Chapter 1 Opening Losses

"You're firing me?" Kaiden Toliver asked.

He was in total disbelief as he gazed at the man dressed in a navy blue suit standing before him. It was his father-in-law, Elias Macaulay who had a grim look on his face as he stared at him.

"Didn't you get that?" He demanded.

Kaiden was confused. Why would he fire him all of a sudden?

Elias' blonde hair shone in the morning sun that washed into the office. His ocean blue eyes gazed at hi

as they pierced through his soul. His nostrils flared up in rage, and that made Kaiden know immediately that he wasn't kidding.

"I don't, sir."

Elias shook his head in disbelief. He pushed the blue file that was in front of him towards him.

"Open it."

Kaiden obeyed and got hold of the file, flipping through it. As he gazed at what was in it, his eyes lit up in shock. There were documents in there which stated that he had embezzled the company's funds. Kaiden was perplexed at this. He dropped the file and gazed at Elias who was now standing by the glass wall with his back to him.

"I don't understand," Kaiden confessed.

"You think I'm stupid?" Elias asked as he turned to face him.

Kaiden cranked an eyebrow at him.

"No? I'm just questioning the legitimacy of these documents. It says here that I..."

"Are you questioning the evidence that is out there? After everything I've done for you, Kaiden. This is the way you can repay me?" Elias asked now with his hands placed on the desk and with his eyes fixed on him.

Kaiden gulped hard.

"There must be some sort of misunderstanding," Kaiden tried to explain. "I would never do such a thing to you."

Elias chuckled and shook his head slowly.

"You think I'm that gullible, Kaiden?" He asked. "I always knew that this would happen someday. I should never have let you marry my daughter. What am I going to tell her?"

Kaiden's heart skipped a beat as his mind came across his wife, Uriah. What was she doing to think of him when this got to her? Surely she was going to believe that he would steal from them? There was no point in stealing funds from the company when he was already content with what he had; being married to her.

There had to be some mistake in this. But Kaiden knew that this wasn't going to be enough to convince Elias. Elias had always disliked him from the first day that Uriah had introduced him to the family. He had always hated that she had married someone so average like him. How did Kaiden know this? Elias had said it to his face countless times. There was no way that he would skip an opportunity to get rid of him like this.

There was no question that someone inside the company did this to him. He had been framed, but would Elias believe him? Not a change in the world.

Kaiden clenched his jaws as he looked up at Elias who was now back at the glass wall. The morning sun washed into the room bathing the office with its golden light and also illuminating Elias' gold blond hair.

"Do you really think I would steal from you? I work hard for this company every single day. I wouldn't dare."

Elias shook his head with a soft chuckle before turning to him.

"I know you, Kaiden. You're useless. My daughter literally made you the man you are today," Elias said, turning to him. "Why wouldn't you be enticed about the idea of stealing something from the company? I mean, you thought that nobody would notice because you work in the finance department."

"I wouldn't dare!" Kaiden said, slamming his fist on the wooden deck. "I wouldn't."

"But you did, Kaiden. The evidence is right there."

Kaiden, all dressed in a black suit, tried to control his emotions but they weren't working. He was getting angry that Elias wouldn't listen to him for one second.

After everything he went through in his hands, was this how it was going to end? There was no coming back from this. He was going to get fired.

"The only thing you can do right now is accept the truth, Kaiden. You stole from me."

Kaiden closed his eyes and thought about it for a few moments. If he accepted it, there was a possibility he would go to prison. And if he didn't, he would still face the same fate. The only thing that he could do now was tell the truth.

"I didn't do it, sir. I would never steal from you."

Elias came back to the desk and shook his head. He took a seat and placed his hands on the desk.

"I'm disappointed in you, Kaiden. I have always been disappointed since the day my daughter married you, but you have gone too far. You leave me with no choice."

"Just let me prove to you that I'm innocent," Kaiden said.

"There's nothing to prove Kaiden."

Kaiden clenched his jaws as he heard that. There was no going back from here. He was getting fired, but he still had his dignity intact. He wasn't to accept the fault for something he never did. Elias may not have framed him, but Kaiden was certain he knew who had done it.

"I'll get my things then," Kaiden said, rising from the chair.

"That won't be necessary."

And with that, the door opened and two security guards stepped into the office with two boxes containing all of his stuff.

Kaiden got it from them and turned to Elias.

"This isn't over," he said.

Elias chuckled and leaned back on his desk.

"It is already over, Kaiden and I won. Now leave my office, before I call security."

Kaiden clenched his jaws and looked at all his stuff in the boxes.

He turned back to Elias one more time before stepping out of the office.

Elias picked up his phone and dialed a number. The line only rang once.

"Hello?"

"It is done," Elias said.

"He's gone."