Keep The Enemies Closer

As the show continued, I found it hard to focus because thoughts of Ethan’s expression kept crossing my mind. I couldn’t entirely place what he was thinking, he looked surprised but probably felt a sense of relief inside about the fact that his fiancée is dead, and I assumed he had left to verify that himself.

Lost in thought, I was jolted back to reality when my name was announced for an award. My secretary, Tiara, gently tapped me making me to stand and accept the honor.

After delivering my speech, I returned to my seat.

“I heard Mr. Reynolds left before we arrived,” Tiara informed me.

“Then we should head out now,” I replied, as my primary reason for attending the event was to see him, and I figured the news must have reached him as well.

What a bad timing.

——-

After a short drive to the Reynolds Company, I opened the car door and stepped out. Once inside, I was directed to Mr. Reynolds' office. Upon reaching the elevator, the receptionist who guided us offered to accompany us.

“You don’t need to do that, I think you should return to your work now,” I said with a smile.

“Well, this is part of my job,” she responded with a smile, making Tiara to step in.

“We can manage this ourselves,” she stated, and just then, the elevator doors closed.

As we stood in front of his office, Tiara was about to open the door, but I stopped her when I overheard a familiar voice that I recognized as Ethan's.

“What do you want me to do, search for her dead body and worship it or what?” he shouted, and I confirmed my suspicion, it was indeed Ethan.

“She’s not dead, that I can guarantee,” another voice said, and I recognized it as Mr. Reynolds.

“You know I’ve never understood what you do, and I don’t understand why you want me to marry her so desperately, now that she’s supposedly dead, do you still find it hard to believe?” Ethan said.

“Even if she is dead, which I’m certain she’s not, don’t you feel any remorse? She is your fiancée,” Mr. Reynolds rebutted, and I heard Ethan laugh.

“Fiancée, you say? More like someone you just threw at me, feel remorse, you say? Oh well, I don’t,” he retorted, causing me to clench my fists tightly, then I glanced at Tiara.

“The game between the master and the pawn is about to begin,” I stated, and she understood immediately.

Tiara serves as my secretary but is more like my closest friend, fully aware of my situation and committed to assisting me with my quest for revenge.

Suddenly, the door swung open unexpectedly, and when our eyes met, Ethan stood there looking at me and my secretary for a brief moment before walking past us. I exchanged a look with Tiara and nodded, then proceeded to follow Ethan.

He was positioned in front of the elevator when I approached him, he turned to face me but then quickly looked away without speaking.

“I don’t mean to eavesdrop, but I did hear everything,” I said, and he shot me a glare.

“I thought you claimed you didn’t have a fiancée??” I asked, prompting him to turn my way.

“Young lady, there’s something known as business, so it would be wise for you to mind your own business ,” he replied, and I smiled slightly as I stepped closer to him, noticing that his tie was loosely hanging around his neck, probably a sign of his anger.

I reached out to touch his tie, but he suddenly grasped my hand.

“Just because of the brief encounter we had at the show doesn’t grant you permission to do this,” he said, then slowly released my hand.

“I didn’t have the chance to introduce myself earlier, my name is Kyrie, and I must admit, you genuinely caught my attention, Ethan Reynolds,” I declared. A moment of silence followed until the elevator doors opened, yet neither of us stepped inside until they closed once more.

Breaking the silence, he scoffed and looked away.

“I can help you,” I said, and he turned to me, raising an eyebrow.

“From what I gathered, it seems you aren’t fond of your fiancée, but what if your father is wrong and she’s actually alive? Do you think you can escape what’s about to happen?” I asked, and he leaned in closer.

“You know, you’re quite interesting , but whatever you’re planning won’t work on me,” he replied, and I smiled.

“As I mentioned, Mister Ethan Reynolds, you have genuinely caught my interest, and I want to help you,” I said, bringing my face nearly to his, “and you’re also rather fascinating,” I whispered before breaking the connection after a few seconds.

The elevator opened again, and he gave me one last look before stepping inside, while I remained standing there, watching him until the doors closed.

“Ethan Reynolds, this is going to be s game you won’t be able to escape, you’ll pay for this,” I muttered to myself just as Tiara approached me.

“What just happened? I saw you from a distance, and it looked like you two were almost about to kiss, your faces were so close, it seemed you were throwing yourself at him. Is that the plan?” she exclaimed, and I smirked.

“When you want something, you don’t simply wait for it to come to you; you go after it,” I said, glancing at Tiara. “This means that if you want revenge, you won't just sit and hope things will unfold in your favor, you’ll take action to ensure it happens,” I elaborated, and Tiara nodded.

“And I wasn’t throwing myself at him, Ethan despises girls who throw themselves at him, he views them as cheap and lowly,” I continued, then looked back toward Mr. Reynolds' office"I think I’ll pay him a visit another time," I said. T

he primary reason for wanting to see him is to discuss a potential collaboration with our company. However, there's more to it than that, I have a feeling he may be connected to my father's death, just then the elevator opened, and we both entered.

“Oh, I need to share something with you,” Tiara said while using her tablet.

“Yeah??” I responded.

“I was reviewing the list of applicants, and the top one is…” she paused.

“Who??” I asked without looking up.

“This is going to shock you, trust me. The leading applicant turns out to be Scarlett Jones,” she announced, and after a couple of seconds, I turned to her and took the tablet from her, there she was.

Scarlett Jones.

I scoffed while looking over her information.

“Should I decline the application?” Tiara asked, as I recalled the sinister grin I had noticed on her face years ago when the police arrived to take me away after they found a quantity of drugs in my room.

“You know the saying, keep your friends close but your enemies closer,” I replied, handing the tablet back to her.

“Accept her,” I instructed, and I sensed Tiara wanted to say something but thought better of it.

This is going to be quite an adventure.

———-

Upon arriving at the company, which I now owned and led as CEO, I started walking alongside Tiara when I spotted something on the second floor where employees were working.

A woman was looking down while a man struck her with a piece of paper.

“Can’t you do anything correctly? Huh?” the man shouted. “You don’t have issues with eating, but when it’s time to work, you refuse to do it!” he yelled.

“But I already completed all the work,” the woman responded, prompting the man to angrily spill his coffee on her.

The other colleagues didn’t do anything, some merely watched while others continued their work, acting as though this was not new to them.

“How dare you speak back to me?? You’ve already done all the work?! What about my office that I requested to be cleaned?? Just take a look at your stomach. All you do is eat and eat, you ugly lazy girl,” he said.

“Is she also supposed to clean your office?” I interjected, causing everyone to turn their gaze at me.

“Oh, it’s Kyrie,” I heard everyone gasp as I approached the man and the woman.

The man quickly regained his composure.

“Oh, Miss Kyrie, I’m Mr. Clark, the manager and…”

“Answer my question, is she assigned to clean your office??” I pressed.

“Uhh… well, she was slacking off, and I was just correcting her,” he claimed.

“Correcting her??? This seems more like bullying to me, and you are the manager, correct?” I said, and he nodded in response.

“Well, you’re fired,” I declared, causing everyone to gasp and leaving him looking astonished with wide eyes.

“What?? You can’t just fire me,” he protested.

“Oh well I can, perhaps I’ll reconsider if you beg her sincerely and she accepts your apology,” I suggested as I glanced at the woman who was staring at the ground, then the man promptly turned to her.

“I’m sorry, I truly am sorry,” he said, continuously bowing his head.

“Do you accept his apology?” I asked the woman, who hesitated to respond but eventually said,

“Yes, I do.”

“You see, she accepted,” the man remarked in a tone that suggested he was proud of himself.

“Well, I don’t care because you’re still fired,” I said, turning to leave.

“Oh, that’s cool,” Tiara whispered.

When we finally reached my new office, Tiara opened the door, revealing a figure already present inside.

The person turned, and my eyes widened slightly in surprise upon seeing who it was.

It was…