Chapter 25 Adeline
Adeline POV
After Percy let me go with a strict order that I don't get involved with Mason at all, as he was unpredictable and his first instinct would be to blame me, I obeyed and stayed in my cubicle and put my head down.
Fortunately, none of my other coworkers knew about the drama between me and Mason, so I was not the topic of the gossip mill. I hoped Mason would go without a fuss, and if he didn't, I wasn't going to be in his line of sight.
My plan was going well and good until I got mail from the front desk that the Henderson team would soon send someone to come for their file. I was grateful I was the last person to work on the file so I wouldn't have to go meet Mason for it. My plan was to dash in and out of the office to quickly drop off the file with the front desk.
On peeking out of my cubicle, I saw that his office was empty, and I saw my coworkers huddled up in twos and threes talking about his quick termination, so I assumed he had gone without a fight.
"Adeline, did you hear about Senior Associate Mason?" Paige told me excitedly, but I brushed her off with a polite smile.
"Let's talk about it later. I have to drop this off at the front desk." Thankfully, she didn't think much of my disinterest in the hot gossip as she skipped off to another person.
I didn't plan to be in the lobby for long at all. In the elevator, I thought about sneaking off to the executive floor to go see Percy, but I'd have no valid excuse to be up there. Maybe I would text him to see if he could arrange for us to meet secretly.
I was still in my fantasy land as I crossed the marble floor to the front desk. I was about five feet away from the front desk when the elevator doors opened. Two security guards step out with a disgruntled Mason between them.
This was the first time I would be seeing him look so wrecked in a while. His tie is askew, and his face was red, probably from trying to get away from the guards that were like twice his size. He clutched the small box that contained all his personal effects like a lifeline, as if he would fall if he wasn't holding on to them. He looked small and pathetic.
It happened in slow motion as he looked up and made eye contact with me. The shock on his face morphed instantly into pure, unadulterated hatred, and it was all directed at me. With a newfound strength, he shoved past the guard on his right.
"You!" he screamed, his voice echoing off the lobby. Drawn by his yelling, everyone stops what they're doing to look.
Mason storms toward me, but I stand my ground, clutching the file to my chest.
"You bitch," he spits, stopping inches from my face. "You actually did it. You went to HR?"
"I did what I had to do," I say calmly.
"Harassment? Blackmail?" He laughed and shrieked like the madman he was, not stopping to see that we were in public and that he was embarrassing himself and me, since I was the one that would bear the brunt of his embarrassment once he was gone. I hated that he was making me the center of attention this way.
"I didn't tell one lie against you, Mason. You did harass and blackmail me."
"You got me fired for harassment? After everything I did for you? I offered you the world, Adeline!"
"You basically wanted me to be your slave, and you also threatened me," I correct him. It was like I told Percy, I really wasn't afraid of Mason, not when I had him on my side.
"And you think this saves you?" He leans in, his eyes wild. "You think hiding behind HR saves you? I know who pulled the strings, Adeline. It wasn't you. You don't have the guts." He glances up at the stairs, toward the executive floors. "It was him, wasn't it? Akilov. You used your pussy to get me fired."
I freeze at his crass words, but that only spurred him on. "Oh, don't look so surprised," Mason sneers. "I saw the way he looked at you. I saw him play the hero in the break room. He’s the one who wanted me gone, but he used you to do it. He made you file the complaint so his hands would stay clean."
"You’re fired, Mason," I say, my voice remaining steady despite my earlier freezing. "It doesn't matter who did it. You’re done."
"It matters!" he yells. "Because you chose him over me. You chose the billionaire over the man who actually knows you. The man who knows your dirty little secret." He drops his voice to a whisper, leaning close to my ear.
"He might have fired me, Addie, but he can't silence me. I still know who your father is, and once I’m out of here, when I have nothing left to lose... who knows who I might talk to, sweet girl?"
A chill runs down my spine. This was exactly what I feared. By doing it the "legal" way, by not letting Percy destroy him completely, I left Mason with nothing to lose.
"Is that a threat?" The deep voice comes from behind Mason, and he spins around.
Percy is standing there. He must have run from the elevators because he’s slightly breathless and his suit jacket is unbuttoned, but his eyes are fixed on Mason with intensity.
"Mr. Akilov," Mason sneers. "Come to watch the show?"
"I came to make sure the trash was taken out," Percy says, stepping forward to place himself between me and Mason. "Get out of my building, Bernard, before I decide that firing you wasn't enough. Trust me, it could get a whole lot worse for you than a simple firing."
Mason looks from Percy to me, and his jaw clenches when he realizes there is nothing he can do here. He’s outnumbered.
With a quick look around at the people that are pretending not to be watching us, he straightens his jacket.
"I’m leaving," Mason says coldly. "Enjoy this while it lasts, Adeline, but remember that I know where the bodies are buried."
Security grabs him again and walks him out the doors. I watch him go, but the relief I expected doesn't come. Instead, a heavy sense of dread settles in my stomach.
Percy turns to me, ignores the staring crowd in the lobby, and grips my arms in reassurance.
"Did he touch you?" he demands.
"No," I whisper. "He just yelled."
"He threatened you," Percy corrects. "I heard him."
"It’s over, Percy," I say, trying to convince myself as much as him. "He’s gone."
Percy watches the revolving door where Mason disappeared with a clenched fist.
"Yeah," he says darkly. "He’s gone."
Mason’s final threat echoes in my mind, and I have a terrible feeling that I might have made a mistake.