Victoria
I stared at the update, infuriated. Not again. Xpresso Beauty had topped the chart again and my company came out third. No goddamn way! Who the hell was running that company? From the headline, Expresso Beauty had made two billion within five years. How was that possible? My company had made only two hundred million dollars despite my investment in it. This was ridiculously unbelievable.
"Who the hell owns this company?" I questioned, ferociously.
"Ms. R-roberts," my assistant, Scott, stuttered.
"Who's Ms. Roberts?" I inquired. Who was that? This was my first time hearing of her.
"She is the founder of Xpresso—"
"I mean… what does she look like? Do you have a picture of her? I need to see the person who dared to overtake my company," I yelled.
"No one has seen her," Scott said, in a low pitched voice.
I threw a document at him. "You are useless. All of you. Assemble the sales manager, my secretary, the production team and the directors. Now."
"Yes, ma'am," he said, lowering his head and turned around to leave.
"If I don't get an explanation why the sales went down and low, I am going to fire every single one of you."
He quickly left the room and within minutes he was back with them.
"Why did the sales reduce this year? We lost more than a hundred million dollars. I need an explanation, right now," I snarled, furiously.
"We have a competitive rival at the moment and we lost our buyers and customers to them," the sales representative manager explained.
"That's not possible."
"You asked us to increase the price of every product and service. We did it and that was a very big disadvantage to the company. We didn't think about our rival company. They actually sold their products at a very cheap rate and with discounts. And the Expresso company sells authentic products. You had asked us to reduce the quality of the products and increase the quantity, so we could earn more but we couldn't even sell all the products. There has been a lot of complaints from our customers and they turned to the other companies—"
"Oprah, I am very disappointed in you. You are so stupid and useless," I scoffed. "Goddamn it!"
"I'm sorry, ma'am. I tried my best. Some workers have been working for more than six months without receiving any payment or promotion. So they resigned and it also affected the company."
"You all are good for nothing. Bunch of useless idiots!" I screamed, throwing some cosmetics at them. "Do something about this or I will have all of you fired."
"We are trying our best, ma'am. It's going to take some time—"
"Shut up and get out. You know what? I want you to get rid of the old workers and hire new ones before this month runs out," my phone beeped. "Now, get lost, all of you."
I gritted my teeth and clenched my fist as they left my office. Who was Ms. Roberts? There was no way I'd stand and watch her ruin everything for me. She had no idea what I was capable of. I was going to make her pay.
I tapped my phone to see the message. It was an update about the so-called Ms. Roberts: Ms. Roberts finally reveals her face.
I quickly tapped the message to see who Ms. Roberts was.
Laura Wilson.
Was this a joke or what?
Five years ago, I made sure she was homeless and broke. I laughed. This had got to be some sort of joke.
I zoomed in on the picture. Why was she surrounded by the Press?
"No way!" I screamed. "No goddamn way! This cannot be." I was so enraged. I thought I had finally gotten rid of her but she was back, richer and popular than I was. How was this even possible?
I slowly leaned back in my seat. "Well, get ready because I'm going to make your life a living hell, Laura. I'm going to ruin you and your company. I'm going to take everything away from you, once again."
My hand formed fist. I banged on the table, anger surging through me. "I'll rather die, than watch you live a happy life, Laura."
I caught sight of the company's contact line and dialed it.
"Hello, greetings from Xpresso team and management. What would you like?"
"I'm Victoria Wilson, the founder and CEO of Talco. I would like to book an appointment with Ms Roberts. My management team will contact you, shortly."
***
I couldn't believe what I was watching. Laura and Lorenzo. How did he find her? Why did he go back to her? All my plans were about to be ruined. "I hate you, Laura," I screamed, throwing my phone to the ground. I began to push everything off my desk. "How dare you return, Laura?"
I had to do something or else they were going to reunite. I couldn't let that happen.
The door slowly opened and my assistant walked in. "Mr Andrew Bradford is here to see you."
Andrew Bradford, Lorenzo's rival. Why the hell did he come?
"Let him in," I said, fiercely.
"How's it possible that Lorenzo's company bounced back? He topped the chart," he yelled, rushing into my office.
"You are yelling," I screamed. "And I don't like it."
"Does it look like I give a fuck about what you like? We had a deal. You were going to ruin Lorenzo's company and I was going to help establish your company. I made Talco what it is today."
"I am as confused as you are."
"I warned you about this, last three years and you assured me his company was never going to be successful," Andrew snapped.
"He didn't top the charts for five good years. How was I supposed to know that his company was going to top the chart this year? In fact, I'm as pissed off as you are, right now."
Andrew banged the table, startling me.
"His ex-wife company topped mine and made the sum of two billion dollars in five years. And if I don't act fast, they may reunite with each other. I can't lose to Laura. Lorenzo is mine and everything she has should be mine."
"All this is your fault. Perhaps if you were not so obsessed with Lorenzo, this wouldn't have happened. My dad is questioning me and comparing me to that loser. I don't want to lose the CEO position because of this mess. You have to fix it, Victoria. If not, I'll make you pay for it," Andrew threatened.
"You don't have to worry. I got this. Laura is my half sister. I'm going to manipulate her as I did before. As for Lorenzo, he trusts me so well. I can easily ruin his company, again."
"What do you plan to do?" Andrew asked, arching an eyebrow.
"Firstly, I need to make sure that Lorenzo and Laura do not get back with each other. Secondly, I have to reconcile with Laura. As for Lorenzo, all I need to do is to fake that my company has gone bankrupt. He'd offer me another chance to work in his company. I would use that opportunity to sabotage his company, once again and this time around his company will crash completely."
"This had better work, Victoria. You know what I am capable of," Andrew said, walking closer to me. He leaned forward. "If you love your precious life, make things right."
My hands became shaky all of a sudden. "I'm not scared of you," I drawled.
He stretched his hand and grabbed me by the neck. "Stop acting tough. I could just smash your head on your desk and leave this company without anyone daring to stop me."
"Get your hand off my neck," I screamed, hitting his hand.
He pulled his hand away from my neck and smirked. "Now, be a good girl and get to work."
I sighed and watched as he began to leave.
He stopped at the doorway and turned around to face me. "Laura is Ms Roberts and your half sister, right?"
"Yes. Why do you ask?" What was he up to?
"I think I like her, already."
"What do you mean?"
"I might just have to stop pushing your company and start supporting hers—"
"You cannot do this to me…"
But, he ignored me and left.
I would never let that happen.