At Savannah Street, the Deputy Chief of Lands Bureau, Mr. Hakim proceeded with the demolitions as scheduled despite Henry's stern warnings. Only half of the residents had evacuated while some of the old folk refused to leave claiming they couldn't leave behind their ancestral land. Three forklifts and a few other heavy machinery lined up, ready to start the job.
These folks might have considered leaving if they had been given enough compensation. The developer who acquired the land, probably through illegal means, paid mere peanuts. Coupled with Deputy Chief Hakim's greed, the compensation paid out wasn't even enough to get a decent house in another location. The residents had tried negotiating for a fair price but Mr. Hakim could hear a none of it. How could he agree cough out the money he'd pocketed? In the end, he resorted to forceful eviction.
However, he underestimated the unity of those poor residents. In barely half an hour, the whole place had turned chaotic. They had only started tearing down the first house and almost forty protesters had gathered around the scene, fighting for their rights. The rowdy protesters surrounded the forklifts, threatening to overturn all of them if they dared to continue demolishing their homes.
Some older folks even went as far as threatening to commit suicide. Mr. Hakim snorted at their futile attempts. They were like tiny ants in his eyes and he could finish them with a stomp. In his eyes, they were wasting his time, money, and opportunity. He made a call and, in a few minutes, a truck full of police officers arrived.
How he did it? Well, with the Salva Corp influence behind his back, and him being the only brother to Henry's late mother, he could pretty much get away with anything. Mr. Hakim waved of his hand, giving his men the green light to proceed with the demolition.
***
Sarah returned home later in the afternoon and found her campus friend, Gloria, sitting on a tree stump outside her gate. She had a head lowered with both her and cupping her cheeks, and Sarah could hear her silent sobs. From her posture, she looked distressed.
"Gloria?" Sarah asked cautiously.
"Sarah," Gloria wiped her tears from her face and forced a smile. "You are here."
"Are you okay?" Sarah asked, her voice full of concern. She squatted beside Gloria and patted her back in a comforting way. "What is going on?"
Even before Gloria could speak, tears pooled in her eyes and she hurriedly wiped them with the back of her hands. "It's the evictions," she said in a shaking voice, trying hard not to cry. "My parent's ancestral home is at Savannah Street. A few days ago, they suddenly received a court order to evacuate the building to pave way for redevelopment. The compensation given was not enough to get them another house, especially now that the cost of housing is sky-high. Eventually, my parents moved into my apartment. They have been sad and I can't bear to look at their long faces anymore."
Gloria paused and glanced at Sarah, unsure whether to continue talking. Sarah gave her an encouraging nod and Gloria continued, "I heard the developer is under the Salva corporation."
"Impossible!" Sarah said in a soft voice as if talking more to herself. After mumbling two more times, she spoke out loud, "Are you sure?"
"I understand you're close with Henry..." Gloria hesitated before continuing, "But... he is a businessman. He is not as simple as you think."
A thought suddenly struck her. Those reporters. Their accusations. It's all made sense now. She had been so preoccupied with saving him that she failed to find out the truth. Despite all that, she refused to believe he was capable of such atrocities. Sarah suddenly stood up, turned around, and walked back towards the main road. "I have to talk to him."
"Sarah, wait..." Gloria called when she realized Sarah was leaving. "I haven't finished talking yet."
***
Minutes later, Sarah barged into Henry's house and found him on a call. She overheard him instructing someone to hide any news from the public and find a way to keep the scandal out of the media. Live footage of the chaotic scene at Savannah Street played on his laptop screen. Apparently, things had gotten so chaotic that the police resorted to using force. The homeowners didn't back down either, which resulted in the death of two people and several other injuries.
Sarah's whole body shook with rage after listening in on him. "Henry, if you had good intentions about this, why did you hide that news from the public? Why are you keeping everyone in the dark? Cover up?" Sarah immediately hurled an accusation at him as soon as he hung up.
"No. It is not a cover-up." He exhaled and got up from his chair. "Things are more complicated than you think." He stood with his back towards her trying to find the right words to explain the situation. "You know what everyone is saying about me, right?"
"What? That you're a genius and capable of running multiple billion-dollar businesses at a young age?"
"No." Henry shook his head, "not the flattery."
"Everyone thinks you are too young, immature, and not competent enough to hold a position as a CEO," Sarah answered quickly, not understanding where the conversation was heading.
"With this scandal blowing up, what do you think will happen?"
"Those rumors will be proven true and you might lose your position," Sarah blurted out.
"Exactly!"
"Now that's even worse!" Sarah's eyes widened at the realization. "How can you sacrifice the lives of others just for your pride?" Her lips curled into a sneer, "Typical of rich people."
"That is literally not what is happening. I'll sort things out. Things are not as simple as you think."
"Rich people will always have an excuse for everything," Sarah scoffed.
"Is it my fault that I'm rich? If so, then there's nothing I can do about it. I don't know what grudge you have with the rich people but I can assure you I have nothing to do with any of that. I'm working hard to resolve this crisis as it is."
"Resolve? With what? Money? Henry, do you think everything can be solved with money? What can money do? Will it bring back the dead? What about emotional damages?"
"I am trying to solve this problem the easiest way possible; and if money is the easiest way possible then yes, I would gladly do it. In all honesty, money is the thing I'm least lacking right now."
His response infuriated her even more. "What do you think of yourself? Do you think you're a great god above the law and can do as you wish because you have money? Just because of little profits, you are willing to destroy those people's livelihoods? Do you know how hard it is to be evicted? I've lived through it and I know the horrors it entails. Imagine being set out completely homeless with no hope of tomorrow just because someone else saw an opportunity to make a profit from your home!"
"I'm sorry you had to go through all that but this is not the same." Henry felt a headache coming from her outburst. He massaged his temples and silenced his phone which had been ringing for quite some time now.
Sarah looked him in the eye and asked, "Shouldn't you report the involved to the authorities?"
"I can't."
"Is it because you haven't moved on from your tragedy that you're avoiding this problem?" in her anger, Sarah found a way to dig into his wounds. "You are protecting your uncle because you haven't moved on from your mother's death. Face it!"
Henry suddenly went silent. Her words ripped through his soul, reopening a deep wound he'd buried deep in his heart. His mother. That was something he never liked to talk about, and not certainly in this manner. He stared at the ceiling, blinking rapidly to fight the tears that threatened to fall. With a soft sniffle, he dabbed a tear from his eye with the back of his thumb and walked to the open windows to get some fresh air.
"I'm sorry..." Sarah apologized, but the damage had already been done.
Henry rested his elbow on the windowpane and stared into the distance. "Alright. Since my conduct irritates you so much, we can stay out of each other's lives. I'll stop meddling in your life and you can go back to living your peaceful life without a jerk like me," he said without looking at her, distance and alienation in his voice cutting through her heart.
"That's not what I meant..."
"It's late," his cold voice did not give her the chance to finish her sentence. "You should leave. I'm tired and I need to rest."
A/N: hello my lovely readers. Sorry for the late update. It was really hard for me to write this chapter.
What do you think about this chapter? Let me know in the comments.