A Trade Of Hearts |✔

CHAPTER 23: Salvaging The Remains

Once I was finally there, I looked at the clock. It was about ten o'clock. I decided to have a shower. I was still soaked up in wine and there was no way I was going to bed as a sticky mess. I let the warm water rinse away traces of tonight's disaster and I picked out a onesie.

I was about to wear it when I realised, I could still minimise the damage, if not reverse things. I had to prevent the word from getting out of the party and going viral. This was going to require big wads of cash but I was ready for it. I was not going to the tabloid princess I needed to buy the news back and that too immediately. Maybe then, I might still have a claim to the CEO position.

With renewed hopes, I changed into a white shirt, black trousers and Whew...sneakers. No way in hell was I going to torture my feet with heels again tonight. I picked up the car keys and my purse and headed out to the first media house...The Wallstreet Journal.

10th December

It was nearly one o'clock. I had made a trip to all the media houses in NYC by now and had grabbed a burger from McDonald's. How ironic it was that I chose the food at Conrad but didn't even get to eat it.

As I swallowed the last bite of my burger, my mind wandered back to what Howard Johnson had told me when I went to his office and had asked him to prevent the news about today's incident from leaking. He was one of the esteemed news company ambassadors and unlike others, he refused to take any payment since was an old friend of my mother.

He had just warned me,"You have been away for quite long. A lot has changed, within the company.", He said, weighing his words as he spoke.

"What do you mean?", I had asked.

"A word to the wise is enough.",he had said," And no word about this will be printed in my newspaper, I promise."

"Thanks a lot again.", I had greeted him, getting up from the chair in front of his office desk. We had shaken hands and as I was about to leave, he said, "You have a lot of potential. Just watch your back!"

That sounded ominous. What did he mean?

I rewinded in my mind, the incidents of the past three years, some painful and others extremely good and as I neared the current time line, something struck me.

The sudden losses that the company had suffered, they felt odd. Sure, they had a good reason to back them up but something so huge had never happened before to Hudson Enterprises and we very very careful in our dealings. So what if...

Why did I not think of this before?

I immediately dialed Eric's number.
"Hello?", He said in a sleepy voice. I realised, oh shit, time zones. It must be six in the morning, there.

"Morning sleepy head!", I smiled.

"What happened? How was the party?"

"A disaster."

"Huh? Did Nate do something?", He asked, disgust evident in his voice.

"I will fill you in later, when Sarah wakes up too. For now I need you to get something done for me."

"What must that be?"

"I need you to get your brother to do something."

"Steven? What to do you need to do with a computer whiz? Waaaiittt!!!! Do you want to hack something? What the hell is going on?", He asked in utter confusion.

"Like I said, I'll tell you and Sarah together. Just get Steven, I need him...",I paused and then with a deep breath continued,"...to hack Hudson enterprises' main server!!!"

"The hell! You're not serious, are you?"

"I need it done by tonight and I need every single detail to the core. Be discrete.", I said, ignoring his question.

"I hope you have a good reason for this."

I sighed, getting impatient, "Trust me. This is really important."

"Umhm, consider it done...You do need to call me back soon and explain this shit, ok?"

"Ok!", I said and then ended the call.

As I put down my mobile, I smiled, trying to overcome the the sense of impending doom that had began enveloping me and said aloud,"Desperate times call for desperate measures!"