The Last Wife

ten

• horrible headline •

Alex takes two cups of tea to Erik's office for the afternoon appointment.

I have a gut feeling he has poisoned the tea. I have to stop him. I think he's trying to kill Erik. I think that's his plan.

I poke my head inside the office, hoping Erik has not tasted the tea. I find him chatting with Alex, the cup still sitting on his desk.

"How may I help you, Mrs. Ford?" Erik asks, sounding annoyed.

Alex and I exchange glances before I fix my gaze on Erik.

"I'm afraid I've misplaced some files. I think I might have forgotten them inside your shelf. I was hoping you could let me look for them now. If you don't mind..."

"I do mind." He says flatly. "As you can see, I'm in a meeting."

"I'll make it fast, I promise."

He sighs.

"I'll appreciate it if you turn around and go back to your desk."

Alex throws me a perplexed look before he turns to Erik and says,

"Just let her look for the files, sir. It's fine. We still have time."

With a defeated look, Erik huffs.

"Okay, fine. Make it quick."

I bolt towards the shelf and pretend to look for the files. When I don't find them, I turn to his desk and spill the tea all over his desk intentionally.

"What the f**k!!!" Erik barks. "You just spilled tea allover my desk!"

"Oh God! I'm so so so sorry!"

"You should feel sorry for yourself!" He sneers. "You always find a way to mess things up! Ugh! Clean up the damn mess! Now!"

I throw a quick glance at Alex, who is scowling at him and clenching his fist under the desk. He's seething in anger.

"I'll clean up the mess, sir." Alex cuts in then turns to glance at me. "You can go back to your desk, ma'am."

As I walk out, I don't give a f**k if Erik is more angry at me.

All that matters is I just saved his life.

From my little evil brother.

****

"Were you trying to poison Erik!" I hiss at Alex.

"Did you just follow me to the washrooms!"

"I just asked you a question! Did you poison Erik's tea?"

"God! Is that why you spilled it all over his desk!"

"Yeah! And then let you clean the damn mess yourself!"

He smirks at me.

"I think that's a great idea: poisoning his tea. But I'm smarter than that. The idea sounds lazy. I have to think of something more creative." He says with a grin. "Look, I don't like the way the dumb f**k talks to you. And I don't like the way you allow him to talk to you. Someone should stop him. Clearly it's not you."

I scowl at him.

"Stay away from Erik! I mean it!"

"I really don't get why you are trying to protect his ass. The guy literally hates you."

"It's your little stinky ass I'm trying to protect!" I hiss. "I don't want you getting in any trouble with the cops, Alex. Can't you see that?"

He sighs, staring at me.

"I didn't poison his tea, Isa. And I'm not trying to kill him. I promise."

"You better keep that promise."

"Footsteps!" He hisses alarmingly.

"What?"

"Someone's coming."

He drags me into one of the stalls and locks us in. We hold our breathes till the man is gone. Standing in the silence, I get a little deja vu of the time we used to hide from our grandmother when she wanted to cane one of us.

We exchange knowing glances before bursting into a laugh.

Having him here feels nice and safe. I've always enjoyed his company since we were kids.

I wish he wasn't planning something evil...

Maybe I would have enjoyed his company a little more.

****

The week goes by fast

A lot is going on in my life.

Alex is still working in the company. Erik is still a giant pain in the ass. And ofcourse I'm still protecting my asshole boss from being murdered by my little brother.

I still haven't figured out Alex's plan yet and it's stressing me out. I must be on toes every f*****g day, making sure he doesn't do something stupid. If he does something stupid and Erik ends up dead, that would really look bad on me considering my husband was just buried the other day.

I'm a few days away from graduating. Yes! I'll be getting a diploma in business administration. A few years back, I would've been so happy to have achieved the certificate. In my mind, I thought it would prepare me to run Harvey's company. But now that I'm so close to achieving it, I'm not so sure I want it that badly anymore.

But I'm excited to be seeing some old friends. Especially Cole and the rest of the band. I really wish Reed was with us. It would have been more fun and exciting with her here. It's been a few months since her death but I still miss her terribly. Maybe if she was here, Erik wouldn't have dropped out of school and dumped his music career. Maybe he would be graduating with us. Maybe we would still be a couple. And we would still be madly inlove. Maybe everything wouldn't have gone to s**t.

And to make it all worse, the cops still consider me a suspect in Harvey's murder. They dropped by just the other day to ask me a bunch of questions. Questions that were clearly trying to frame me as the murderer. They were strict and harsh, just like the first day. Alex keeps insisting that I should get a lawyer. But that would make me look even more guilty, right? Why should I get a lawyer when I have nothing to hide? Or, do I?

Everything is going to s**t.

I thought Harvey being dead would put an end to all of my problems but it didn't. Infact, it even brought me a lot more problems. Now I'm considered a prime suspect in his murder case. And the company that I wanted to possess for so long is not mine anymore. It belongs to my ex. An ex that hates with every bone in his body.

I keep asking myself... what was the point of planning the revenge all these years if everything would go south in the end?

What was the f*****g point?

****

I wake up from a nightmare.

Since I stopped taking the pills, I started getting a whole lot of the nightmares. But I'm never going back to the pills. No matter how hard it gets. No matter how much my brother pressures me to take them. No matter how many times my doctor prescribes them. I'm so done with the f*****g pills!

I stay frozen in bed for a while before I crawl out and have a quick cold shower.

As I have breakfast downstairs, I can't help but think to myself just how huge this house is. I wish Alex was here, having breakfast with me. This house is just too big, even with me and the army of workers.

I wish Alex would move in with me. But that would draw a lot of attention towards me. "The widow lets a man move in weeks after her husband's burial". That would be a horrible headline. It wouldn't paint a good picture, especially to the cops.

But if it wasn't for all the drama going on, I would let the entire family move in. My whole family except my evil grandma.

I hope some day I can live with my dad, my little sister and ofcourse Alex.

Just like the old days...

****

I get to work on time.

A few minutes later, Erik struts to his office. I follow him quickly.

"What do you want, Mrs. Ford?" He groans as he falls on the swivel.

"A day off." I request, standing infront of his desk.

"No." He replies bluntly.

"No?"

"No."

"Please hear me out first before you say no," I request. "Tomorrow is a big day for me. I can't miss my graduation day."

"No."

"Can you stop being so stubborn!" I snap. "Reed would've hated this version of you!"

He scowls at me for a moment before he blurts out.

"I will grant you permission only on one condition."

"Yes?"

"Be my date to the merge party."

"The merge party?"

"Haven't you heard?" He scoffs. "I decided to merge my grandfather's company with Harvey's to make more money and more profits. Isn't it a brilliant idea?"

"You didn't even ask me," I say sadly.

"You're just a secretary, remember?"

How could I forget my place in this company? He keeps reminding me every damn second.

With a frown on my face, I ask,

"Will you give me the day off, sir?"

"Only if you'll be my date to the party."

"Okay, fine." I mutter.

"You can leave my office."

"Ruby?" He stops me just before I leave his office.

I turn back to look at him.

"Sir?"

"Reed would've hated this version of you too."

****