Emmanuelle

My eyes were wide open even before my alarm went off. I rolled over to my side to stop the loud noise coming from my phone which was alerting me that it was seven o'clock. Monday— I was not ready for the new week, but the world does not care about our feelings when it comes to time. It simply goes on.

I sat up and pushed the loose strands of hair out of my face. I sighed as I finally got out of bed and leisurely made my way into the bathroom to get ready. I was quick with my shower to avoid being late since I had already used up about five to ten minutes of my time during the whole, dealing with my internal crisis of accepting that I had to go to work in order to be able to maintain a good life though I did not ask for this life. It became my daily routine at this point.

Yawning, I went through my clothes to put together an outfit. I opted for dark blue trousers and a long, fitted black sleeve shirt. I tied my hair in a ponytail to show off my pearl earrings. After giving myself a quick pat on the back for turning myself from a raggedy doll to a sophisticated office worker in under twenty minutes, I slipped on my heels, grabbed my already packed bag and headed out the door.

I rushed downstairs to see who was available to give me a ride. I would usually, either have one of our drivers drop me off or head to work with Marco.

"Ready to go?"

I turned around to see Marco coming out of the library. I flashed him a smile and nodded. Did I want to drive with him like I always did? Yes. Was I afraid that someone at work would suspect anything even though it was normal for us to drive to work together? Also yes.

We were just about to head out when Anthony and Marissa came walking down the stairs. She was just as quiet as she was during dinner the night before. Anthony was the only one to speak to us. Marissa did not even make eye contact with us. Not long after we went our separate ways as couples.

"What's wrong?"

"Hhm. Nothing." I shook my head.

"Then why are you chewing on your lip like that. Is it because of dinner?"

I was not aware that I had been chewing on my lip or that the sticky texture of my lipgloss now tasted like copper. I was so anxious about this workday, maybe even more than I was on my first day that I had bit so hard into my lip that blood started to leak.

"There's tissue in the glove department. And stop stressing over nothing, you're hurting yourself." Marco put his hand on my thigh.

I patted my lip, soaking up the bit of blood that had sipped out before I added another coat of lipgloss to cover it up. It burned but I survived.

"Hey!" His eyes scanned my face. "Ease up. Whatever you're worried about, you can tell me."

"It's nothing." I fidgeted with my fingers. I did not want to bother him with my worries.

"What are you thinking about, Nuelle?" He asked in a calmer tone.

I took a deep breath. "That Tia was right. This could ruin our family."

"You can't ruin what's already ruined."

"She seems to think otherwise."

"She wasn't here during the last eight years that we've had to deal with shit. We've survived far worse. So, don't worry too much about the others. This is about us."

I could sense that my doubts had bothered, perhaps worried him. It certainly was not a good way to start work. I tried my hardest to act natural as we made our way through the building, but knowing that our relationship was no longer platonic kept me in a constant fear that other employees would find out about this. I was aware that it was bound to happen sooner or later but the timing was not right as yet. I let out the breath I had been holding in once the elevator doors closed and we were alone.

The few seconds we spent riding the elevator was the only time of the day that I felt calm. Marco walked out of the elevator first when we reached our floor. I walked closely behind him until I made eye contact with Rosie whom I had completely forgotten about.

"Good morning, Nuelle." She gave a warm smile.

"Morning— Rosie."

I felt like a traitor. She had been nothing other than a complete sweetheart towards me ever since we closely started working together and there I was unofficially dating the guy that she was sad about just a few weeks ago. Everything between Marco and me had happened at such a fast rate that Rosie had slipped my mind.

I closed the door behind me and settled myself at my desk. My eyes drifted to Marco who had already dove into his work. I was rethinking every choice I had made in the last forty-eight hours. From the things I did at the party to making out with Marco to— being a horrible friend to Rosie. My family was a beacon for toxicity and everyone that came in contact with them was unwillingly drawn to it, unable to walk away.

----------------------- //

Mattia

Gia was still asleep when I left for work which was around 10.00 am, much later than I would usually start the day. I had Christoph take me to work and the whole ride to the office I kept repeating the points I had mentally added to my agenda. I had exactly two hours to get ready for the staff meeting and I had also planned to deal with my sister's infidelity. I was still considering whether or not it was good idea to talk to Anthony about it. If it were any other situation that we were dealing with I would have told him without a doubt, after all I trusted him with my life. I felt my body overcome with nerves at the sight of our building, but there no chance that I was going to show it.

I got out of the car and made my way into the building through the side entrance. The look on my employees faces when they saw me was evidence that the were surprised by my return, this meant that Lana had done as told. I specifically stated in my e-mail that the department managers were only suppose to receive the message concerning the staff meeting the morning of the meeting itself. By the time I had reached my floor Lana was standing by the elevator, waiting for me with dossiers clasped in her arms.  News travels utterly fast in this place, that was nothing new. I nodded at her and she nodded back as she followed me into my office.

"I just sent the e-mail for the meeting, it will be held in the conference room at twelve. Mr. James will be attending but might be a bit late because of another meeting that he has to attend."

"Has Gerold responded?"

"Not as yet. I will let you know as soon as he has."

"Great. That will be all." I replied at first, only to stop her when she was about to exit the door. "Lana. Coffee, please. Black, no sugar."

"Yes, sir."

I turned around in my chair to face the large windows once Lana had left. Flashes of the accident flooded my mind. I remember thinking to myself that my life was over when I collided with the other vehicle. So much had happened since then. I lost myself to my thoughts as I stared at the gray sky that I had not noticed Anthony walk in until he almost startled me to death.

"Day dreaming, are we?" He said in a horrible, fake British accent.

"You've been back for what? eight months and now you want to do a bad British accent?"

"Don't be so sour, Dimitri." He said my name the way Nuelle always did in the accent she had adopted.

"Okay. I see we're in a goofy mood. The reason why you're here might change that."

"And that is?" his eyebrows furrowed. The change from laid back to serious happened quicker than I expected.

"I have reason to believe that Marco could be right about James." I lied. "I think he had something to do with my accident and that he might even be working with Rafael."

"We've looked into this. Checked his whereabouts on the night of the accident, everything. So, what makes you think that there's something that we might have missed?"

I nibbled on my lower lip as I took Anthony's words into consideration. He was right, we had done a solid check on James. Yet, somehow we both failed to notice that he was sleeping with Marissa which made me wonder what else we could have missed.

"Check again. There must be some kind of link between James and Rafael. I never made it to the meeting I had you set up between Rafael and me. But, somehow he still got the information about Emmanuelle's shares within the company."

Anthony crossed his arms as his jaw stiffened. "Still. James didn't know that you guys went to see the lawyer. You introduced Nuelle as one of the shareholders months after the accident. Unless—"

My heart started beating faster when I saw the wheels turning behind his eyes. Anthony was quick at solving puzzles, it would not take much for him to find out about Marissa and James. I wished that there was another way to get the information that I needed, but there was not. There was not anyone that I trusted enough to carry out this task. Therefore, I had to carefully choose my words in order to refrain myself from unintentionally telling him that his girlfriend was cheating on him. I hated the position that this situation put me in.

"Unless Nuelle told him. Marco definitely didn't say anything and Marissa barely tolerates him. That leaves Nuelle. Besides, they did have a lot of contact during that time."

"Could be." I felt relieved that Nuelle was the one that came to his mind. "Let's try to figure out the link first. The rest will automatically come to light once we know if he's been working with Rafael. That would also explain how Rafael got into the house and the party."

"I'll look into it."

"One more thing," I gulped. "I need you to check up on Rylee and Amara. See how they're doing."

"Should I proceed with this months transfer ?"

"Yeah. Make it 5k for Amara's birthday."

Anthony left at about ten past eleven. As soon as he left, Lana brought me my coffee. Though, I preferred it to be a tad hotter I could not get mad due to the fact that I was the one that told her that I did not want to be disturbed during Anthony's visit. As I sipped my coffee I went through the countless of e-mails that I had yet to open and read. Everything was corporate related until I came across one that seemed out of place. It dated back to the Sunday that had just passed and was sent from an unknown address. It contained a sole sentence which instructed me to open the attached file.

My mug slipped my fingers and the coffee spilled all over my lap, spilling onto the ground when I saw the images that the file contained. My eyes prickled with tears as rage flowed through my veins. Her unusual behavior, the blame she put on me for leaving her, wanting to elope— this. This was the reason why. Unaware of the strength that was freed because of my rage, I picked up my laptop and smashed it into my desk. It took several minutes before I had calmed down and reached a level that allowed me to think straight. That was when I grabbed my phone and called Rafael.

"Mattia." He sounded excited.

"I'm going to kill you." I replied.