Chapter 25: A Little More Fun

Alicia turned and saw Andy already waiting to drive her to work. Resolute, she answered, “No.”

Andy’s lips curled into a faint smile, and he said nothing. Alicia climbed into the car. As they pulled away, Winnie slipped into her own vehicle and told her driver to follow. After a thirty-minute chase, she watched Alicia step out of Andy’s car and start walking.

Winnie thought they hadn’t noticed her tailing them, but Andy’s voice came through Alicia’s earpiece: “Your sister is trailing you.”

“I already know,” Alicia replied curtly.

She was surprised the mother and daughter were so slow to act, though when they did, they were always vicious.

After a brief silence, Andy asked, “Do you want me to make it impossible for her to get to the company?”

“Too demeaning for you to waste effort on a clown. Let her be,” Alicia said.

“All right,” Andy agreed without argument.

Once they finished talking and Andy drove off, Winnie immediately ordered her driver to follow Alicia, who continued on foot toward the company. She watched as Alicia entered the gates and was greeted by multiple security personnel.

What stunned Winnie even more were the aides who hurried to meet Alicia the moment she stepped inside, and the bustle of the place—trucks coming and going, everything running with seamless efficiency. The coordinated atmosphere grated on her.

“Go check their financial report and bring it to me,” Winnie snapped at her driver.

Without questioning the abrupt command, he said, “All right, second miss.”

“Don’t you ever call me ‘second miss’ again,” Winnie hissed. “Or I’ll scratch your ugly face and make you eat cold rice.”

The driver flinched and stammered, “I’m sorry, miss.”

“Shove your sorry,” Winnie shot back, growing more irritated. “Now get moving—and bring me what I asked for.”

The driver fled at once, but returned an hour later and handed Winnie the financial report. The moment she flipped it open, a strangled scream tore from her throat. “Argh!”

The file slipped from her hands and fell onto the car floor. She stared, eyes wide and mouth agape. The driver craned his neck, baffled at what had terrified her—until he caught the icy glare she leveled at him. Cold sweat broke across his brow.

With her jaw clenched and anger burning in her eyes, Winnie hissed, “Where the fuck did you get this? Did you pull it out of thin air, or did you go digging for trash? What is this bullshit?”

“I wouldn’t dare deceive you,” the driver stammered. “This is the branch’s report. Is… is something wrong with it?”

“Shut the fuck up,” she snapped.

She snatched the report and flipped through it again. It made no sense. A branch that had been bleeding money had suddenly posted staggering profits—an impossible surge in an impossibly short time. Her disbelief curdled into fury.

She looked toward the company gates, shock and frustration warring on her face. “Take me home,” she ordered.

“Miss, today’s meeting is crucial. If you don’t go, your cousins and your father wi—”

“Are you deaf?” she barked. “Take me home. Now.”

The driver flinched and started the engine, speeding her back. By the time Winnie reached the house, Alexander was already gone.

Winnie burst into her mother’s room, breathless. “Mom! Mom!”

Beatrice, halfway through her makeup, turned from the mirror with a frown. “Why are you shouting the house down? What’s wrong with you?”

Struggling to steady her breathing, Winnie blurted, “Mom, you told me Catherine didn’t have a formal education and could barely speak English, right?”

Beatrice nodded. “That’s right. That’s why she doesn’t talk much.”

“Then explain this.” Winnie thrust a financial report into her hands. “If she’s uneducated, how did she turn that dead branch we handed her into a bustling industrial hub? The profits are unbelievable.”

Beatrice’s expression tightened as she flipped through the pages. Shock flickered in her eyes. “Where did you get this? It’s too good to be real.”

“I wish it weren’t,” Winnie grumbled. “My driver picked it up from the branch Catherine runs.”

She paced, anxious and fuming. The annual family meeting loomed in her mind—if Catherine’s performance kept soaring like this, wouldn’t she be declared the family’s future?

Beatrice’s face was grim, but her voice grew calm. “Is that why you’re worried?”

“Shouldn’t I be?” Winnie snapped.

“There’s no need,” Beatrice said coldly. “It’s that cripple propping her up. Let’s see how long he can keep up the charade.”

At the mention of Andy, Winnie’s fury flared. “Why didn’t the accident take his life? He’s a menace—an eyesore. I hate him. Why can’t he just disappear? He’s everywhere, like a housefly.”

She stalked back and forth, seething.

“Don’t worry,” Beatrice said. “Catherine won’t be smiling for long. I’ll have someone sabotage that branch. It’s time a few of my people slipped into the company and made things… interesting for her.”