Once Upon a Time

Thirty-nine....

***

  Clara froze on the spot as the voice echoed around the room. She just had to do one thing and she messed up. Now what was he going to think?

Daniel frowned when he saw the owner of the Chestnut hair. So she was planning to steal from him after all. He knew she was up to no good when she returned from California.

"I said, what the fuck are you doing in my room?!"

"I...em... papers. I mean, I wanted to...I was looking for papers i-" she paused when his strides stopped in front of her.

Daniel scanned the fairly displaced items in the room before looking at her with coldness.

"Get out," he said.

"Your mom, she's going to-"

"I said, get out!" She hurried away from him but stopped at the door when she saw Darius staring back at her in confusion.

"What is going on here?" Darius eyes darted from Clara to Daniel and back to Clara.

"She's trying to steal from me!" Daniel stated.

"That is not true! Why will I steal from you Daniel?" Clara blurted out.

"Then you didn't answer my question, why are you in my room for God's sake?"

"On Wednesday, I was at the office and your mother was there." She stated.

"What are you saying? Mother was home." Darius said to her.

"She wasn't," Clara said. "I saw her at the office."

"What were you doing there? Last I remembered, you didn't work there." Daniel blurted out.

"I came to see you that day Daniel because I needed to speak to your sister and I couldn't just walk into your house when you literally told your guards to not let me in."

"My sister doesn't like you Clara, why on earth would she want to talk to you?"

Clara shrugged. "I needed to get out something that she needs to hear from me, that's why I wanted to see you first."

"Well then, his mother at the office isn't something unusual because she comes once in a while." Darius said. "What could possibly make you search his room without permission Clara?"

"When I saw her in the office, I thought it was strange but as you said, she comes there once in a while. It wasn't until I saw your assistant crash into her that I noticed that the file she held was gone."

'On Wednesday,' Daniel thought, vividly remembering sending a call to Becky to send some important Documents home so he could work.

"So you are trying to tell me that my own mother manage to mix up her files with mine purposely?"

She nodded and he scoffed. "Becky carried the files for you. If I'm correct then, she really did put a file when they all dropped to the floor."

"She can be right Daniel," Darius said remembering her conversation the other day with someone named 'Jack.'

His own mother,

"Daniel," Darius called. "Did you sign any document that you thought was strange?"

Did he?

"Well, no wasting of time. Where do you put them?" Everyone seemed nervous currently, they might have just signed themselves over to their enemy in disguise.

---

Daniel paused when he saw his particular safe open. He remembered locking it the last time he was with Audora, then how was it open again.

He didn't want to conclude yet, if not he would be writing his own mother wrong.

"Someone opened it," Darius walked closer to him.

"Well which file did you find unusual can you remember it? Did you even read through it?"

"I read all of them before but I didn't get the chance to sign them. Nobody was supposed to touch it." 

He remembered the red file of that night very well. Did he sign it? He frowned as he tried to remember.

Flipping to see something unfamiliar, he saw nothing. Did he imagine seeing a red file? He shook his head at the thought. It must have probably been because the lasts were dim. "But there's nothing here. All these files are work files Clara."

"Of course there'll be nothing there. She may have already taken it way."

"Kara can't do such a thing, she has no reason for me to sign some strange papers." Daniel said.

"Then why was your safe open when the people who know the password are just you and your wife who is kidnapped?"

He thought for a moment then sighed before adding, "And mother."

"What was that?" Darius said.

"Mom knows the code. She happened to be here a certain day. She asked for something when I was filing in some important documents. She must have seen me typing it in."

"But why would she do something like that?" Darius asked.

"Because, she's one of the people that has a hand in the kidnapping of my cousin." She answered almost immediately.

As much as Darius wanted to believe it, he shook his head.

"That can't be right," Darius spoke. "If she wants Clarissa kidnapped then why was she arguing over a ransome?" Daniel frowned in confusion.

"What ransome?" Daniel asked. When Darius discovered that he hadn't yet told Daniel about his mom, he sighed...then told him.

---

"Ma'am," Simeon called referring to Audora and she turned to him with a smile. Turning away from the discussion that she was having with her father.

"Yes Simeon, what is it?" He showed her a letter. "It was dropped by the gate and I decided to come give it to you myself."

"You can leave." She said right after tearing the letter open.

"Well, what is it?" Mr Thompson pressured.

Audora went pale on reading it. She couldn't take her eyes off what she was seeing.

"Are you telling me or do I have to read it myself?"

"They have mother too,"

"What do you mean?" He paused as meaning finally came along her words.

They had his wife too.

---

"What do you think you're doing? Do you think that by doing this, I'll learn to love you. I hate you and I'll never stop hating you do you understand?!"

He held his heart dramatically.

"Awww, aren't you the cutest. Babe, listen to me. Time will tell and I'm telling you now. When we get the property, I'll take you on a long trip to Mexico City and then we'll spend all our time together forever." She shrunk her face in disgust.

"You are making it too easy to get to you and trust me this time I won't give up and also you don't have to worry, you'll get use to it soon enough..very soon."

---

"What do they want?" Daniel asked as Darius re-read the letter given to him by his wife.

"They want the company, in exchange for one of them." Just about then, music was heard and when they traced the sound, Daniel was already bringing the phone out of the pocket.

A number was calling,

Could things get any worse.