Fated To Three, Betrayed By All… Until She Rose.

Jarek.

It’s been a couple of days since I saw that person that reminded me too much of Leilani, and also the same amount of time since I had any form of rest.

I clasped my hands together as I listened to the endless conversation between the team representing product and design and the team representing engineering and development as they bickered between one another over something that was as obvious as the fact that the sky was blue.

Yvette, my PA turned manager tried to iron out the problem by bringing up a solution— one that was as viable as a basket holding water, and when someone pointed this out, she snapped;

"Do not be daft!"

I froze.

My eyes widened as I slowly... very slowly sat upright and with a voice that sounded so detached, it didn’t even sound like it had come from me, I hissed; "What was that for, Miss...?"

"Duncan," she supplied quietly, "...and I didn’t mean it Alpha, I was just very antsy. This project has long exceeded its deadline..."

"And is that my fault or yours?" I snarled, watching the way she shrunk into herself before firmly shaking her head.

"N- no!"

My eyes raked her small frame closely, and it wasn’t until I did this that I finally realized something I have been missing the entire time. Something that I would’ve— should’ve— never overlooked in the first place.

And it is the fact that she had dyed her hair a metallic shade of silver.

Well, this is not the first time I am seeing it since Leilani’s disappearance, but it has lasted a little too long compared to the other colours she usually wore.

But that wasn’t all.

There was a red scarf tied around her neck.

One that had belonged to Leilani.

One that I had gifted to Leilani.

I frowned.

"And if I may ask, Miss Duncan, why do you have something that isn’t yours?"

At the sound of my voice, she froze and then slowly turned to cast me an innocent look. Her eyes widened in confusion— feigned or not— and then she whispered in a voice so small, it irked me;

"I d- do not u- understand you, sir?"

"Now, permit me, Miss Duncan, to ask you the same question you just asked Mr David, are you daft or just plain stupid?" I hissed, not missing the way she flinched nor the way the others lowered their heads in confusion and worry.

"I’m sorry sir!"

"Why do you have your late colleague’s scarf around your neck?" I continued, ignoring her pathetic attempt at apologizing. And as soon as I uttered those words, I immediately noticed the way the walls around her face slowly crumbled.

She looked at me like she was about to cry, but I wasn’t buying it. Not now. Not when I was already so irritable. And especially not now that I have been worrying about that strange person I saw just outside my office a couple of days ago.

"No, sir. I didn’t... I really didn’t mean it that way! I just wanted to... goddess, I missed her so much and I needed to feel—"

"You’re dismissed." I snapped, interrupting her. Her eyes widened.

"Sir, do you mean—"

"Do you wish to be fired as well?" I seethed, causing her to shake her head wildly at me. "Good, so you’re dismissed from this meeting."

She didn’t even wait for me to finish speaking as she immediately began to pack up her stuff to leave the room, but just as she finished packing, I turned to eye her one more time— especially the red scarf still wrapped around her neck— and snarled;

"And leave that behind as you go!"

"Huh?"

"Leave the scarf behind!" I bellowed in anger. "Stop making me repeat myself!"

A loud cry slipped out of her lips as soon as I said that, and then she rushed out of the room crying, but that is after leaving the scarf behind like I had instructed.

And heavens, it wasn’t until she was finally gone that I let myself heave out a sigh of relief and then I turned to the others. "Now, continue from where you stopped and stop acting like you’ve all gone dumb simply because we lost just one... one employee!"

"Yes sir!" They chorused, but even after this, and even after feigning seriousness for the next forty five minutes that the meeting lasted, none of them could come up with anything tangible.

No one, literally no one could be creative enough to find a solution to our very little tech problem. And that was when it finally dawned on me that Leilani was the ’thing’ keeping my company afloat.

She was the foundation in which we all rested on...

And for some reason, that didn’t make me feel bad, it only made me feel proud.

—

A couple of hours later, the secretive Mr Valemont came again to complete our contract signing, and just like the first time I met him, as soon as his large frame crowded my doorway, my breath instantly hitched in my chest.

He took one glance at the paperwork in front of him, one that had taken my staff several hours to complete, and shook his head, a tinge of disappointment clouding his features as he drawled;

"This isn’t what I expected."

I frowned. "You had expectations?"

"Of course I did," he snapped back quickly— a little too quickly if you asked me, causing my heart to skip another beat.

His swirling purple eyes that strangely reminded me a lot of Leilani met mine and held, and then he muttered; "I had high expectations. I did my research. I looked for the best companies in NYC to partner with and all my searches linked back to you, Frostaclaw. Everyone said you were very good, but I don’t see it. This is mid."

The insult stung more than a thousand bees all at once, but what stung the most was the fact that he was right. This was meager compared to what Leilani would do, and besides worrying about her and her safety, I also needed her back for this.

For the sake of my company.

For the sake of what I have spent most of my life building.

My eyes lowered on their own accord as I regarded him, and I can say that the words I spoke next came from the deepest parts of my heart. I said;

"I am sorry, sir, but we recently lost a staff member."

"A staff that cannot be replaced?" He snorted, but it wasn’t anger I saw in his eyes this time, it was understanding.

"Yes."

"How? You fired them?"

"We lost her. She died in a fire accident."

His eyes narrowed slightly as he came to watch me closely— so closely that I began to squirm. He drawled; "And is it right for me to ask what her name used to be?"

Used to be...

Those words hurt more than I would’ve ever imagined.

"It’s not a problem," I choked out. "She was Miss Leilani Sinclair, formerly known as Miss Leilani Blackthorne."

I saw the shift happen on his face before I felt it. He frowned. "Sinclair?"

I nodded.

"She was a Blackthorne?"

"Yes."

"I am sorry but is she some silver haired girl with purple eyes and a very fiery tongue?" He asked curiously and by this time, my own curiosity had peaked.

I nodded slowly. "Yes. Do you know her?"

"No." His answer was too fast... too generic, and from the way he suddenly slowly stumbled to his feet and walked out of my office without another word, I immediately knew that something was wrong.

Goddess, I need to see Leilani right now!