Julian (in Brown's body) stood stiff in the corner of Amira's office, the silence between them thick as poison. Julian had never seen a woman so bossy and classy like Amira; he had to pretend to be her son. She didn't look up from her desk. She didn't offer him a seat. Only after the tension had stretched to its edge did she speak. "Do you know why I stayed away from New York for twenty years?"
Julian didn't answer; he wasn't sure of what to say. "Because cities like this rot from the inside out. Power doesn't just shift here; it decays and rots away. And do you know who brings the mould?" Her eyes lifted, sharp and cold. Brown just stood there looking and waiting for her to finish her statement. "People like Natasha." Julian blinked. "Jasmine's mother?" Amira's smile was a blade. "That woman is a cancer. She tried to ruin this family once. I won't let her do it again." "You think she's behind the breakup, and made Jasmine take such a decision?" "I know it. She's using Jasmine the way she used everyone else. Your sudden transformation. Your silence. Your... closeness with that intern." He felt a shiver run down his spine. How did she hear of that? It's now clear to him that there's another eye preying on them, but it can't be Brown (in Julian Body). She tapped a file on her desk, it looked like the company files, everything about Amira De Fernandez "Don't be foolish, Brown. I didn't build this entire empire for you to hand it to a woman who smiles while she poisons you, and you know very well your damn father didn't put a dime here, don't follow his steps." Julian swallowed the lump in his throat, beads of sweat formed on his head, Amira stared at him keenly, and she knew her son didn't drip a single drop of sweat; she turned her face away from him.
You didn't build this for me. You built it for your real son. And I'm not him. But he said nothing. He just nodded.
Amira was still in her office alone, thinking about the situation at hand and how to handle the press scandal, unaware that her rival, whom she had avoided for so many years, was in the same building with her; she hated Natasha for so many reasons. Security didn't stop her. She didn't wait at reception. She walked through the halls of Amira De Fernandez like she owned the marble floors; she walked in like a boss, her heels clicking at every step, coat flowing, perfume trailing behind her like power in bloom. Brooke jumped from her chair as she saw her from afar.
"Mrs Natasha, do you have an appointment?" Brooke said that just to push her out, but she stood and stared at Brooke, "I don't do appointments, darling", she said while removing her sunglasses, "Tell Amira I'm not leaving until she speaks to me. And tell her I'm not here as Jasmine's mother this time." "I'm here as the woman who knows what she did."
The elevator opened with a ding.
Amira stepped out slowly, regal and icy. Their eyes met across the lobby. No screaming. No slap. No security. Amira walked boldly with her hair flowing behind her, and Brown behind her; the whole place was filled with nothing but silence. "Amira Darling, my darling", Natasha said with a chuckle, "don't call me that", Amira said defensively. And then Amira spoke, voice calm and lethal. "I told them to burn your name off my list of visitors," Natasha smirked. "And I told myself I'd never waste time on ghosts." "Why are you here?" she asked. "Because your son broke my daughter's heart." Amira's eyes didn't flinch. "My son hasn't been himself lately." "No. He's becoming everything you're afraid of. And everything you tried to silence." Amira stepped closer, her voice dropping. "Are you threatening me or what?" she said in a cold voice. "And if you think you're going to use your daughter to finish what you started twenty years ago", Natasha stepped in too. Toe-to-toe, eyeball to eyeball, it was intense.
"Sweetheart. I already have."
He watched it all from the stairwell above. he wasn't aware that Mrs Natasha was coming; he stopped in his tracks and stood still. He didn't mean to eavesdrop, but he couldn't move. Amira and Natasha weren't just two mothers.
They were two empires made flesh. And somewhere between their words… He caught something strange. "He hasn't been himself lately…"
Joshua leaned forward. Frowned.
Why does everyone keep saying that?
And then he remembered.
Julian's voice. In the dark. That night. "Maybe you have touched me before…" His chest tightened. "What the hell is going on?" Natasha finally stormed out of the building with a blow, "Amira darling, the game just started" "piss off" Amira's words only felt like a whisper as she had already left the building through the glass door. "Back to work,, she commanded and left the scene back to her office. Back in Amira's office, the glass between them and the city blurred by rain. She poured an expensive whiskey into two glasses, just to calm her nerves. "Natasha will try to ruin you," she said, sipping slowly. "She already has," Julian (in Brown) whispered. Amira turned. "You don't sound like my son anymore."
Julian met her eyes, cold and brutal, they held many secrets, secrets too deep that if leaked, Amira De Fernandez would crumble in a second.
"That's because I'm not the brutal Brown Caldwell, you once knew mother, I'm calm for a specific reason", he said trying not to blow his cover, "Never, a true Caldwell is fearless, brutal and firm, whatever the hell made you this soft get rid of it immediately", Amira shouted at the top of her voice sending a strong message. "As you wish, mother," he added with a sharp smile and walked out of the office.
Everybody has their plans installed, little do they know, the mystery that happened on Tuesday night, they all seemed to have forgotten about that day. Everybody is a suspect.