Accusations and Proof

CHAPTER 4

ZYLIAH'S POV

It's been two weeks since the incident. Two weeks since I caught Fynn and Sabrina. Two weeks since I'd had that face-off with her in the living room that morning. 

Ever since, things had been mostly uneventful. To my surprise, Sabrina had avoided me - which, honestly, was a good thing.

I was still trying to heal from Fynn's betrayal, and from him calling off our engagement. Though I still went to bed crying over the heartbreak sometimes, forgetting about Fynn wasn't easy.

A knock came on my office door, pulling me out of my thoughts. "Yes?"

"It's me, Dora," said my personal secretary. Sabrina had one too. 

"Come in, Dora."

A young, raven-haired girl with a pretty smile and nerdy glasses opened the door and stepped in. "Good day, ma'am. Sorry to disturb you, but it's quite urgent."

"What's up, Dora? Anything the matter?" I looked up from the files I was poring over on my desk to give her my full attention.

"The Toronto client's office called to let us know they'll no longer be doing business with us. They said they've gotten a better offer elsewhere." she reported dutifully.

This new information had me blinking in both shock and disbelief. "What are you talking about? When did this happen? I mean, how? Mr. Gary was my biggest client. He... oh God!"

"I have no idea, ma'am. I just received the call and thought to report it to you."

Dad had put me in charge of that client, and things were going well. I had met him twice, and both times had yielded positive news. 

The final deal was supposed to be this Friday, and Dad would have promoted me. He was so ecstatic when I'd told him of Mr. Gary and his interest in doing business with us. 

The man was one of the top dogs in the business world, and every company-no matter how successful-wanted to do business with his kind. Fuck!

"Does my father know about this yet?" I asked her, nerves making me twiddle my pen.

He'd be so disappointed if the news got to him. 

"I don't think so," she replied, sympathy gleaming in her eyes. 

She knew how hard I had worked to get Mr. Gary's attention, let alone book our first business meeting. 

"Did he give any reasons?" I probed further.

At this point, I was confused and on the brink of tears. I blinked, trying to stop them from crossing the edge and spilling over.

"No. Just what I told you." 

"Do you know what company gave him a better offer? It's not even possible-we're the only ones with the idea to begin with. No other company knows." Frustration laced my voice.

"No, ma'am," Dora sighed quietly.

Another knock on my door. "Come in." I said it without an ounce of energy.

"Miss Smith, your father is on the line," Julia, his secretary, said as she handed me the phone.

Swallowing nervously, I raised the phone to my ear. "Hello, Dad."

"What is this nonsense I'm hearing?!" He boomed. I had to pull the phone away from my ear before he shattered it with his yelling.

Covering the mouthpiece, I turned to his secretary. "How does he know?" I mouthed.

"He received a call," she mouthed back.

Exhaling deeply, I brought the phone back to my ear. "Dad, I have no idea how this happened. I..."

"You do know how it happened! I'm just disappointed you'd do something like this. Of all the companies-it had to be our strongest competitor? How could you?!" Dad ranted, and I could hear his heavy breathing from my end of the line.

I could understand his anger, but I didn't understand why he was accusing me of something I knew nothing about. I didn't even know what he meant by those statements.

"Dad, I..."

"Come home right this minute, young lady!" The line went dead. 

Puzzled and in shock, I handed Julia the phone and packed up to go home.

All through the drive home, I couldn't stop thinking about the Mr. Gray deal-and the company that had made a better offer.

The tension and silence, plus the heated glares aimed at me the moment I got home, nearly made me stumble in my heels, but I pulled myself together and forced my legs to keep walking.

My dad and his wife, Sabrina's mother, were on one sofa while Sabrina sat alone on another. All three pairs of eyes held one common emotion-anger.

Only Sabrina and her mother added spite to theirs, while Dad's was mixed with disappointment.

I heaved a weary sigh. "Dad, I can explain."

"Fine. I'd love to hear you explain how all of this happened."

I opened my mouth but found my brain came up with nothing to offer my lips to say. I was speechless. I closed my mouth like a fish out of water, licked my lips, and slowly gave a small, dejected shake of my head. "Actually, I can't explain."

"She's guilty, Dad. I told you! She did it!" Sabrina jumped into the conversation uninvited.

My brows furrowed. "Excuse me?! I did what?"

"You backstabbed our company. Dad's legacy. You let jealousy eat you up. You sold that idea to our competitor! You let our biggest client make a deal with the other company!" Sabrina's accusations shocked me to my bone marrow.

But it angered me too. "How dare you, Sabrina?! I worked my ass off to get Mr. Gray to even look at us. I met with him twice, and you think I'd let it all go to waste because... what? You say I'm jealous? Jealous of what exactly?!"

"Not what, but who." She rose challengingly, locking her heated gaze with mine. "And it's me. You're jealous of me!"

A dry, mirthless laugh escaped me. "Jealous of you?! Can you hear yourself?! How could I be that jealous-to the point of ruining something I worked so hard for? I'm sorry, Sabrina, but I think you give yourself too much credit. You're not worth it."

"What are you saying, Sabrina?" Dad looked confused, despite his anger.

"I have proof, Dad. Your daughter is not at all who she claims to be." She eyed me with malicious contempt.

My confusion grew. "What proof?"

She reached into the back pocket of her denim and pulled out a flash drive and her phone. "These are the proof. She made it clear she wants me to take the fall for it. Only, unfortunately for her, I was-and still am-smarter than her."

My heart dropped from its place, landing hard in the pit of my stomach. What had she cooked up this time?