Chapter 18 Lying, Cheating and Everything in Between.
Jess.
Delilah was lying to me. I was more than sure of it.
That entire thing yesterday? The show? Bollocks.
She was horrible at acting. I don't know why she bothered. I apologized to her yesterday, for one simple reason.
You can only watch those who stay close.
If I got angry with her, then I couldn't know what she was up to. And that exactly was where the problem lay.
I needed to be up to date. I needed to keep tabs on what she was doing, at every point in time. But now I had even more reasons to.
“Good morning, darling.” She walked out of the bathroom and up to me, kissing on my lips.
“You should wash your teeth. You have horrible morning breath,” she said with a laugh.
“Well, if it keeps you treating me like that, then I won't be brushing my teeth anytime soon.” I smiled at her, giving her what she wanted. Keep me in her good graces.
“So what are you up to today? What are your plans?”
“Nothing much. Just stop by the office, see how things are going there. And come back, maybe, for a little something-something,” I said back with another kiss on her mouth.
“Something-something, huh?” Her smile was wide. Nothing excited her more than a good fucking. She got up, walking to the closet and getting dressed. But she wasn't wearing pajamas. She was wearing a suit.
“Where are you going so early in the morning? I thought business doesn't open till ten?” I didn't even know she was off her honeymoon leave.
“I have a meeting to attend. Lots of new hires on deck. So I have to educate them on what they need to know before starting out.” This was not her time of year for new hires. Definitely a lie.
“Okay, then. When will you be back? Or would you be going to the office from there?”
“Of course, darling. The meeting is at the office, so…” She was saying this with a smile like I was being silly. I just smiled back, playing along.
What annoyed me the most about her was that she thought me stupid. And I left her because it was easier.
It was easier to marry a man when you thought they did not know what they were doing and had no proper control of their actions. Gave you more control. I understood that, so I played along.
“Alright, then, darling. Enjoy your time at work. Be back home early so we can have a little something-something.” I reminded, wanting her home early. “Don't forget something-something,” I said with a laugh, walking straight into the bathroom myself.
I opened the door of the bathroom, looking up where I put the camera. I'd always suspected something. I just didn't know what it was. And I didn't want to feed it any thoughts, especially this early in our marriage, so I gave it no thought.
I looked at the camera, glad I made the exception anyway. I'd check the footage when I got to the office today. It had sound, too, so it would be even better.
I'd known she made a call or something when she asked me to take a shower. I didn't hear the shower running until after a while. Something definitely happened here.
Something I didn't know about, considering she didn't say anything about the bathroom when she got out. I ended the shower and finished up with cleaning myself, toweling myself as I walked out.
By the time I closed the bathroom door behind me, she was gone.
Whatever it was, it was urgent.
Delilah never went anywhere early, especially not new hires. She had nothing to do with them. She hated them, even. Thought they were below her class. The sudden need for them was what I didn't understand.
I got dressed and got out of the house, making a mental note of things I planned to get done today.
The next step of Arya's downfall was going to happen at the office. I needed to get things under control, so that when things started going downhill, they went downhill properly. So not only was she going to die, she was going to suffer a lawsuit quite quickly before she died.
That way, things only got better and there was no reason for them to suspect me. Because I'd be too busy handling the lawsuit for them to even want to suspect me in the first place.
So while we waited, we sued.
I smiled at my own idea of finally driving off. The morning traffic was exhilarating for some reason. Somewhere between the anger of knowing Delilah was lying and the excitement from what I was going to get done at the office just sparked something in me.
By the time I walked through the office doors, I was smiling visibly. It was weird, the weirdest reaction I'd had in a while. My wife could be cheating on me, and here I was, smiling at the receptionist.
“Morning, Miss Rose. Hope you're having a great day there.” The shock was evident on her face.
“Morning sir,” she responded with a smile.
“Is Grayson in?” I asked. She was familiar, I just didn't know her face, or name, or anything really. Just that she was familiar.
I had no business with such employees. My business was to manage Alex Corp. Anything apart from that was rolling with the filth, and I did not do that.
“No, sir. He called in this morning to let us know that he would not be coming in. So, he is not in right now, sir.” She looked tired of life in general.
I could help, but I wouldn't. It was that simple.
I smiled at her, feeling benevolent.
“All right, then. I'll work your raise. Use it to fix whatever that is.” I signaled to her entire self. I walked up the stairs and to my office.
Grayson wasn't in, so it was time to begin my plan. Operation Make Sure I'm No Way Involved. I dropped my bags, settled in my seat for a bit, and got up, heading for HR. I was looking for a certain someone. The only one of the filth I actually even listened to when she spoke.
Lila was there when I started, still here now. She was earning a lot higher than a lot of the executives at the office, majorly because she had grown with me.
A good friend-ish, if you considered the monthly nods of approval her way, and the fact that she had gotten multiple pay raises because I recognized her name and face.
I'm a benevolent person, but I draw the line at familiarity. Breeds too much contempt for me.
I nodded to her and she came over, as expected. That's why her pay was so high. I smiled. She deserved that much.
“I need you to do something for me.”
“And what might that be, sir? How can I help you today?”
“I need you to falsify evidence proving that one of the employees just fired is responsible for, um, theft, fraud, and anything else you can frame her for. Just make it serious enough that we can sue and get some money out of her.” She looked at me, confused.
“You are saying I should incriminate an ex-staff?”
“Yes, I am saying exactly that. And do it well too. No slip ups.”
I didn’t wait for her response.
I had no time for that.