The Replacement

Posy paced the office, biting her nails with a look of annoyance and fear on her face; she was losing her mind.

She stood in what used to be Thea's office, but the space no longer felt like she had won against Thea. Instead, it felt like a cage.

The air, usually conditioned, felt thick and suffocating but she would be damned than admit it was. She paced the room, the heels of her shoes clicking against the tiled floor.

The weekend was almost over, and Thea’s phone was still going straight to voicemail. Posy had tried calling her all afternoon, her impatience growing with each unanswered ring.

It made no sense. Did Thea finally decide to cut her off because of that video? No. Thea was a people pleaser. She wouldn't do that. Not after she agreed to be her bridesmaid.

Could she? Posy groaned, nothing made sense. The fact that she couldn't reach Thea to find out if she spoke to Runes drove her mad.

She had even stopped by Daisy’s cafe to try and get a hold of her, but her staff had said she was unavailable and that her number was also unreachable.

She could have just asked Runes but he was also unreachable.

Everything was a mess. The contracts she signed were starting to backfire and the Balmeros were losing money every hour. Hell, her card declined at the mall yesterday! It was so embarrassing!

To make things worse, Clara resigned, sending a one-line email stating her departure, leaving Posy completely in the dark. Now, she was without an assistant, and she had no idea how to deal with all deadlines and demanding clients.

Everything was spiraling out of control! This wasn't the plan!

Adams was starting to ignore her as well. She has lost count the number of times she'd greet her father and he would pretend she didn't exist! Does he know something? Did Thea tell him about what happened on the night of her engagement?

No. There's no way he would believe that without proof. Posy froze, what of Thea had proof? Is that why she's been ignoring her calls? Posy ran her fingers through her hair, she got rid of the cctv footage at the hotel, there's no way Thea had proof of that incident…

She had thought taking over would be so easy. It should be easy! What the hell was Thea doing anyway? She was doing the exact same thing isn't she?! Signing documents? Approving contracts, no?

Her phone suddenly rang, the sound causing her to jump. It was Fiona.

Posy’s heart skipped. She didn't want to talk to Fiona right now. Not when she's still trying to keep everything in order. But she couldn't ignore her.

“Mother! I was just about to call you,” Posy said, her voice a little too high.

“Just about to call me? Where the hell have you been, Posy?” Fiona snapped. “I’ve been trying to get a hold of you all day!”

“I'm so sorry mother! I was busy, a few things came up at the office—”

“Busy? You better be busy with your wedding! I called the cake vendor and she told me you haven't made payments for the cake?! Do you realise how close the wedding is?! ” Fiona yelled, fuming.

"The florist is threatening to pull out because you haven’t signed the contract. Is this the way the Balmeros behave?”

Posy’s face paled. She had completely forgotten about the wedding details. She had handed everything off to Clara, who was now… gone. “I’m so sorry, Mother, I’ll handle it. I promise. Just give me a few hours—”

“Hours? You're a joke, Posy! Do you have any idea how much work goes into a wedding? Or are you so incompetent that you can't even handle one simple task?” Fiona’s voice dripped with disdain. "If you're so incompetent, then call off the engagement! Tell Runes that he can go ahead and propose to someone else because you are clearly not the woman he thinks he thinks you are!"

“Mother, no, please! I’m going to fix this. I swear.” Posy’s voice was now panicked.

"You're going to fix it? You can't even fix yourself, Posy! You're a mess! You can’t handle anything!” Fiona screeched. “Fix this. I am not going to address this again!”

And with that, the line went dead.

Posy stared at her phone, her hands trembling. Her reputation was in tatters, Fiona was furious, and her dream of a perfect life was beginning to look like a nightmare.

She sank into Thea’s old chair, her head in her hands. She had no idea how to fix this. She didn't even know where to start.

The phone rang again, a different number this time. She hesitated, her heart pounding against her ribs. She was terrified to answer, but she couldn’t stand not knowing who was calling.

It was an unknown number.

Against her better judgment, she answered it.

“Did you block my number, Posy?” a gravelly voice on the other end of the line asked.

It was a man, his voice thick with venom. Posy’s stomach dropped. She knew that voice. It was the man she had hired. The man who was supposed to spend the night with Thea after she dragged her.

“What do you want?” she asked, her voice trembling.

“I think you know what I want. I was hired to do a job, and I didn’t get paid for it.”

“You didn’t do the job!” Posy snapped, her panic turning to irritation.

“I think you’ll find I did my part. I got her to where she needed to be. I got you what you needed. The pills. But the rest… well, that’s on you, isn’t it?” he said with a cruel laugh. “You had your chance, but I’m a patient man. But I’m tired of waiting for my money.”

“I’m not paying you for a job you didn’t do!” she insisted, her voice gaining strength, trying to regain some sense of control.

“Oh, I think you will,” he replied, his voice a low growl. “I’ve got quite a bit of evidence here, you see. Recordings. Of our little phone calls. The one where you asked me to drug Thea. The one where you asked me to get evidence of her and me. I even have a few pictures. Wanna see?”

Posy’s blood ran cold. She had never considered that he would record their conversations.

“You can’t… you can’t do that,” she stammered, her hands shaking uncontrollably.

“Oh, I think I can. And if I don’t get what I want, I will. I’ll send them to the press. To your fiancée. To your family. Let me see….one of my boys told me they knew where to find Thea herself. This should be interesting..”

“What do you want?” she whispered, defeat heavy in her voice.

“Let’s see… I’m feeling generous. How about one hundred and fifty million dollars? In cash. By the end of the week. Or I release everything.”

Posy’s jaw dropped. One hundred and fifty million dollars? It was an impossible amount. She didn’t have that kind of money. She was the heiress to Balmero Company, but her accounts were controlled by her father, and she had nowhere near that amount in her personal savings.

“I… I don’t have that kind of money,” she stammered, her voice barely a whisper.

“That’s your problem, isn’t it? I’ll give you a couple of days to figure it out. And don’t even think about running. I know where you are, Posy. And I know all your little secrets.” The line went dead.

Posy sat in Thea's chair, the weight of the world on her shoulders. The silence in the office was deafening.

She screams, sweeping all the folders on her table to the ground in anger. It can't end like this. No. She has to do something.