Page 23 of Billionaire's Baby Mistake

Before I can bear to glance into the safe, I click on the security camera’s feature on my computer, but what I see is nothing more than a blank screen.Van… he’s not here, definitely, and I saw him earlier today.Shit, Van is in on this too. I mean I have only kept him on the staff Rota because he was a good friend Dad, and now he’s betrayed that trust? What the hell is wrong with people? Why can’t they just… be trustworthy? It has to be him, he’s the one person who isn’t here who could pull this off.

My heart has sunk so low now that I feel so despondent and hollow. I know it won’t take much to look inside the safe and see everything else gone. Of course, it’s empty, just as I knew it would - apart from a large wad of cash, which proves everything. This was about revenge, nothing else, and I fell for it. I’m a fucking idiot. Dad should never have entrusted his business to me.

As my eyes fall to the ground in disappointment, I spot a gleaming white envelope with my name scrawled across it, in a handwriting I know very well. I don’t want to pick it up. I don’t want to read it because I don’t want to hear what she has to say. But I’m aware that I’m going to have to provide some sort of explanation to everyone. I might not want to know why I’ve been betrayed by someone I have opened up to, but this isn’t just about me. There are jobs on the line - people who need to know what’s going on so that they can make honest decisions about their future. I owe it to them. I grab the note, sighing deeply, allowing sickness to swirl in my stomach. I tear it open to read it.

Dear Alex…Oh God, did she have to begin such a life-destroying letter so formally?

I know that you must hate me by now for what I’ve done. I betrayed you, I sacrificed the feelings that we had between us…’

Ugh, that almost has me laughing out loud. What fucking feelings? If there was anything between us, she would never have done this. If she feels as strongly for me as I do her, she couldn’t have acted so coldly.

…and I’m sure that you don’t know why. Well, maybe you can guess. You know who my dad is now. I’ve spent my entire life seeing my dad struggle, seeing him grow increasingly miserable because his life hasn’t gone the way he planned. At first, I assumed it was because he loved my mom, and it killed him to lose her, which, of course, I felt responsible for. Then, as I grew up, I started to realize that it was because he had lost his place in the business. He made sure I knew about it and used to moan about it all the time.

I couldn’t remember Dad mentioning David, but maybe that was because he came out the winner. He got what he wanted: Mom and the business. David had lost it all. Although it seems like he did go on to have a life, so I really don’t know. Maybe that’s why I’m a shitty boss because I don’t know.

I decided to get revenge early on, and I spent all my time working toward it. I felt that Dad had given up everything for me, so I wanted to do the same for him. I wanted to make him happy all over again. I sacrificed having friends, long term relationships, and having any kind of life, all for this. But then I got the job with you, and everything became a little too real.

I know that you might not believe me now, but my feelings for you are real. Everything I ever said to do, did to you was because I liked you so much - so much that I almost changed my mind more than once. But I can’t… in the end because I don’t have anything else. Dad is depending on me, needing me to get this done, and that’s everything I have left.

I’m sorry, so sorry, I wish things could have been different. I wish that neither of us had been born with this burden, I wish that we could just be other people and together. But as things stand, you will never see me again. Zaya.

The temptation to tear this piece of shit in pieces races through me, but, of course, I need it as evidence. I need to contact the police and tell them what has happened… a thought that becomes even more apparent when I check the computer files to see that all the backups of the information she stole are gone too.

“Fucking hell, fuck, fuck, fuck!”

“So, moving forward, we need to come up with some new strategies…” Shit, I’m falling apart. After contacting the police, I call a team meeting with the one thought of moving forward. I’m emotionally exhausted and can use a night of sleep, but I have to do what needs to be done first; that’s the main role of the boss. “Maybe we could have a brainstorming…”

But as I glance around the room, I see that everyone looks about as despondent as I feel. No one is ready for action, willing to move ahead, but we just don’t have a choice. I cannot let Zaya, David Connelly, and Van win.

“I’m going to begin by calling a press conference.” However much that idea fills me with dread, I know I need to do it, just to get things moving in the right direction. The public will find out what’s happened soon enough, so I might as well get in there first and acknowledge our problems. I could use a good PR manager right about now to tackle what’s going to be a difficult topic…but of course, she’s off God knows where doing God knows what with the company’s secret information. “I want the information to come from us, not anyone else.”

“Why did she do it?” someone asks. “I mean, I know why Van would be involved. He was always grumbling that he wasn’t paid what he assumed he was worth, but Zaya? She seemed to like it here… she seemed to like… everyone.” Okay, so it seems that we weren’t quite as discreet as we had assumed. “I just don’t understand it at all.”

“Her dad was one of the founding members of this company,” I admit, deciding to tell the truth because there isn’t any point in holding it back any longer. “And because of an argument with my dad about pricing the pills, he was forced out. I don’t know too much about it, as it was before I was born - and before Zaya was born - but it seems to have festered much deeper than I ever assumed it could.”

A thick silence fills the air as everyone tries to digest this news.

“Did… did you know?” Ryan pipes up, his intense glare staring right through me.

“No, I didn’t.” I don’t want people to lose faith in me. I don’t want them to know that I could have prevented this because I need them to be on my side. I need them to work with me. “Honestly, I don’t think it’s worth focusing on now. We need to concentrate on making the best of what I know is a horrible situation.”

“Will it affect the launch? That’s supposed to be happening soon.”

“I hope not,” I reply, maybe a little too honestly. “It won’t if we play it in the right way. It just depends upon what we do over the next few days.”

A low murmur breaks out, which means people are finally starting to come up with ideas, allowing me to breathe if for just a second. Of course, I’m aware that the press conference will be a million times more brutal. The questions suck, and they will be testing my patience. I don’t know why certain people acted the way they have. I can’t begin to understand their motivation, but I’m going to try. I’m going to have to explain it away, tell them what our plans are while maintaining trust in our company.

I’m not qualified for this. this is something Dad would have been much better at… it’s a shame that he isn’t here. Then again, Dad would never have allowed things to get this messy; he would have put a stop to it before it got out of control.

Zaya

Itisn’tuntilweget inside his home that the truth of what Dad intends to do starts coming out. I begin by only half listening to what he and Van are discussing because I’m trying to come to terms with what I need to do next. But as soon as I hear the words “sell the formula” and “restructuring the company”, my interest is truly piqued.

“Wait, what’s that?” I ask, a little stunned. “What’s going on?”

“Now that I have to formula, I’m going to sell it to Nomadic Medical…” he starts, stunning me to my core.

“Nomadic Medical? Aren’t they known for ripping off their customers? The owner of the company… Marty Gogh… why would you want to work with him?” Why would Dad get on board with the enemy? Evil, people call them, and rightly so. They are everything wrong with the medical industry. “Why aren’tyougoing to use it? I thought that was the whole point. It’s your formula and you were going to create some drugs and restart your pharmaceutical career. I thought that you wanted out of teaching?”

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