THE SECRETARY'S REVENGE

Chapter 6

✨✨ANNIE WEMBLEY✨✨

I excused myself while he got on the phone with his father. I heard the hard tone of his voice on my way out. His father surely made him uncomfortable because he had a tight look on his face, clenched phalanges, and slouched posture when he was on the phone with him.

I knew little about Bernard White other than the fact that his name stood out in the elite class, a respected figure in the billion-dollar company. In short, their surname was a way maker in the world we lived in. Everyone wanted to be affiliated with wealth, they were the matrix and had access to whatever resources were needed. Then people like me were somewhere below the pyramid scheme hoping to one day climb to the top. It was wishful thinking.

I sat on a recliner by the door and got acquainted with the enormous space. He'd put in effort at shaping part of his home into an office. There were nice leather rows of seats in one corner close to where I sat. Then a huge aristocratic painting of the three generations of the White family hung before me. I hardly noticed it on my way in.

I recognized the eldest of them, must've been his late grandfather, and the man in between was Bernard White but what I couldn't figure out was the youngest one of them. He had a strong resemblance with Bernard but looked nothing like Jeremy.

I weighed the similarities, the young man in the picture had honey-brown hair, full lips like it was artificial, and a dubious look in his eyes. They were similar to that of Bernard. I've always had this dark feeling towards the old man like he wasn't all that he seemed. So my question is, why was Jeremy absent from the family picture?

Before I could think deeper I heard my boss's voice from behind the door. He was upset about the call. As he spoke his temper rose.

"I'll not approve of the product because it is not what the market needs, we need solutions to everyday health challenges, not some stupid booster that's damn well sold everywhere else!" He paused to listen to the person on the other line.

"Dad, you put me in charge of your company so why don't you let me handle things my way instead of trying to run me down? I've had meetings with our production line, our marketing department and the rest of them and we decided not to go in for the catch, rather we solve health problems which will yield us more income than the former. If the board doesn't approve of it then that's on them_" he paused halfway. "Dammit! I'm done talking about this."

I heard the phone beep and his frustrated grunt and just as I was about to go back inside I saw the housekeeper walk in with none other than Mr. Smith, the HR manager.

"Hi sir, it's good to see you here," I said awkwardly.

He didn't pretend to like me at the moment, "Mh," he murmured, gesturing to the other woman to be on her way.

"You dropped that suspension letter on my desk yesterday right?" He whispered icily.

"I'm sorry sir but the CEO was adamant, I tried talking_"

"Don't_patronize me Annie because you were the one who put me in that mess, so yeah—you should have begged on my behalf. But you didn't."

"I tried, Mary and the others were having a difficult life because of the poor treatment." I lamented.

"And I'm not?" He charged at me, I took steps back.

"Pray he has a change of heart or else..." the manager seethed before heading into the office.

My phone buzzed in my pocket and my mind flew back to mom's health. I hadn't heard from Wendy since then, I got scared that something bad might have happened so I checked my messages and to my uttermost dismay, it was a reminder from him.