CHAPTER Seven

CLARISSA.

“What the hell is this?” I asked, waving the letter at Laura while she said nothing in reply. “I'm asking you, what's this supposed to mean?”

“I was asked to have it delivered to you, ma'am,” she said hesitantly. 

“I wasn't in this office yesterday, was I?” I asked, and she shook her head. “Good. Except I've gone crazy, the date on this letter reads June 26th, which happened to be my daughter's funeral. It only means one thing — I wasn't here yesterday. Am I correct?”

She nodded her head to corroborate my words. “Great! So how in the world did my signature get here?”

Laura looked up at me slowly, and I could see a sad look in her eyes. “To be honest, ma'am. I have no idea what's happening. The CEO ordered me to have that letter drafted and printed just yesterday, and when I had done that, I took it to his office where he had it signed and stamped, and asked me to deliver it to you.”

I moped as she spoke, and she brought her voice down to a low whisper. “What exactly is going on, ma'am? I understand that the tragic event of your daughter's death has dealt you a great blow, but is everything okay with you? With you both?”

I said nothing still, lost in my thoughts as I stared blankly at her. I didn't realize the tears that had brimmed in my eyes and begun their descent down my cheeks, until Laura called out to me, jolting me from my thoughts.

“Mrs Blake?” 

I blinked at the mention of my name, and the tears that had been falling in trickles initially began cascading down, blurring my vision. As evil-minded and as heartless as he could be, Bruce had drafted a letter, forged and appended my signature on it, had it submitted to and approved by the board of directors, and delivered it to me. He literally sent me packing from the company, confirming his mother's and Freda's words when they told me that I was going to lose everything. I had indeed lost everything — my child, my job, my husband, my marriage. It was over at this point.

Shaking visibly with emotions, I sobbed loudly as I slowly walked out of my office, away from what had been mine till a few minutes back. This was a firm I'd toiled to build and flourish with Bruce over the last nine years, and just like that, in just one split moment I'd been sent out, discarded like some piece of shit. The tears continued to flow from my eyes as the elevator glided down to the ground floor, and I stopped dead in my tracks as I walked out of the elevator to find Bruce and Freda walking in through the entrance door with their hands intertwined, laughing heartily at something Bruce was saying. They stopped suddenly as their eyes met mine, and I could see the look of mockery on Freda's face as she let out a smirk.

“Oh, look who's here. Mrs Blake. Or ex-Mrs now, I guess,” she said, the corners of her lips curling up with an evil smile.

“Why, Bruce?” I asked, ignoring Freda's mocking remarks and facing the man I had always called my husband. “Why did you do it? Why are you doing this to me, to us?”

Bruce said nothing as he looked away from me, pretending like he wasn't the one I was referring to. 

“Bruce?!” 

“Don't you dare yell my name like that, ever!” He snapped, turning sharply to face me with an angry look in his eyes. I promptly kept my mouth shut as he spoke, utterly shocked at his reaction. “It's not my fault that your daughter died, nor is it any fault of mine that you were too trusting to think I ever loved you.”

I stared at him in shock, and the tears that had been rolling down my cheeks paused as if on cue. 

He continued speaking, ignoring the look of shock I was sure was very evident on my face. “I'm sure you got your own resignation letter which also doubles as your sack letter. Do well to drop every property of the firm you've got with you before you leave, okay?”

I turned to face Freda. “You're going to regret this, Freda,” I said, crying as my heart ached with pain. “You're definitely not going to get away with this, I promise you.”

She laughed. “On the contrary, Clarissa. Maybe I should remind you that I've patiently waited for this moment, and I definitely am not regretting the fact that my patience paid off in the end. So if there's anything I feel and will continually feel henceforth, it's the feeling of satisfaction and fulfillment, knowing that I got what I'd always wanted after a long time of waiting. Regret? Not one bit.”

She locked her arm with Bruce's, and together, they walked away from me, laughing as they moved towards the elevator. I stood there in the reception, transfixed to the ground as the tears fell freely. My world had crumbled before me, and it had crumbled so fast that I had not even the slightest chance to save it. 

I spent the entire time of the thirty-minute ride back to the house struggling not to burst into tears right there in the cab, while my head reeled with lots of thoughts, from the day I'd been at the meeting and missed my daughter's phone call, to returning home to find her dead, to having Freda come by the house, to this very moment where I'd been renounced as the Chief Operations Officer of the firm I'd established with my husband. I could feel my eyes burning with hot tears as every single scenario replayed in my head, and I heaved a relieved sigh as I alighted from the cab and ran into the house, heading straight upstairs for my room.

 I slammed the door shut and locked it, and then I collapsed on the ground and as if someone had uncorked my eyelids, the tears began to fall and I bawled my eyes out, crying myself to satisfaction right there on the floor. When it seemed like the tears would no longer flow, I slowly reached for my bag, pulling out my phone to make a call.

The call began to ring, and the person on the other end picked up at the third ring.

“Hello?”

“Hello, Devan. I'll be on my way this minute,” I said, speaking hoarsely into the phone.