After spending her day off watching her son play in the villa's field with his father, Melissa went to work.
On arrival, as she walked into the building, everyone looked at their phones. Then whispered to each other glancing her way. Some who had never spoken to her walked over to greet her.
She smiled and nodded at them thinking they were talking about the ceremony. Which had gone on for the whole weekend causing a buzz in the media.
When she walked into her office, Nancy and Jenifer too were head deep in the newspaper. But tried to hide it when they saw her.
"What going on?" She asked, stopping in front of Jenifer's desk when she saw their unusual behavior.
"Melissa, hey we didn't hear you come in. Is your foot better?" Jenifer asked, covering the newspaper with her laptop.
"What's going on?" She inquired again.
"Have you seen today's newspaper?" Nancy inquired, getting the newspaper from Jenifer.
"Nancy don't." Jenifer tried to stop her but she paid no attention to her.
The thing Melissa saw when Nancy opened the gossip column was her pictures all over the page. She sat down clenching the newspaper staring at it. The red stained dress and her drenched face were proof enough of everything said about her.
Though there were reporters at the party. She didn't expect to see her pictures smeared all over the media with horrible stories written about her. Now she understood why Sasha had made her almost fall. Then poured the drink on her, disgracing her publicly. People calling her names was humiliating. More than walking out of a hall full of prominent guests.
...
"Ma'am, did you see this?" The assistant handed Sasha her phone when she got to her office. "It's been trending since morning." She explained.
"Thank you, you can leave now." She dismissed her sitting behind her desk.
Melissa's picture was on every social platform.
They accused her of forcing herself on Mr. Johnson, Sasha's fiance. With a picture of her falling only for him to catch her, they tarnished her character. Calling her all sorts of names, showing how she went around dating wealthy men for financial gain.
The dress and jewelry she wore at the party were estimated to be worth more than her one year salary. They wrote a story about how she had conned an older man to finance her expenses.
"Yes I saw it." Sasha said to the person on the other side of the phone answering the call. "Why did you have this published? Now the whole world knows about their relationship and Mark will hate me for this."
"You should be thanking me." The person said. "I commend you for the great show you put up." The person on the other end praised, clapping. "Why don't you issue a statement, say that she is not your competition. Make it clear that Mark is yours."
"No I can't, if Mark gets to know my involvement in this he will surely get back at me." Sasha protested.
"Rest easy, no one will find the source of this information, and remember, this is just the beginning. Play your part well if you want to have Mr. Johnson." The person assured, ending the call.
As instructed Sasha made a statement on her social media handle. She said the lady was not her competition. And that she had no involvement in her life.
Mark asked his team to take down all pictures on all social media pages. He also demanded an apology from the newspaper company and the story was taken down. The investigation of the person who had the story published led them to a cyber shop in the city outcast. The place had many clients coming in and out. There were no records or cameras inside, making it difficult to know who set the whole thing up.
Nancy and Jenifer watched Melissa sympathizing with her. They had expected her to get angry. To break down in tears when she saw the horrible things people were saying about her but she didn't utter a word. She sat for a while staring blankly out of the window.
"Melissa, where are you going?" Jenifer asked when she took her bag.
"I have a client meeting." She said walking to the door.
"You can't leave like this, the reporters might come after you. Maybe we should call Mr. Johnson. He will know what to do." Nancy stood before she blocked her way out.
"I can't disappoint my client. The renovation was scheduled to start today. Besides, I can't hide from people because of a few lies spread about me. Don't worry, I'll be okay." Melissa said walking out of the office. She felt really happy she had people who cared about her.
She couldn't hide and mop all day.
She didn't want to give the person any satisfaction for ruining her reputation. She contacted her team to meet at the client's house as she got in a taxi. Melissa sat in the taxi looking out of the window all sorts of emotions going through her mind. She glanced at her silent phone screen as it lit up for the hundredth time. Mark had been trying to call her severally but she didn't have the strength to talk to him. She knew it would be hard being with him when they got together but never did she imagine it being so awful. Degrading her publicly, and making people call her names was hurtful.
"You are the trending lady in the media today, isn't it?" The taxi driver asked, glancing at her in the rearview mirror. "You don't mind what people say, live your life to the fullest. Such a beautiful young lady like you must have suitors. You shouldn't turn them down because some people out there feel threatened." The taxi driver kept talking. Telling her about his countless clients and his life story. Not forgetting to encourage her when she got to her destination.
The big gate opened when she showed her identification. The house was thirty minutes out of town in a quiet environment with fresh air. Alighting from the car she looked at the two story building with a broken fountain. The once well manned garden was full of dried flowers and bushes.
The young lady and her husband received her at the door. Though the house was old, it had a strong foundation. Needing to only change the furnishings and the kitchen layout to add a pantry. With a list of materials needed, they sat at the kitchen island. And discussed the various areas that need to be improved.
"Uncle, this is the designer I told you about." Melissa was stunned to see Mr. Crack walk into the kitchen. He had come to give the house keys to his niece and advice on what to do.
"Mr. Crack, I've been trying to contact you for a while now." Melissa told him when they were left alone. The couple was busy on the phone.
"Sorry I can't help you, Ms. White." He said getting up.
"You kept the company's financial record, how can you not have any information?" She asked, getting agitated.
"I'm sorry." He said walking out
"Mr. Crack please help me out, all I want is the truth. You must have all the records, please, Mr. Crack." Melissa ran after him shouting.
"Melissa stop, what do you want from my uncle?" She held Melissa's hand, stopping her. "I saw the article today but I thought it may not be true. Now I see you running after my uncle. Aren't you ashamed?" Melissa pulled out of her grasp, looked at her then ran out.
Mr. Crack glimpsed Melissa running down the stairs as he drove off. She reminded him of the little girl who always accompanied her father.
Mr. White had given him so much. The day he offered him that job he was at a dead end. Debt in all corners drove him to a point of suicide but meeting him changed his life. He paid his debt and gave him money to support his family. Now with a broken heart, he seats back as his daughter suffers.
Opening the safe in his office, he took out a bunch of documents and went through them. He had kept them so he would have leverage against the Stevens but more so he would give Melissa justice.
Locking them back in the safe he thought of his friend. That company was his pride. He worked hard to make it a success so his daughter could run it in the future.
Greed for more money made him betray the only good friend he ever had and the guilt was killing him. He couldn't stand looking at Melissa after all he had done.
…..
"Dad, how much do you trust Mr. Crack?" Jessica eavesdropped on Diana and her dad.
"Why do you ask? He has helped us a lot, I don't doubt his loyalty to me." Mr. Stevens told his daughter Diana sitting back in his chair.
Diana told him how she got her men to follow Mr. Crack since the day her father informed her of meeting Melissa. Today she got information about him and Melissa meeting in a house out of the city raising suspicion.
"He knows what happened. We can't risk him giving out any information." Diana enunciated, tapping the table with her index finger.
"What? We can't go killing everyone, Diana. Keep your men off him and let me take care of everything." Jessica covered her mouth in shock after hearing their conversation. She knew her dad and sister had illegal businesses. But she never thought they were capable of killing someone.
"Did they have Mr. White and his wife killed to cover their tracks?" Seated in her office chair, she stared at the endless tall buildings around her.