CHAPTER SIX - RESTRAINT

Amelia was baffled. How was this happening on her first day of work? It seemed as if someone was trying to sabotage her. Well, she didn't get a PhD in Business management for nothing.

But first, she needed to get the full story behind this. She started reading the news article and from it, she was able to know that Anna Lopez who was their brand's spokesperson was seen calling one of their products trash.

For this model to have gotten the effrontery to do such and breach the contract, it is either she must have been paid by someone in the company to sabotage it, or she had been hypnotized into doing so. Her guess was the latter.

Dialing the office line, she rang for Antoinette who had gone to bring the minutes of the meeting they had had today. She had planned on testing the capabilities of her secretary later but it seemed the future came too early than intended. Now she'll need to know if she could keep working with her or employ her own person.

“How good are you Antoinette?” She asked. That was her procedure when working with people. She would give them the chance to assess themselves first before she would assess them herself.

“I believe I am very competent and professional in handling my duties, ma. I am willing to learn anything you ask me to do. I may not be as good as other secretaries who have been doing this for a long time, but I have the aptitude and willingness to learn whatever it is that you require of me. Just say the word” Antoinette replied confidently.

“Good” Amelia commended as she took her phone to make a call. “I won't work with someone who has low self-esteem or no sense of who they are or what capabilities they possess.”

A voice spoke out from the other end of the line, “I just saw the news, what do you want me to do?”

“Nothing” she replied. “Whoever is responsible for this will probably be waiting to see my reaction to the news. I want them to panic first and reveal their hidden cards. Only then will I strike them mercilessly”

“As you wish,” the voice said as she cut off the call.

“What I want you to do for me An….. Let me just call you Ann as I don't want to have to strain myself trying to pronounce your name when I need you”

“What you will do for me now is to investigate each and every one of the board members. It says here in your CV, that you are well adept in hacking for information and tracking phone calls. I need you to keep an eye on everyone's phone calls”

“While listening in, any conversation they make that sounds more friendly than normal, you are to report then to me”

“Yes ma,” Ann said as she took note of everything.

“Good! In the meantime, I'll get back to reading this report. Also, reject any meeting from the board of directors for now. Just tell them I'm handling the situation. You can go now”.

“Whoever it is that wants to sabotage me, I won't spare you at all,” she said to herself.

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At the Brooke's Enterprise

“You got married! And you didn't invite me. If I had not known better, I would say you want to end this friendship. But knowing your heartless self, you don't even care”

The only person who had the guts to talk to Nathaniel like that was no one but his best friend Andrew Reynolds. Nathaniel sat quietly at his desk with no intention of replying to Andrew.

“Quick! Tell me who the unlucky lady is. I wonder how she would feel when she discovers that you have no love to offer her. She probably married you for money anyways so I'm sure she didn't expect love to come with the package”

“You're right,” Nathaniel answered. “Her name is Amelia Brooke and she married me for her personal gain but not because of money”

“Then why did she marry you. Don't tell me she fell in love with your handsome pretty boy face and decided to spend the rest of her life with you. That would be classical indeed”.

“That's enough talking. Don't you have your company to be at? I wonder how you are a CEO but you spend so little time in your office”

“Fine! Fine! I'm leaving. No need to rub it in my face that you are doing better than me. I sincerely hope you do find love in this marriage.”

Just then, Nathaniel’s Secretary Justin came in.

“Have you seen the news, Sir? The Stone Jade Palace stocks have gone down by ten percent.”

“What is the reason for the decline in the price of stocks?”

“Why are you interested in the shares of a small fry company like Jade Stone Palace? They hardly made any increase in profit over the last five years.” Andrew asked but was snubbed by Nathaniel.

“It is caused by a relapse in judgment by their brand's spokesperson. According to the news she was seen defaming their latest jewelry series “Frozen in Time”. I believe Sir that is a result of an internal conflict that has arisen as a result of Mrs. Brooke stepping into the chairman’s position”

“Spoofft!!!!! Andrew spat out the water that he had just drank. “Did I just hear you say Mrs. Brooke as in this devil's wife?”

“I believe you did, Sir,” Justin answered and turned his attention back to Nathaniel. “What do you intend to do about it, Sir?”

“Nothing. If she cannot handle a crisis like this, then I don't think she is fit to take over the chairman's position. Let's wait and see if she cannot solve the problem in a week, then I'll step in”

“You damned devil” Andrew cursed. “If an outsider should hear you they'll think it's your enemy that got into trouble”

“Justin! See this brat out of my office. Ice has already told you many times. Do not allow him into my office in the mornings”

“Yes Sir” Justin replied as he saw Andrew out.

Nathaniel reclined on his chair and brought out a notebook from his desk.

“It seems acquiring the company may not be so difficult after all. Let me wait and see how she would resolve this”

He picked up his phone and called someone. “I need to know the culprit by the end of this week. Get to work and make sure you do this discreetly. No one from the network should know I ever contacted you”.