Chapter 2 Episode 2

Harrison stood infront of the large mirror, his hands sleekly fixed up the buttons of his white shirt, leaving the top three undone as he prepared to leave for work.

The bright morning sun filtered into the dark room, reflecting on his white shirt and the mirror because those were the only reflective objects, other objects plus the rest of the room were painted in dark colours, mostly black.

He looked quite breathtaking that morning in his crisp white shirt and straightened jett black trouser. His broad muscular shoulders and broad chest stood out perfectly under the body fitted shirt. Quite a gorgeous look for a Billionaire CEO.

Harrison took his phone from the beautifully chiseled dressing table before heading out. He stayed alone in his exquisite mansion, only accompanied by the little workers.

The security men who's station was the gates, bodyguards, cooks and few cleaners.

His car was already set, he entered in and the door was shut, in less than thirty minutes he arrived at his enterprise.

The moment he stepped in, every incessant movement and chatters ceased instantly as his employees immediately went quiet, finding one thing or another to busy themselves with.

The only sound that could be heard was the sound his shoes made as they came in contact with the ground.

Everyone mindfully avoided contact with those dark, void and uncompassionate eyes.

Harrison took his time as he strode carefully inside the large hall full of workers with lowered heads waiting for him to move in completely out of sight, fear coursed through their bodies.

Their breaths got stuck in their chests, trying not to make even the lightest sound as they worked carefully amidst the tension that built up in the atmosphere.

These part of the mornings were always dreaded because if anything wasn't in order and he walks in and sights it, who ever is responsible would bid good bye to his job that instant.

His eyes scanned every corner, searching for anything or anyone that was out of line and he found none, he moved on gradually into his private elevator, his finger gently tapped on one of the buttons.

His hands carefully found their way back into his pockets as the elevator doors slowly slid shut.

The workers all released breaths of relief as Harry was gone. That was how they spent their mornings. Their boss really had the tendency to make a person cower in fear with just a glance.

He was not like that, he just suddenly turned cold one fateful day and since then, he remained that way.

On the tenth floor, Harrison stepped out of the elevator as soon as it came to a stop and the doors slid open.

Harrison moved down the spacious hallway till he got to a beautiful brown metal door with the initials CEO engraved at the mid top.

He unlocked it by placing his palm on the handprint sensor, pushed the door open and walked in while his personal assistant came in after him.

"Good morning sir" the thin nerdy looking man with big round glasses greeted but Harry gave no response which was the usual.

Harry sat down on his swivel chairs and flipped open his laptop, his fingers danced on the keys for few seconds before his expression changed from a cold one to one with a glint of danger, it only turned darker.

"Saint,.... where is my schedule?" His voice came out with a mixture of warning and impending danger.

"Oh... Sir.... I... "

"You what?, ...You're fired " Harry spoke softly, shooting a deadly glare at Saint.

" Oh... Please sir, I... " Saint's heart skipped beats as he tried to explain. He was one jittery and fearful person, trying to avoid problems at all cost.

"I could not send it to your system sir .. I... I have the hard copy with me, printed out sir" he swallowed the knot that had formed at the base of his mouth. His whole body shaking, he was just about to loose his job.

Harrison's hard eyes lingered a bit on the Saint's unstable scared ones before he looked away, continuing with the laptop.

"Read it" he commanded and immediately, Saint read away.

Saint was his personal assistant, he was not huge and muscular, just a thin, jittery, nerd-looking young man.

Harrison liked the man because he was loyal and humble.

"... and lastly sir, meeting with Natureline enterprise" Saint concluded.

"Natureline?" Harry asked though his eyes did not leave his system.

"Yes sir at the grande Lux event center, ... Mr Lincoln, the CEO has put forth an invitation to you sir, asking you to join him celebrate the fifteenth anniversary of his brand"

" He wishes to have a meeting with you during the event" Saint added.

••

•LEGENDARY LUCA'S RESTAURANT•

It was soon evening, Tricia sat alone at a corner of the restaurant with eyes dancing around her surrounding. Her eyes did not fail to miss any event that happened, people coming in and people going out.

Every little thing that happened, her eyes took vivid record of them. Those eyes of hers also did not fail to notice a little waitress who was being scolded by a senior colleague, probably the manager.

She watched with a piqued interest, noticing how humble and obedient the girl was to the manager, bending to every will and wish of the woman.

Tricia smirked as she sipped her drink. That waitress was exactly the kind of person she needed for her plan. Someone she would be able to control, someone she would be able to use with ease.

Tricia stayed quietly, waiting till Liliana closed for the day and that was about 08:00pm.

The moment Liliana left the restaurant, Tricia immediately moved out, catching up with her outside.

"Hey!" Liliana heard someone yell from behind her but she did not bother to turn around, she was so tired and all she wanted was to go hone and have some sleep.

"Hey! ...You there! " The authoritative female voice rang again, somehow it felt like she was the one being called so she decided to turn around to find out if truly she was the one being called.

Indeed she was the one.

She came to a stop on seeing the lady who was calling her, powerfully striding down to her, her hips swaying and hair flying in the wind.

For a second, Liliana became confused as to why someone like Tricia would be calling her, what did she want from her? or perhaps she had done something that offended her?

"Good day ma'am" Liliana greeted her with a shaky voice, fear threatening to overpower her as she looked around and saw two men in bodyguards attire, holding firmly unto huge guns.

Obviously the lady who stood few meters away from her, giving her a head over glance was not a commoner.

"G... good day ma-" She greeted again as the other one was unanswered but Tricia cut her in.

"I have a deal for you,... A huge deal that would definitely change your life"

Liliana stared at the lady with widened eyes, thinking what kind of deal she was talking about.

"I want you to carry out a very simple task worth hundreds of dollars, I know you are interested, here is my card"

Tricia fished out a card containing little information and handed it to her.

"Call me" Tricia walked away, her little entourage followed behind her, leaving Liliana to herself. She could not understand what just happened.

She held unto the black and red card in her hand as she took slow steps, walking away from the restaurant, the words of Tricia replaying vividly in her head.

What exactly did she mean by a deal worth hundreds of dollars? Thinking about the situation of her family, hundreds of dollars would really do so much for her.

Pushing the door to the back of her mind she continue to walk down the dark quiet streets leading to her home.

"Lilly!" Her little sister jumped into her arms the moment she stepped into the house.

"Hey... Babygirl... How are you?" Liliana crouched down to the girls height and placed a kiss on her cheek, she noticed that Emma wasn't so happy.

"What happened Emma?, What's the problem?"

" It's daddy" she muttered in her little voice.

Liliana's heart skipped a beat on hearing her sister's response and the next question that came into her mind was 'what happened to her father?'

" Emma,... What happened to dad?" She asked the little girl but got no response.

Liliana got more worried, what had happened to her father?. She moved towards the kitchen and found her mother preparing dinner.

" Honey, you're back-"

" Mom, what happened to dad?"

She questioned with worried eyes and the expression she saw on her mother's face did nothing in helping the situation.

"He um..., he had an attack but don't worry.. he's- "

Liliana did not wait for her mother to complete her statement as she hurriedly left to go and check up on her father.

"Dad?" She called softly as she approached his room, he lay on the bed with a duvet covering half his body.

"Are you okay dad?"

"Lilly... " He muttered her name as he tried to sit up.

"No.... Don't bother to sit, just stay... Are you comfortable?, Do you need anything? "

" No.. . I'm okay, don't stress yourself"

Liliana only stared with dampened eyes, she felt so devastated as she did not know what to do to help her father. He was sick and he needed treatment but where would she get the money from?.

Her salary would only take them halfway in the treatment thereby stacking up bills that she would pay.

"Don't worry Lily, I am fine" he released a dry smile.

"Oh... Father" she hugged him comfortingly.

**

After dinner that day, they all retied to bed. All except Lily who could not sleep, so many things ran through her mind.

Her father's health, the lady who offered her a deal, she thought hard about accepting the deal as she really needed the money.

For many nights, she kept pondering, since after that day, she had not seen the lady again. The only thing she had was the card that she gave her.

Turning the card in her hand, she scrutinized it with her eyes and saw a contact number. It should be the lady's own.

Liliana though about accepting the deal because the money was greatly needed, she would literally do anything to gather the money her father needed.

Speaking of doing anything, she then remembered that she did not even know what the deal was all about.

¶

The sun was up, Tricia sat on her swivel chair with furious eyes as she scolded a woman who was obviously twice her age.

She was the owner of Tris's Beauty and Fashion Enterprise.

"I have made it clear to you to always clean my office every evening before you leave, why are you only doing it this morning??"

"Forgive me ma'am, It was really late last night and I had to leave because of my kids"

" I don't care if it's 12 AM, always make sure my office is cleaned properly before leaving, is that clear?)"

"Yes ma'am" the lady bowed, holding her broom and dustpan firmly.

"Now get out! "

The lady scurried away, leaving Tricia alone.

Tricia relaxed into her chair with a pissed expression on her pretty face, she really hated it when her orders were not taken seriously.

She kept a sour look which only brightened when she noticed her phone ringing.

She took it and saw that it was an unknown number, she swiped green and answered the call.

"Hello?"

"Hello ma'am, it's the girl you offered a deal."

On hearing the girl's response, a smirk formed on her lips.