Chapter 3

The next day, the sound of her phone ringing jolted her awake. It was an unknown caller id. She picked the call hesitantly.

“Hello…”

“Miss Goven, this is James. I am sorry, it seems like I disturbed your sleep.”

“No, you didn’t please go ahead.”

“ Your grandfather wishes to speak to you, and if possible see your face. He would have been in City M by now, but the doctor strongly advised against it. You see, his health is not as it used to be and he has been advised to limit all forms of stress or strain on his body.”

“Er… will it be possible to have a video call with you?” James asked

Dukia, looked at the clock on the night stand. It read 8:23am. 

“Can you give me 15 minutes?”

“Sure, take all the time you need.”

Dukia quickly ran to the bathroom, brushed her teeth, washed her face and put on some powder and lipgloss she had found in one of the cabinets last night during her mini tour of the apartment.

She changed into a lightweight floral gown and settled down in the sitting room. 

She called James back. On the screen, she saw a wiry bald old man, with a few graying hairs on his temple. She had a faint recollection of him from her childhood. 

“Dukia…?” Her grandfather, Arthur Goven spoke first with tears glistening in his eyes.

“I am so sorry, I am so sorry. I don’t even know where to begin. I really wronged you and your mother. I let grief blind my eyes to the truth.” Arthur stood up from his chair and began to lower himself to the ground to kneel.

“Grandpa Nooo. Butler James please raise him up. You are an old man, you do not need to kneel before me,” Dukia protested.

“Grandpa? She called me Grandpa. James she called me Grandpa.” Arthur exclaimed. “Does this mean you have forgiven me?”

“I can’t say I have forgiven you yet. Because honestly, I do not know what I am currently feeling. Maybe, one day I will be able to forgive you.” Dukia replied.

“Of course, of course. I won’t rush you, take your time. I’m just grateful I get to see you before I leave this earth.” Arthur said.

“Butler James has told me the conditions you gave to accept the role of the CEO. I fully accept all of them,”

“ I have just the man who will act as the proxy CEO, my lawyer Mr. Hale. I trust him with my life. I spoke to him earlier this morning and he has agreed to do it. Will there be anything else you need? Everything I have is now yours.”

“Butler James will be flying back to City M immediately after this call with the documents of transfer of the CEO position and other documents you will need to familiarize yourself with the operations of Goven Industries.”

“As for the branch where you’ll be working as a manager, I believe our branch at City M is just the one. I will be sending you all the documents concerning the branch as well. It used to be one of our strongest branches until recent years when they began to decline, currently they are on the brink of shutting down. I believe you are just the person they need to shake things up.”

“Um… Grandpa that’s a lot of information at once.” Dukia said.

“Ah, forgive this old man. Sometimes I forget myself and ramble on. But Butler James will carefully explain everything to you and will clarify you on all that you have questions on.”

“Alright, Grandpa.”

“My dear Dukia…” Arthur’s voice broke.

“It’s alright Grandpa. Talk to you later. Bye.” Dukia disconnected the call.

Dukia could see that Arthur was sincerely sorry for what he had done and regretted his actions. But his sincerity was not going to bring her mother back from the dead. Neither will it erase all the pain and sufferings she had endured for all these years.

She fought back tears as she remembered all she and her mother had suffered that first week after they were thrown out of their home. 

All her mother’s friends had turned their backs on them because Arthur had issued a directive that anyone who helped them will face his wrath. No one was willing to go against Arthur Goven, so they stayed away. They slept under the stars the first two nights. On the third night, it began to rain. 

They slept under the rain that night. 

Her mother had tried looking for work but no one in City E was willing to hire her. With all the money she had left, her mother bought tickets to leave City E as it was obvious they were not going to survive another day there. That was how they found themselves in City M. 

A week and the half later, her mother developed a serious cough that hacked the life out of her. She had no money to go to the hospital, so she self medicated all to no avail. A week later, she passed away in the motel room they had been renting. The owner of the motel, a kind lady helped arrange a burial site for her body and dropped Dukia off at an orphanage. 

At the orphanage, she met Mrs. Chen, the matron who became a mother figure to her. Mrs. Chen loved her like she was her own daughter, though she had no children of her own. Mrs. Chen ensured that Dukia got an education, even up to College level.

By the time she was back to the present, her gown was soaked with her tears. Standing, she went to take a shower.

Little by little, walls of ice had formed around her heart. She vowed to take her revenge on every single person who had ever caused her family pain. 

While she waited for Butler James to arrive, she picked her journal and began to draft out just how she was going to accomplish this.