Chapter Two: Fragile Wheels

My attendant pushed me out of the house as gently as she could, however I still winced. She stopped for a while and glanced at me. “Mistress, you don't quite seem like yourself today, are you okay?” Her soft eyes searched for any hint of discomfort on my body. 

“I am fine Enid. I really am fine.” I forced a smile but deep down, I knew I wasn't. Yesterday's encounter was still taking its toll on me and worse was that, it was today the results of my actions yesterday will be exposed. Although it certainly put a smile on my face, I still clutched my heart. 

Enid wasn't really convinced but she didn't push any further. We entered the car and then headed towards the Andolopus Hardy headquarters. It was a tall obsidian monolith  structure that stood apart from all others beside it. The entire building served as the heart of the multiple chain of networks that was owned by both my dad and his best friend; Mr Florentine Hardy. Although, they weren't just best friends. Mr Florentine was my father’s Beta and it has been like that for almost sixty years, both of them were considered the most fearsome duo in the world.

Mr Florentine was an elderly Englishman with an ancient  aura to his presence. I smiled genuinely at him when I saw him standing in front of the building waiting patiently for me. Standing beside him were his four sons, they didn't seem to like the fact that their father had taken a liken to me. They were like everyone, they considered me useless and broken beyond measure.

“Young Hailey, you seem a little under the weather, are you feeling quite well?” he asked, in his heavy english accent as he supported  my wheelchair. 

It always made me giggle, and it still did. “Mr Florentine, I am perfectly fine,” for a moment I seem to forget all that plagued me. 

“Oh, no one is really perfectly fine, my lady. Even an old widower such as myself still has troubles. Why, I even find myself plagued with girl troubles,” he chuckled.

“I hope she is a beautiful girl,” we entered the first floor. The entire floor seems to be cut out of limestone. I still don't know what stones they used, but it was black and yet it felt crystalline. There was just one single receptionist standing at the front and she stood up, her head bowed so lowly, she could eat her own knees if she wanted to.

I was led into the elevator and our entire entourage followed. The elevator opened directly into the board room. 

There was a long onyx table shaped like a diamond with about fifteen people sitting around it and finally her dad sat at the top edge of the table, his legs crossed. Even from here, he was goddamn intimidating. He looked like a giant in that chair, his shoulders were broad, his face seemed to have been cut from bricks and the fact that he had no beards didn't make it seem less threatening and handsome. 

I occupied one of the spaces at the table, sitting directly opposite to the asshole of the century himself, Throgan. Setting my eyes on him made my heart ache once more. He had a cynical smile on his face and it made me just want to slap him hard across the cheek. 

His betrayal hurt me more than I let on. We were supposed to get married the following month, with him standing by my side, but he ruined it all. He lied to me for years but I didn't let any emotions show on my face. This was a normal thing for me. I have been practicing for it my whole life. I mean what's worse than getting to know you being alive was a lottery. 

The meeting commenced and soon Throgan rose from the table in careful strides. I frowned, noticing something a little off with the way he walked. I shook my head and watched him stand. 

“The entire board will be  surprised to notice that I have gotten my hands on the entire framework and deals that this company has been running for the past two decades.” he said with a stern gaze. 

His words erupted murmurs  among the board members. “The numbers on these files, I can assure you… do not tally.” He smiled. 

“I spent my entire night studying it, trying to fix it. I mean might have laid my hands on it through rather unorthodox means, but I don't think anyone in this board hasn't had to get their nails dirty once in a while, especially when it is for the good of the company and its partners.” I stared at him, watching him use what I had given him in confidentiality against my father's company. “I even found several signed vouchers with rather shady items on them,” he continued. 

My father's face was glaring at mine with intense ferocity. It didn't take any calculations to know it was me. I was the only one with access to that cellar aside from father himself. Due to the way I was treated as a kid, he gave me some things to make me feel important. One of them was a position as a named partner, only two of his sons had that privilege. The second was access to that cellar and now I have misused it. 

Or have I?

“All I ask is to be a senior partner and I would erase this and even balance the things I can…” he smiled. “After all, this was given to me in good faith, isn't that right? Miss, Hailey Andolopus,” he grinned at me.

Men are so predictable, I knew he would want to mock me to my face and I was just expecting that. I glanced at Enid who was standing beside me as a guide. She looked uncomfortable but she obeyed my signal and wheeled me forward. “You see, Mr Throgan Anderson, you were wrong about a few things,” Lifted  a clip of files from my lap.  “Those files you held have no signatory that belongs to this company and every single business transaction within it didn't happen,” my heart thumped as I spoke. I remembered how he caressed Tracy, his hand running along the vein of her neck, how heated they both seemed and my voice got a little louder. “I might have been a fool, but my father isn't and neither is Mr Hardy. They would never put an original file in front of a cripple. So this entire charade was a test and you failed. I am calling off the wedding!” 

I breathed the last sentence with such ease that it surprised me. I dropped the original files on my father's table and bowed lowky to him, feeling a little ache in my bones. I signaled  Enid who then took me out of the room through the elevators. I held my chest the moment we left everyone dumbfounded. 

Everyone believed in the innocent fragile girl they think I am but I am also a psychotic girl, brought up in a family of a Mafia god. I might be fragile, but stupidity is something I can never afford.