Chapter Thirty Three: Emergency

Chapter Thirty Three: Emergency


Daphne's POV

“Cass! Do you know how risky it was for you to come here?” I hiss.

“I don't know what you mean.” She shrugs and crosses her legs.

I narrow my eyes at her. “Your cousin could be here, you know. Do you really want to take that risk?”

She swats her palm through the air as if the threat of her cousin discovering is nothing more than a bothersome insect.

“Oh please, that's not what's important right now.” She teases.

“I mean, can't a girl come and pay a good natured visit to her friend?” Sha arches an eyebrow playfully.

I raise mine back in response. “We both know that we weren't here for moral support. You just wanted to watch the drama unfold.”

“You're not wrong.” She grins.

“But I could certainly do both can't I? Besides, I wanted to watch you slay in that outfit……among other things….” She drifts off.

“I knew it! You came here for something else, spill it.” I grab onto her forearm.

“Uh uhn,” She peels my hand off hers, wagging her fore finger at me.

“A girl's got to keep some secrets. God knows you've kept enough from me.” The air turns suddenly heavy at the reminder of our separation.

I know that's just a smoke to distract me but I don't push any further because I know she was truly hurt by how I distanced myself.

She'll let me know what it is she is planning when the time is right. It's probably some elaborate scheme to have her own revenge on my husband.

I won't be surprised if she had a spy planned in the company all this time. It would certainly explain how she knows as much as she does but that also makes me uncomfortable.

How much does her informant actually know? It would have to be someone very close to me. If she knows, there are high chances others who look into me would know too.

I'm brought back to earth when I feel a hand squeeze mine.

I look down from the perfectly manicured emerald green acrylic tips to the soft smile etched on her face that reassures me.

I suddenly feel that everything will definitely be alright. I take in a breath after realizing that I have not been breathing.

“Fine, I'll let you keep your secrets. So tell me, to what do I owe the pleasure of your presence, other than for moral support and to snoop around my office, that is?” I grin.

She rolls her eyes in response. “If you'll know, I happen to be aware that a certain someone will be attending a gala in a couple of days and she needs help with her wardrobe.”

“You’re not going to tell me how you got that information, are you?”

“I'm not telling.” She affirms in a singsong voice.

“Nope.” She says with a pop.

I sigh dramatically. “You're hopeless, you know that?”

“I'm well aware.” She replies cockily.

“That's why you love me.”

“That, and your wonderful fashion sense. It helps in times like this.”

She gasps. “Oh, you wound me.” Then she turns serious for a moment.

“Are you really okay?” There is a worried light in her eyes.

For a second I don't answer while I try to find my voice. “I will be.”

I offer her a wobbly smile to cover for the slight tremor in my voice. It doesn't work.

She sees right through me, though. She always does. She offers me a sweet smile that contradicts the murder in her tone.

“I'll end him. I promise you, Daph. He won't survive this.”

I blink away the tears in my eyes. “I love you, you know that right?”

She sniffs, turning her nose up in the air.

“Of course you do. You'll be lost without me.” Then she engulfs me me I hug. I sink into her warm embrace as the scent of peaches and cream fills my nostrils-her signature scent.

I pull out of her arms then offer her a stern look. “Alright, young lady, you have to leave. I have a train of corruption to uncover and vengeance to seek.”

“Alright, alright. I'll leave but don't forget. We're meeting tomorrow. I'll text you the address. If you're late, I'll interrupt whatever fancy board meeting you have and come pick you up myself.”

“I guess I can live with that. Now leave me alone, I have work to do.” I shoo her away.

She picks up the designer leather bag she threw to the ground and straightens to her full height in skyscraper heels.

“Well, since you don't want me, I'll be off then.” She pouts like a kicked puppy.

I grin. “Just go already. Don't you have weather reporting or something to do?”

“Of course I do. But it's boring. They'll be sunny skies for days. I already did my work. What do you take me for, a bum that doesn't do her job?”

I place my finger on my jaw like I'm thinking. “Actually you are? You are an heiress afterall and we all know heiresses don't know a thing about working.”

She giggles. “Says the CEO of the largest PR firm in the state if not the whole country.”

"I won't be, if Greg has anything to say about it." She raises an eyebrow.

"He wants me to step down." I dark look crosses her face. I would have missed it if I wasn't paying attention. Then she just waves that fact off like I told her that Ethan would lose a case, something that has never happened before.

"I'm sure you'll figure something out." She says dismissively. She is definitely up to something and I don't think I want to find out either. It's best I leave her to her own devices.

“Well then, I'll just leave you to it.” She crosses the room and basically glides to the door.

“Ciao, Bella.” As she places her hand on the doorknob, the door flies open to reveal a man who I recognize to be the head of my IT team.

His disheveled appearance belies the panic that is evident in his widened eyes. His voice shakes with urgency and a hint of fear.

“There's a fire in the building. Everyone needs to get
out.” He says just as the shrill of the fire alarm cuts through the air.

Well, shit just got real.