CHAPTER FIVE

　　Damien Reed stepped into the living room of his penthouse looking stressed. He just returned from a business meeting with a client, he saw these business meetings himself. Although he started his company as a one-man business, Steel Cedar Inc. has grown over the years and is recently the No 1 Architecture firm. His rival company Ross Empire which had always remained on the top chart was now No 2 and he wanted it to remain that way.

　　It must remain that way, he thought grimly.

　　He was never one to accept being second place, hence the hard work and efforts which has eventually paid off.

　　After undressing himself, he proceeded to the bathroom for a soak in his bathtub. He felt his body relax as soon as he was in the tub and he left a sigh of relief.

　　His mind flashed back to the package he had received at the office the previous day. Not like it was the first time he ever received a package, but it was his first time receiving a life-threatening package.

　　The package had the image of a bird imprinted on it. There was no name on the package to indicate who the sender was. It only stated " The CEO, Steel Cedar Incorporation". When he opened it, he found a knife and a dead bird in it, with blood stains everywhere in the box. He had been so shocked that he had closed and kept the box away.

　　He had rung his Secretary to find out who the sender was.

　　"I don't know. I found it on my desk this morning". She said

　　"Did you open the package?" Damien asked.

　　"No, I didn't. Is everything alright sir?" She inquired.

　　He hung up as he paced around the office wondering who the sender was.

　　Damien sighed as he felt his head ache. He got out of the bathtub shivering as a result of the water running cold and headed straight into his bedroom to put on a pair of pyjamas.

　　He has to find out if the package was in any way related to Lady Bird, he thought.

　　Damien felt his body tremble as he sat on his king-sized bed.

　　He tucked himself into the bed but couldn’t sleep, he tossed and turned on the bed for hours. Frustrated, he got out of bed and went to his mini bar to grab a drink. He needed something strong to get his mind off things. He poured himself a glass of Martini as he sat on the bar stool.

　　“Having trouble sleeping?” Mrs Harper said

　　Startled, Damien spat out the drink. He wasn’t expecting to meet her by this time, he looked around and wondered why she was still here.

　　“Mrs Harper you startled me. what are you doing here so late? You should be home by now” he said placing his hand on his chest, he did look frightened.

　　“I have no one to be with tonight, the twins aren’t home, they are spending the weekend with my family so it’ll be boring to be home all alone. I’m sorry I startled you” she said, placing a hand on his shoulder. Mrs Harper had lost her husband years ago, she had twins, boys, who were all grown and in college now. Damien offered for her to stay here permanently but she had bluntly refused, she preferred her home to staying here. She only stayed here when there was no one to be with at home or she had something important to do here early the next day.

　　“So, what is keeping you up at this time, nightmare?” she asked as she sat at the bar with me.

　　“Not nightmares, I’ve been having trouble sleeping lately but I’m fine. Its work stress that’s all”

　　“Oh my dear, do you need me to get you anything? Are you hungry?” she asked

　　“I’m fine Mrs Harper. You should be in bed, it's late and you need to rest” he said to her, “I’ll be going to bed as well. Good night Mrs Harper” he added as he gulped down his drink and went back to his bedroom.

　　“Good night Damien. Take care of yourself, sleep tight” she said as she trailed behind him, heading back to her room.

　　He laid on his bed even though he knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep, he thought of the package once again and rage filled his being. He thought of all he had been through as an orphan, though he was provided with anything he needed as a child but it wasn’t enough, his mother’s love was more precious to him. He never knew who his father was and didn’t care at all, probably his father didn’t care about him too.

　　”He probably didn’t care about me, if he did, he would have looked for me years ago,” he thought.

　　Damien sighed as his thought drifted back to the present, he tried to close his eyes to sleep but he still couldn’t sleep. His mind was troubled and he didn’t feel safe anymore, he thought of his mother and the incident that happened years ago, it was still fresh in his memory and haunted him day and night.

　　'Mum'... he said in a voice he barely recognized as his. The pain and anguish he felt since that day was all he had, it had pushed him to become what he is today. He had no time for friends or pleasure. He saw it as a distraction from achieving his aim.

　　He touched his mother's ring which he hung on his neck. Her ring had slipped from her finger into his hands as he was being pulled from her body by the cops on the day of the incident. He held onto that ring like a treasure and whenever things got tough, he touched the ring on his neck, he was determined never to give up.

　　He will find out who Lady Bird is and make them pay for everything, for destroying his childhood, for killing his mother, the only family he had, and mostly for taking away his happiness.