85 Confession

The room fell silent as everyone trailed Leon’s articulated steps until he took a seat by the corner of the room. The hefty men with him stood by the entrance, as they awaited further instructions.

Abby, who had been crying and speaking earlier quickly stifled her tears and stopped talking. She looked up into her boss’s face and was amazed at her level of calmness. Aside from Ella’s cold stare and expressionless face, her entire demeanor was peaceful.

Ella walked to the center of the room while Denise instructed everyone to drop their cell phones in the basket she was holding.

“I need everyone’s attention focused on me!” Ella spoke calmly but firmly. She was slightly irritated as a majority of her worker’s heads were bowed down. “If you have nothing to hide, then you should not be scared of me. Like I always say, we are one big happy family.” She paused for a while and scrutinized everyone’s behavior. She was slightly pissed when she noticed Abby’s swollen and red eyes. However, she didn’t say anything about it.

“Someone here is a traitor? So, in the spirit of love and forgiveness, I will give that person only one chance to step out now and confess. Afterward, there will be no mercy.” Ella spoke between gritty teeth. She stepped backward and took a seat, while she waited for the culprit to own up to his or her crime.

Denise quietly instructed everyone to quickly write down their phone password security on a piece of paper she handed to them. Everyone hastily complied except for Jane who seemed suspiciously nervous.

“Jane, don’t waste my time,” Denise said in a hushed displeased voice. She observed Jane trembling hands and darting eyes. She followed in the direction of Jane’s gaze and saw she was terrified by the security at the entrance. “You don’t need to be scared of them, they are only here for the traitor.”

Jane’s eyes flashed in terror and her heartbeat was erratic. She wanted to say something but her throat was clogged with extreme panic. “Why, Frost?” Her subconscious screamed into her ears. “Why didn’t you explain to me in detail what I was getting myself into.”

Denise analyzed every of Jane’s behavior but said nothing. She left with the phones and all the written passwords. She handed these to one of the security, who swiftly left the room and was replaced by another mean-looking security guard.

.....

The room was silent for a while until Abby stood up and started shedding heavy tears.

“Mrs. T...Treshvire, I am so sorry! I didn’t know what came over me!” Abby’s body trembled as she confessed her mistakes.

“You don’t need to be sorry Abby,” Ella’s gaze was frosty. “Did you sell this company out?”

historical

“Oh no, ma’am, I will never do such a hideous thing. I...”

“Then what the heck are you sorry about?” Ella suddenly lost her cool as her eyes shot fiery darts at Abby.

“I...I...I lied about the missing file the other day.” Abby’s mouth twitched as she spoke. She felt like melting away due to all the piercing eyes that were now staring at her in disgust.

“What the hell are you talking about? What missing file?” Ella said angrily as she tried to ransack her memory.

“The other day you came to my office, looking for the file that contained the first set of designs we worked on, I actually misplaced it.” Abby mentally stroked herself for not telling the truth earlier. “I didn’t want to get you upset so I lied that I locked it in my fireproof cabinet.”

“What?” Ella’s eyes flared up. “You lost something so important and you waited until today to tell me.” Ella’s face reddened with accumulated anger. “How could you Abby? That was a stupid decision you made!”

“I’m so ma’am! I’m so sorry!” More tears flowed down Abby’s flushed cheeks.

Ella massaged her temple in frustration. She breathed in to calm her raging emotions. “Abby, I am truly disappointed in you. Nevertheless, thanks for owning up to your mistakes. Are you one hundred percent sure that you misplaced the file?”

“Yes, ma’am. I left it in the blue folder before I left the office that fateful day.”

“So where did you find it?” Ella asked more calmly.

“I found it in the pink folder and I never use the pink folder for storing designs. The pink folder is where I keep records of all my expenditures.”

“Hmm...” A bitter chuckle escaped Ella’s lips “Denise,” Ella looked in her direction. “Take Abby to the security department and instruct them to get the security footage of her office for that specific day.”

“What?” Jane said out loud without even realizing it. She had almost peed on herself when Abby stood up and relayed the incident of the day she stole the company’s second set of designs. As if Abby’s confession was not enough, now she just heard the CEO talking about security footage. Does that mean that there were hidden cameras in the department? She had been careful to look around and found nothing of such.

“Jane,” Denise called out softly. “Do you have something you would like to share with us?”

All eyes in the room suddenly turned in Jane’s direction.

“Huh...”

The door to the meeting room suddenly opened causing everyone to redirect their stares.

Sky briskly walked towards Leon with a phone in his hands. He whispered something into Leon’s ears and showed him something on the phone.

Leon smiled devilishly and signaled him to wait outside.

When the room was Sky free, everyone instinctively returned their gaze to Jane.

Jane’s whole body started trembling vigorously. She wished that the floor under her feet could split apart and swallow her whole. She thought of Frost and almost cried out his name to come rescue her.

Throughout her years of deception, Jane had never experienced this level of panic and anxiety. When the scary-looking guy walked in with bunny ears pink pouch phone, she instantly knew that she was doomed. She had seen Mr. Leon devilishly grinning at her. At that moment, she knew something was wrong.

“Jane!” Ella called her name out rather harshly. “We are not joking here! Don’t waste our time! If you have something to say, spit it out, girl!”

“Huh!...” Jane could see everyone staring at her but couldn’t hear anything aside from her name being called. She watched the CEO’s mouth moving but couldn’t tell what she was saying.

Currently, Jane was sweating so profusely that she felt she would pass out at any moment. Her emotions were all over the place and even a blind man could sense her guilt.

“Everyone, aside from Jane and Abby, should move to the creative department office and wait for further instructions,” Ella said in a slightly piqued and authoritative voice.

When the creative departmental staff members had left the room, Leon stood up and walked over to Ella. He pulled an armless chair beside her and sat down. He whispered something into her ears and handed over Jane’s phone to her.

Denise instructed Jane and Abby to move their seats closer to where Leon and Ella were seated.

Abby did as instructed but Jane remained glued to her seat. She didn’t move a muscle as her horrified eyes kept staring at Leon and Ella.

Leon who had been silent all this while suddenly lost his temper. “Jane!” He boomed in a very deep and raspy voice. “You have five seconds to come here.”

Jane swiftly stood up and ran down to where Ella and Leon were seated. She fell to her knees and started crying.

“Please... please.... please!”

“Why are you pleading, Jane?” Ella spoke calmly, unperturbed by her tears. “Stand up and sit down!” Ella’s sharp voice was like a double-edged sword. She restrained herself from slapping some senses into Jane to stop her from crying.

“I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry! I did it! I did it!” Jane kept wailing. She had no idea of what Mr. Leon had whispered into his wife’s ears. However, she knew he must have discovered something tangible, due to his evil grin.

Jane had earlier been expecting a call or text from her precious Frost. He had promised to call her after the show was concluded. That was one of the reasons why she was unwilling to let go of her phone password. She feared that Frost might have called or texted, thinking she might be on her way home.

“What are you sorry about and what did you do?” Ella spoke between gritted teeth. She stood up, walked up the Jane, and glowered at her. “Speak!” Ella’s voice was fierce.

“I...I...I...”

SMACK!

Jane’s vision got blurry and her ear drum kept reverberating. She rolled her tongue in her mouth and tasted something metallic. Hot tears poured out of her eyes as she bit her lower lips in pain.

“My patience had its limit!” Ella’s frosty voice sent an electric chill down Jane’s spine. “You don’t want to test it further. Now, spit it all out.”

“I stole the designs! I stole the designs!”

“What? Jane! how could you?” Abby questioned in a mortified tone. “What have you done!”

“Shut that hole in your face, Abby, before I’m tempted to shut it up for you!” Denise spat out in disgust. “If you hadn’t lied, we would have been able to salvage the situation before it got to this point. Both of you are as thick as thieves.”

Abby bowed her head in humiliation and resumed shedding her silent tears.

“You dare steal from me?” Ella’s voice was vengeful. “You sold me to my rival and now you have the temerity to say you are sorry?” Ella chuckled bitterly. “Don’t start begging now, it’s way too early! You and I are going to have so much fun together.” Ella went back to her seat and sat down.

“One quick question,” Ella’s stares were deadly, “who are you meeting up with in Fertown?”

********

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