at you, Mr. Sebastian? The only thing I want from you is the money you owe me. I'm taking this case to court.”

"Relax, Mr. Armstrong. I have your money with me, cash,” he said, slightly clapping his hand, and the security guy that has been standing behind him since I arrived here brought him a suitcase.

“Inside this suitcase, you will find your money and even an extra million dollars." I stared at him unbelievablely. He opened the box and slightly pushed it my way.

I took the box and confirmed the money, and it was actually complete with an extra million dollars. I took out the extra money and placed it in front of him.

“You can keep the change; I don't need it.” I said to him with my voice, void of any emotion.

"Relax, Mr. Armstrong; I just want my company and your company to continue the project we were working on,” he said.

Did he just say his company? This guy has to be kidding me.

“I will only work with Miss Barnard; if not her, then the deal is off.” I said to him before getting up from my seat as I took the suitcase and headed for the door.

“Are you sure you are not going to regret it?” He called after me just as I was about to step out.

“You are not worth working with, Mr. Sebastian. If you ask me, I will tell you to go back to business school; you still have a lot to learn before you are ready to handle a company, not to mention bigger firms.

I hope you will find some reason in my words; do have a good evening.” I said that to him and left.