Shattered Mask

CHAPTER 7

NO GOOD NEWS

"Anyway, I am not here for the drama. Leslie, you wanted a divorce? I have signed it. You are free to be with your 'millionaire' now. I hope he is worth the price."

Jack reached into his pocket and flicked the brown manila envelope. It sailed through the air, sliding across the table and stopping right in front of Leslie.

Without another word, Jack turned on his heel. His guards fell into step behind him, their heavy boots thumping rhythmically as they exited the hall.

Leslie’s hands shook as she tore open the envelope. At the bottom of the page, Jack’s signature sat in bold, decisive ink.

Suddenly, a shriek of pure horror ripped through the room.

"No! No, this can't be!" Linda was staring at her phone, her face pale.

"Mom? What is it?" Leslie cried.

"The catering contract... the one we have been working on for a year," Linda choked out, her eyes red with tears of rage and disbelief.

"They denied it. They said our 'values' don't align with the new ownership of the holding company. Leslie... we are ruined. The debt from the expansion... we are going to lose the house."

Robert stood in the corner, a hollow shell of a man, while Leslie looked at the signed divorce papers in her hand. Leslie could not understand what was happening

Linda had her eyes red and was staring at her phone in dismay, squeaking in horror as she bawled

Everyone else looked on with a mixture of surprise and confusion, exchanging glances as they tried to fathom what was happening.

"Robert... is it true?" Leslie’s voice was a fragile thread. "Did you actually lose your job?"

Robert didn't look at her. His eyes were fixed on the door where Jack had vanished, his skin a sallow, sickly gray.

The silence in the room grew heavy, suffocating. His lack of a denial was the loudest answer he could have given.

"How?" Bernard asked the million-dollar question., his voice cracking.

He looked around the room as if searching for a hidden camera.

"How did a repairman know the CEO of a multi-billion dollar holding company was being fired? And how did he know about Mom’s contract? That was confidential!" He exclaimed

Linda didn't answer. She collapsed into her chair, her smartphone clutched so tightly her knuckles were white. The 'million-dollar' question hung in the air, unanswered and terrifying.

"I have to go. I will... I will be back. Just give me a minute," Robert stammered. He didn't wait for a response, practically stumbling out of the hall in a desperate, undignified rush.

"What is happening?" Linda whispered to the empty air, her fingers flying across her phone screen.

“ I need to make a call now, I am done for” She said, shivering as she punched some numbers on her phone

She dialed her contact at Riverworth, the man she had spent months bribing with expensive gifts.

No answer.

She stood up and began to pace, her heels clicking like a metronome of anxiety.

"This can’t be happening. I have leveraged everything...the house, the savings...on this expansion. If that contract is gone, we are finished."

Outside, Robert sprinted toward the entrance, his lungs burning.

He needed to find Jack. He needed to know how the "repairman" had gotten inside his head. But as he reached the curb, all he saw was the disappearing taillights of a blacked-out luxury sedan. The road was empty.

"What is happening, babe?" Leslie cried out, catching up to him, her breathing labored.

"That bastard," Robert hissed, his eyes wild. "He has ruined me. I have to find him."

"You said you were untouchable! You said we were safe!. You said everything was alright and you have not lost your job" Leslie asked in frustration.

Now she was scared at the way Robert was behaving.

"The call was from the Chairman’s office," Robert finally admitted, the words tasting like ash.

"My contract expires tomorrow. They told me... they told me it wouldn't be renewed. Effective immediately. I am out, Leslie. I am a nobody."

"What?" Leslie’s world tilted. "So... what do we do? You are already a millionaire, this should not bother you"

"I don't know!.

I am not a millionaire without them. My lifestyle is sponsored by the work. If I get fired, I lose everything" Robert shouted, then gripped his head in his hands.

He had now finally been able to summon the courage to explain to Leslie what was happening.

An idea, desperate and thin, flickered in his mind. He fumbled for his phone, dialing a private number.

"Hello, Sir? It’s Robert Williams. I need to speak to the Executive Trustee. It is urgent... it is about my contract, please connect me to him"

…………..

Meanwhile, Jack walked out of the house in triumph, his guards following him.

He felt more fulfilled than he could ever be.

With this newfound power, everyone was in great trouble.

The car was waiting for him at the entrance, and the guards quickly opened the door for him.

Jack got into the car and the driver quickly drove off.

He heaved a sigh with a wide smile on his face he thought about what had just happened back in the hall and how they were probably confused at what had just happened.

The city lights blurred into streaks of gold against the tinted glass. Jack sat in the leather-bound silence, the two guards sitting like statues across from him.

He felt a surge of cold, dark fulfilment. The first move of the game had landed with surgical precision. He leaned back, a slow smile spreading across his face as he remembered the briefing from earlier that morning…

He knew the Smith family, and their newfound son in law, Robert, were going to wonder who he was, and make assumptions, and that is exactly what he wanted. His main aim, was to keep his identity a secret, as much as he could

Jack looked out at the skyline. He had spent four years building a life of humility, only to have it spat upon by the people he loved. He had tried to be a good man.

Now, he was going to be a Rothwell.

"Drive faster," Jack commanded quietly. "We have only just started."