"What's going on?" Silas asked, hearing the noise from outside the car as he looked through the window.
"There seems to be an angry mob outside the company. I don't think it's advisable to park here, sir," his driver said.
"You don't think?" Silas turned on him. "Am I supposed to be thinking for you now? Drive to the parking lot. Next time you let me think for you, you're fired."
"Understood, sir." His driver swallowed his words and exhaled in frustration, following his boss's orders.
When they reached the parking lot and stopped, Silas stepped out of the car. His secretary was waiting at the entrance, hands clenched, face pale.
"What's going on?" Silas asked, his voice flat. "Why is there an angry mob outside the company?"
The secretary bowed slightly, eyes on the pavement. "Yes, sir. There's a problem."
Silas frowned. "Speak up."
The man hesitated like someone standing at the edge of a cliff. "About the couple you asked us to use at the hospital to frame Fidelia... the plan didn't work."
Silas's expression didn't change. "Explain."
"This morning a video was posted," the secretary said quickly, stumbling over his words. "The couple released an apology. They say they were blackmailed into framing Fidelia. They're asking for forgiveness. The video's gone viral. Public sentiment... it's all behind her now."
Silas's hand moved like lightning. He grabbed the secretary's shirt and hauled him close. "I gave you one task," he said, his voice dangerously low. He pointed a finger at him. "You were supposed to break them. I told you how to make sure they couldn't talk."
The secretary's jaw trembled. "I—I did what you asked, sir. I—"
Silas tightened his grip until the fabric creased. The secretary choked out, "It seems they were pressured by someone else. They recorded it and posted it this morning. The backlash turned around—people are saying we framed her."
Silas let go without warning. The secretary sagged, rubbing his neck.
"Find them," Silas said, his voice like ice. "Find the couple. Make them pay for this backstabbing. This should be done quietly. Make it look like an accident, something unrelated. Make sure there's no trail that leads back to us."
"Yes, sir—" the secretary started.
Silas cut him off. "And the lawyer. Make him stand by. He was supposed to defend their son. Since they went against me, let their son rot in jail."
"I'll handle it," the secretary said, too fast.
"Handle it," Silas repeated, moving toward the doors. "Do not fail me again."
---
He walked into the elevator and pulled his phone from his coat. The trending feed lit up the screen. He scrolled with a calm expression, watching the narrative unfold.
Comment after comment, a chorus rising for Fidelia.
"Who would do this to her? #JusticeForFidelia"
"She was framed. They're trying to gaslight us. She deserves better."
"Where's the person that framed her? They're guilty until proven innocent."
"They should bring out evidence to back their claims."
"Jokes on you, the couple confirmed they have evidence and they're bringing it out."
The last comment caught Silas's attention and he immediately turned to the secretary.
"Make sure you find the couple and destroy whatever evidence they have that would lead back to me." He placed a hand on the secretary's shoulder and leaned in close to whisper. "And if you're not able to do so, you're going to have to take the fall."
The secretary's eyes widened in shock. His lips twitched as if he wanted to curse, but he held it back and clenched his fist, listening to his boss's words.
"Don't worry, you'll be paid for whatever time you spend in prison. You might even be lucky enough to get bail." He patted the secretary's shoulder and pulled away.
Silas read the remaining comments, his lip twitching part anger, part amusement. "We made her popular," he muttered under his breath. "Fuck."
He scrolled further. A headline jumped out:'CARSON CORPORATION LAUNCH TOPS CHARTS'. His mouth split into a smile that didn't reach his eyes.
"Carson topped the charts," he said out loud, almost to himself. "So their stolen product actually worked."
The elevator opened and they stepped out. The secretary's phone started buzzing. The lobby felt suddenly chaotic. Employees rushed past with heads bowed to screens, faces pale. The tension was higher than evereveryone was busy doing something, scrambling.
"Sir!" a junior staff member called, stepping in front of him. "There's chaos upstairs. PR is fielding calls, legal is on emergency—"
Silas raised a hand. "Take me up."
They rode the elevator in tight silence. At the top, the office was a warzone of bright screens and raised voices. Managers clustered around terminals; someone barked into a headset as if that would pull the world steady.
Silas walked to the center where the Department Manager, Anita, met him.
Anita had her hair locked in a bun and her suit perfect. She took a deep breath and spoke.
"Sir," she said carefully. "We have a huge problem."
"To my office. Now." He walked toward his office, and when they got there, he sat down with the air of the Vice President of the company.
"Start talking," Silas said, his voice deep.
"It's not only PR," Anita said. "Customers are complaining that their private messages and files were exposed. The product reports say it synced data without consent. Backups were accessed, clients lost their data. Sir, it's a lot." She slowed down and finally ended. "Rushing the launch was a huge mistake, sir."
Silas folded his hands. "So the launch gave people access to our client data? Private messages? Images?"
"Yes, sir. And the tech team isn't familiar with solving the issue as fast as needed. They said it wasn't their production." Anita's eyes darted as she spoke, unable to meet Silas's gaze.
"So that's your petty excuse," Silas said, his voice dropping even deeper. It sounded like he was about to explode.
"Sir, that—" Anita tried backing herself up, but she was cut off.
"Shut the fuck up." Silas finally snapped and slammed his hands on the desk, scattering the laptop and everything else on it.
Anita and the secretary gasped in fear, stepping back to avoid the scattered objects.
"Summon all the tech team to their positions right now. We're going to have a little chat. I can't keep losing millions, or they're going to pay dearly." He pointed at Anita and stood up.
'Andrian, don't tell me you intentionally did this. No, it can't be.'
"Follow me," Silas told the secretary as he moved to walk out of his office.
The phone in the secretary's hand vibrated.
He looked at the caller ID and froze on the spot.
"Sir, you have a call."
"Ignore it and follow me," Silas said again, not looking back.
"Sir, it's from the President."
The moment the words entered Silas's ears, he froze too. He closed his eyes and squeezed his hands into fists.
'This is not good,' Anita thought holding her file hard, wanting to escape from the office as fast as possible and avoid whatever storm was about to take place.
The secretary moved closer to Silas and handed him the phone.
"Leave," he said.
Nobody waited for him to repeat his words before they hurried out.
Silas stood there alone, staring at the phone in his shaking hands. The one person he was truly scared of was his father, the President of Carson Corporation. And now he was calling at the exact moment everything was crashing down.
He took a breath and answered.
"Father."
"My office. Now." The voice on the other end was very cold and deep that made Silas shiver in fear.
After his father spoke, the line went dead.
Silas closed his eyes and let out a slow breath. His hands were still shaking.
'This was going to be bad.'