002

RHEA

By the time I reached Lancaster Group in the morning, I had already cried enough to make my eyes burn.

I hated that I was still crying,hated Darius for making me cry, hated Mira for being the person I had trusted enough to call family, and most of all, I hated myself for standing there last night and realizing that the two people I had trusted most had apparently been laughing at me behind my back for God knew how long, but I couldn’t afford to fall apart.

What a joke. 

The moment I stepped through the glass doors of Lancaster Group, I knew something was wrong.

People were everywhere, and employees stood in small groups, whispering.

Some stopped talking the moment they saw me, others stared openly, and my stomach tightened.

I slowed down.

“What happened?”

I said, but nobody answered, and young assistant who normally greeted me every morning suddenly became very interested in the tablet in her hands.

I looked around the lobby.

“What the fuck is going on?”

I yelled, then my phone rang.

Peter my stepfather called, and it made my stomach twist even more, and for a few seconds,all I did was stared at his name before forcing myself to answer 

“Where are you?” he demanded like the typical man he was 

“I’m in the lobby.” I said, and then I heard another groan in the background 

“Come upstairs now.”

He said, and the call ended, that was it. 

I stepped inside the elevator and pressed the executive floor, as the doors closed, I caught my reflection in the mirrored wall.

My eyes were swollen, my hair was a mess.

I looked like someone who had spent the entire night questioning whether her entire life had been a lie, and maybe it had.

The elevator opened, but before I could even reach Peter’s office, I heard shouting, it was a man’s voice, then another.

I pushed the door open when I reached, and my heart nearly stopped

Jessica my biological mother, and Peter was fucking there as well

Several board members were gathered around the conference table, and on the large screen behind them was a photograph of the healthcare project I had designed, the building, or what was left of it.

My stomach dropped.

“What happened?”

I asked, but nobody answered immediately, instead peter turned toward me, and his expression was colder than I’d ever seen it.

“Where have you been?”

“I was—”

“Do you know what happened at the healthcare site this morning?”

I stared at him with my heart racing, and his jaw tightened 

“Of course”

He scoffed by my silence, then he exploded again

“The eastern structure collapsed.”

He yelled at me in front of everyone

“What?” I managed to speak, cause I really didn’t wanted to believe what exactly was happening, cause this project was supposed to be one of my  major professional achievements. 

I fucking designed the original blueprint, so how could it possibly be 

“Thirty workers were inside.”

Somehow every words that came out of his lips were worse than the last one

“How ma..many” I stammered, cause I couldn't believe how my life was falling apart, why was this was happening to me

Before I knew it, my vision blurred, and I couldn't help but to tell myself how this eyes had suffered, suffered spilling countless of tears for my life falling apart. 

I really didn’t wanted to cry, but I didn’t know how to actually stop it 

Peter looked directly at me, he saw my tears, but yet he kept on pressing further, knowing full well it burnt 

“Thirty were critically injured Rhea all because of your reckless”

He yelled louder, as all eyes kept on looking at me

My mom didn't even try to defend him, why would she go against her sweetheart all because of me 

Their stares were piercing deep into my face, and I couldn’t breathe.

“No.”

The word came out barely above a whisper, and I run my legs staggering toward the screen.

The image showed twisted steel, shattered concrete and dust covering what had once been one of the most important projects of my career.

My project, and my fucking design.

“No,” I repeated. “That’s not possible.”

More tears left my eyes, as one of the board members slammed a file onto the table

“The structural calculations were wrong.”

I turned around immediately, trying to defend myself cause I knew it couldn’t be true 

“They weren’t.”

I said, and everyone looked at me, maybe cause I had no one to stick up for me, maybe cause I was all alone 

My vision blurred more as I shook my head 

“I checked them myself.”

My voice came out cracked, and Peter gave a loud laugh.

“You checked them?” He scoffed, and I nodded my head a hundred times hoping he’d believe me 

“Yes.” I cried harder, and he dismissed my tears as if it was nothing

“You designed the entire structure, Rhea.” He reminded me

“I designed it according to the approved specifications.”

“Then explain this.”

He pushed a document toward me, and I picked it up.

My eyes moved over the pages, and for a moment, I didn’t understand what I was looking at, but then I finally saw it.

My signature, a digital authorization, my blood instantly ran cold, cause this didn't make any sense 

“This isn’t my version.” I tried so hard to defend myself, but they didn’t wanted to fucking listen, and Peter wanted to find every means to embarrass me whatsoever 

“The file came from your account.” He stated 

“I didn’t approve this.” I cried harder 

“The digital signature says otherwise.” He pressed further, and my head exploded 

“I don’t care what the signature says. I didn’t change the blueprint.”

My voice cracked, then I looked at Jessica at last

“Mom.”

I called her, but she didn’t move.

“Tell them.”

I looked at her, but my eyes met hers, her eyes shifted away from me, and my chest tightened 

“Mom!”

It was only when I called out to her for the third time she finally looked at me.

“Rhea, thirty people are in the hospital, and the documents show that you approved the changes.”

“I didn’t!”

My voice echoed through the room, screaming for them to believe me

“I would never make a change like this without checking the structural calculations. Never.”

I swore, but by this time, Peter leaned back in his chair, simply watching the drama 

“Then someone used your credentials.” He said, and I nodded, then he laughed

“And you expect the board to believe that?”

Peter scoffed, then picked up another document.

“The revised blueprint was uploaded three days ago.”

“This project was my responsibility,” I said. “I would never knowingly put thirty people’s lives at risk.”

One of the directors sighed.

“Whether you knowingly did it or not, someone has to take responsibility.”

I looked at him.

“You’re saying that because I’m the easiest person to blame.”

Peter’s expression hardened.

“Enough.”

“No.”

I turned toward him.

“I’m not going to sit here while you make me responsible for something I didn’t do.”

His eyes became colder.

“You’ve already damaged this company enough.”

I looked at him

“What?” I stammered, and he sighed frustratedly 

“You were supposed to protect Lancaster Group’s reputation.” He said as if I was the culprit 

“I have spent my entire life protecting this company.” I yelled out with all I can, but he didn’t care about that either 

“Then you should have been more careful.”

Those words crushed me, cause Lancaster Group wasn’t just a company to me.

It was my biological father’s legacy, the thing he had spent his life building, that I had watched him fight for.

The thing I had promised myself I would protect after he died, and Peter knew that.

He knew exactly where to hurt me.

I looked at Jessica again.

“Mom, please.”

Her lips parted.

For a second, I thought she was finally going to defend me.

Instead, she said quietly,

“Maybe you should step away from the company until this is investigated.”

I stared at her.

“You’re asking me to leave?”

“It’s temporary.”

“Temporary?”

My laugh came out broken.

“You want me to disappear while Peter takes control of everything?”

Peter immediately snapped, “This isn’t about control.”

“Then what is it about?”

He didn’t answer, of course he fucking didn’t because we both knew this was exactly what he wanted.

He had been waiting for an opportunity to push me out, and now thirty injured workers had handed him one.

A security officer appeared at the door before I could struggle, Peter didn’t even have the decency to look ashamed.

“Effective immediately,” he said, “Rhea Lancaster is suspended from all company operations pending investigation.”

I couldn’t move, cause the words seemed to float around me.

Suspended.

I had fucking lost my company within a tinkle of an eye