05

Divorce papers? Remi was asking for a Divorce.

Seeing Lacy’s sudden expression after reading, Evie wondered what was on the documents.

Lacy read more and found out that Remi  was giving up on custody of Ian. His face turned ghostly white with rage, and he ground his teeth. "Well done, Remi. You're amazing!"

.....

The day after that was Saturday. Remi was attempting to get some extra sleep when her phone started ringing and texting like crazy, disturbing all her pleasant dreams. It was Mason calling.

"Ms. Puth, we need you to come to the office right away!" Mason said.

"Hey man, it's the weekend. A holiday, for crying out loud! This may wait till Monday unless someone dies.”

"No ma’am! This is a real mess. If we don't fix it right away, you could go to jail!"

Remi stopped for a moment. Mason, who had been Lacy’s right-hand man for years, was typically very calm. Even if aliens came, he wouldn't worry. So this had to be the actual thing!

"Get it? I'm coming." Remi  grabbed her things and jumped into a cab.

Mason was performing the anxious shuffle at the door. The knot in his stomach finally came loose when he saw Remi.

"What's going on?" Remi inquired, getting right to the subject.

Mason rubbed his head. "Hey, remember that supplier at Barry Mall? They filed a complaint saying you took bribes and gave them bad materials. The project manager is in Mr. Web office right now. They're thinking about calling the police.” Mason told her everything on the way up.

When Remi heard the claims, her eyes burst out in disbelief. "No way! I've never taken a single cent! "

"Ms. Puth, that's not going to work. They have proof. No one else will buy it, even if Mr. Web and I ride for you. Don't worry, you'll see soon enough." Mason looked quite serious as they walked inside Lacy’s office.

The supplier and project manager were giving each other dirty looks inside. Lacy was sitting in his chair with a blank look on his face. The air was thick with tension.

"That's her right there! She wanted a five-percent kickback, or she'd cancel my supply contract." The man was furious, and his eyes were flaming with rage.

The middle-aged project manager gave Remi a death gaze and asked the supplier, "Are you sure it’s her?”

"Yes, I can recognize her from afar too.” the supplier said, turning up the heat.

These guys had their narrative down pat, which made Remi look very suspicious. With construction going on and materials already on site, problems with the foundation may cause the structure to fail the inspection and put the whole place at risk of falling down. Everyone was going to get in trouble if that went wrong, even Lacy.

Lacy kept his poker face as he looked Remi over. She felt like a stranger now, even though it had only been a day.

"Mr. Web, I didn't do it." Remi looked Lacy in the eye and didn't move.

The supplier lost it and pointed a finger at her. "Bullshit! You  want to blame me for all of this? I never agreed to this! You made me sign off on it with all those promises. Now the project manager has the goods, and you're trying to get out? No way!" He pulled out his phone and put it in Lacy’s face. "Here are the transfer receipts, Mr. Web.”

Lacy looked at the records, and his expression turned dark like a storm cloud. "Remi, what's going on with you?"

Remi bit her lip and looked at the TV. The account details were hers, but she didn’t  recall getting the money. Suddenly, she realized something.

Remi tilted her head and smiled. "Very smooth, Mr. Web. Do you want to pin a crime on me before I leave?"

Lacy’s face contorted, and his eyes became sharp with heat. In a split second, those exquisite features become horribly ugly.

“You think I’m behind this? Unbelievable. Can't clear your name? Then let's do things by the book," Lacy responded, raising his hand.

Mason, who was standing close, speed-dialed someone. A few minutes later, two police officers came in.

One of the officer came up to Remi. "Ms. Puth, we need to talk to you about financial crimes. Please come with us."

Remi was going to lose it. ‘So that's how Lacy plans to keep me from leaving him: by framing me for fraud. This might ruin my career. Or worst, send me to jail. I have a great husband indeed’

"Seven years of pretending you care, Lacy, and I’m just seeing the real you now.” Remi yelled, turning around to follow the cops.

Lacy’s fists turned white-knuckled under the desk as he watched her leave. He turned to the supplier, his voice cold. "You sure Remi asked for kickbacks? She makes millions a year. Why would she risk it all for that little bit of money?"

Why would she risk everything for that little bit of money?

The supplier  was stiff and started to sweat. He couldn't look Lacy in the eye and kept stumbling over his words. The project manager dived in to protect himself. "Mr. Web, I understand. You don't want to believe Ms. Puth is unclean. I felt the same way at first. But really, that makes sense, doesn't it? I mean, she's an orphan who didn't have anything. When people like that see money...”

Lacy’s gaze turned deadly. "Orphan?”

“Nothing? " The project manager quickly realized he'd made a mistake and said, "That's not what I meant! But we have receipts, Ms. Puth is guilty. Mr. Web, you need to consider about the other workers...”

The coldness around Lacy became stronger, and he smiled dangerously. "Oh, thanks for the heads-up. Of course I will. The person who is messing up will have to pay the price.”

Then he waved them away with a flick of his wrist. Mason stayed, looking very bewildered. "Mr. Web... Ms. Puth  would never stoop that low for a little money. That doesn't make sense. Like, who would have thought that the wife of the president of the Web Group would be dumb enough to get caught? over a bad bribe? Please rethink.”

But those who didn't know the truth kept exploiting Remi’s story against her.

“Someone clearly went all out to get her put in jail.”

Lacy leaned back. "I know. But she's been too self-centered recently. This is just a wake-up call for her. She hasn't had to work hard enough to forget her place. Is she trying to trick her way into getting what she wants? I'll show her what happens when I don't protect her.”

"But Mr. Web. She…”

“Get lost now.” Lacy yelled.

Mason had no option but to walk away.