Damage Control

Brielle 

Morning came and I had a new resolution in mind. 

Damage control. 

I was going to see what I could do about my...... situation. There must be a loophole somewhere. Something I could take advantage of. 

The black track pants and beige top were already laid out for me, just like I’d asked Axel last night. Simple yet practical. It was nothing fancy though. My hair went up in a tight bun, my face bare except for the lip gloss on my lips.

The destination in mind was my lawyer's office. 

I arrived at the office of Mr. Anderson before noon. 

The receptionist gave me a quick smile, but I didn’t return it

 I wasn’t in the mood for pleasantries. Not when I was about to stare my reality in the face.

“Brielle,” Mr. Anderson greeted as he stood. His office was lined with mahogany shelves, thick with files and dust. “I’ve reviewed the documents you sent.”

I sat, crossing one leg over the other to keep from shaking.

“And?”

He didn’t look me in the eye. He opened a file and slid it across the table toward me. “It’s worse than you thought.”

I felt my heart shatter at his words. 

My mother died when I was a child. My father had married my stepmother a few years after my mother. The son of a bitch wasn't content with one woman who loved him for the worthless thing that he was. 

"So Jason came to me to transfer some of your assets to.....what was the name again. I can't quite put my finger..."

"Anastasia Ferdinez." I replied. There was no way I could forget the name. It was on every document I opened. Every page I turned. Every heading. The name was there. 

“Right. Yes. At first, I hesitated because I hadn’t heard from you directly,” he continued. “But Jason brought your stepmother and Anastasia. They claimed you were overseas and unreachable, but had given verbal consent…” I turned him out. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. 

My mother died when I was a child. I think I still remembered the scent of her jasmine perfume, the lullabies she used to hum when I was too scared to sleep. She was gentle. Soft. Everything the woman who replaced her wasn’t.

My father didn’t waste time. He married again within a year, like my mother was just a misplaced ornament he could replace. And the worst part, he came with a six year old child. Kind of like my situation right now. So ironic. 

I should’ve known though. I should’ve known it was never just Jason.

They were all snakes, coiled under the same damn roof. My stepmother had never liked me. It wasn't as though I liked her either. And my father. My father supported her with every decision she made.  

"I'm saying this again. You’re telling me," I said, voice sharp as glass, cutting through whatever it was that he was saying, "that they all came here. Without me. Signed away my assets. And you let them? Like you just let them? Why did I hire you then?"

Mr. Anderson flinched. “Legally, they had supporting documentation—Jason had power of attorney, signed and processed already.”

The documents he made me sign. The ones I didn't read because I had trusted my so-called husband. 

 He sighed and pushed the file closer. “There's a silver lining though. Some of the transfers were rejected in court. Certain clauses from your prenup protected about sixty-five percent of your holdings. That portion of the company... still belongs to you.”

Sixty-five percent. I blinked. A numb kind of relief washed over me. I still had power. 

Sixty five percent made me the head of the board. My position was still held. 

Ha. My loophole had really shown. 

"Why didn't you lead with that in the first place." It was more of a statement than a question though. 

"I'll get in touch as soon as possible. Thank you." He stood up to shake my hands and I walked out of there with renewed hope in my heart.

★

The apartment was quiet when I returned. But I found Axel pacing the kitchen like a man preparing for battle—only the war was with an egg.

“Why are you holding the spatula like that?” I asked, setting my bag down.

He looked at me, eyebrows furrowed. “This pan hates me.”

I snorted. “It’s a frying pan, Axel. It can’t hate you.”

“I’m convinced it can,” he said solemnly, pointing to the mangled egg on the counter. “This is my third one. How the hell do people flip eggs without turning them into roadkill?”

That made me laugh—really laugh. I hadn’t done that in a long time. The sound startled both of us.

Axel turned, watching me with something unreadable in his eyes. Then he reached for a dish towel and tossed it over his shoulder.

“I guess the chef’s day off is exposing me,” he said lightly.

“You mean to tell me all those fancy breakfasts were made by someone else?” I teased.

He leaned against the counter, finally smiling. “I never said I cooked them now, did I?"

“Well, now I know. You can’t cook to save your life.” He chuckled again. 

Silence sat between us after that and it was starting to get a little awkward. 

"I'll see you lat—"

"Yeah. Yeah. You go up and—"

"I will. I am." 

God that was embarrassing. Stumbling over words like I was a teenager with a crush. 

I walked up the stairs to my room and freshened up, washing the day away with the hot water. I still have to say that Axel's shower was heavenly. With enough pressure to feel like a mini massage. 

Putting the robe on I claimed the bed and switched on my phone. Only for me to find 18 missed calls from 'hubby dearest.' A scowl appeared on my face as I sat up from the bed and stared at the screen. 

I didn't bother calling him back. He had done enough. 

I tried to get back to sleep but my mind wouldn't stop wondering. 

So instead, I opened my laptop and started digging. 

I typed in her full name on F******k and went through her profile. I discovered that she worked for the company up until about five years ago.

So I searched through company records, old articles, archived directories but I found her clean. In fact one would say it was spotless. 

I kept searching further and found out that she had been fired under... murky circumstances or so the report said. But this was under a different company. 

I searched and searched until I found the company and what shocked me was the owner of the said company. 

I shut the laptop slowly, heart pounding in my chest.

What the hell was going on?

I found Axel on the balcony, sipping a drink like he didn’t have a care in the world.

I walked up to him, eyes sharp.

“Tell me…” I said, voice low, “what do you know about Shayla that I don’t?”