The fear in her uncle's eyes was palpable, and Ciara took a certain satisfaction in the fact that she was finally controlling the situation. The tables had turned, and now she was the one calling the shots. She was savoring every moment of it.
"Your promises mean nothing to me, Uncle," Ciara said, her voice as cold as ice. "All I care about is the fact that you've broken my trust and the trust of my father, who trusted you above all else. And now you're going to tell me where that information is, or you'll face the consequences. Do you understand?"
Brandon's face was now a mask of terror, that's the least of all things that he'll give up. If any of them managed to survive her wrath, the information Sheila provided about the company would surely be used against her -why would he give up such?
"I can't..."He said, his voice little more than a whisper. "Please, I beg you. I'll do anything you want, just please don't make me tell you."
"You have two choices." Ciara said, her voice calm and matter-of-fact. "You can tell me where the information is, or you can suffer the consequences. The choice is yours. But know that if you don't tell me, I will make you suffer."
As she said this, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small knife, flicking it open with a sharp snap. "Do you understand?" she asked, her eyes fixed on his face.
Brandon's eyes widened as he took in the knife, his body trembling with fear -he knew she never makes empty threats.
"I need an answer." Ciara said, her voice hard and commanding. "Now. Tell me where the information is, or I will make you suffer. You have five seconds to decide."
She started counting down from five, her gaze unwavering. "Five...four...three...two..."
"Stop!" Brandon cried, his voice cracking. "I'll tell you! Just...please, don't hurt me. I'll do whatever you want."
"Very well," Ciara said, a cold smile on her lips. "Now, tell me where the information is. And don't even think about lying to me. I can tell when someone is lying."
With a shaky voice, Brandon told her where the information was. He was terrified, but he knew that he had no choice. He just hoped that she would be satisfied with his answer.
"Very good," Ciara said, a satisfied look on her face. "Now, I have one last question for you. Why did you go for Sheila? Why did you trick her into doing your bidding?"
"I chose her because I thought she was weak." Brandon admitted, his voice shaking. "I thought she would be easy to manipulate. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt her.I just...I was desperate."
"That's no excuse." Ciara said, her eyes narrowing. "You took advantage of a young woman, putting her in a terrible position and deceiving her with false love. That's not something I can forgive."
"I know..."Brandon said, his head hanging low. "I made a terrible mistake. I don't know what else to say."
"I don't think words can make up for what you've done," Ciara said, her voice like steel. "I'll leave Gerald to take care ofyou, I have lots on my desk that I need to attend to..."
*******
Ciara dropped the receiver and waited patiently. A few minutes later, the door creaked open, revealing Sheila. She strode towards Ciara's desk and bowed slightly before her.
"Good morning, ma'am...." Sheila uttered. As usual, Ciara only nodded and gestured for her to have her seat, she was oddly wearing a calm expression on her face.
Ciara slowly pushed the file before her towards Sheila without saying anything to her. Sheila was hesitating to pick the file up, but Ciara nudged at her, and she did as wanted. She picked the file up and went through it slowly.
Sheila was having the thought that it was a new business deal or proposal or probably an international meeting as usual, but was shocked to meet something else drafted in the file, her brows were creased as she raised her gaze to meet her boss.
Ciara understood the interpretation to the meaning of her stare. "Don't give me that look, Sheila!" She told her cautiously, her voice was far from friendly as well. "You should know about it better than I do."
"I don't understand the content, but it seems like someone is keeping records of all activities going on in this company, ma'am." Sheila enunciated carefully, returning her gaze to the file. "It's weird that the person is keeping the dates too."
"That same someone you've been tipping off with the activities going on in my company, owns this file." Ciara lilted, her voice slowly raising to its peak. "Now I ask you, Sheila, who is this person?"
Sheila was awestruck, trying hard to recall who could have done such a thing. She's never told anyone else about anything except reporting to her boss...and, of course -Brandon! Her eyes widened in shock realizing the truth, but she doubts that he would do such a thing.
Ciara was patiently reading her expression as it changed with each word of hers. "Yes, Brandon!" She pointed out as if going through her mind. "You've been tipping him off about my company's private affairs? Really, Sheila?"
Sheila felt remorseful as she quickly bowed her head, too ashamed to meet her boss's gaze. She knew she has committed an offense against her boss and no word of hers could justify her action.
"What were you thinking, eh?" Ciara lilted, visibly angry at Sheila's carelessness. "You of all people should know things are supposed to be kept private, and you even went as far as allowing him to escort you to every of your meetings with Ryan?"
"I'm sorry, ma'am!" She managed to utter. "I'm sorry for causing you a lot of trouble -this wasn't my intention to start with, he insisted on going with me, and I was left with no choice. I never knew he had other motives for this, ma'am."
"The fact that you allow him to play on your intelligence, all for..." Ciara trailed off, feeling irritated to complete her words. She knew she had once been in the same shoe as Sheila's, the thought of it was enough to make her puke on herself. "They are other crazy things to do for love, not with my company's confidential information, Sheila!"
"I know I've committed a huge mistake, ma'am, and I realize my mistake." Sheila told her, her voice was barely above a whisper. Sheila was ready to face its consequence since she already knew how strict the company's protocol is, but she was afraid her boss would go too extreme and make her lose her job.
Ciara, on the other hand, thought of the best way to deal with it. She told herself she couldn't go too hard on Sheila, realizing how much hard work she had done on behalf of the company itself and her contributions to its growth.
After several seconds of thinking, she finally comes to a decision. Ciara cleared her throat lightly. "I don't know any other way to this, Sheila, but you will have to leave..."She stated calmly, but her reply did not go well with Sheila.
"I'm ready to rectify my mistakes, Ms. Fellers, but don't make me lose my job." Sheila quickly pleaded, the tears in her eyes were threatening to fall.
"No!" Ciara told her almost immediately. "You aren't on a permanent leave, I'll just leave you to take a break until I'm able to sort everything out."
Sheila wasn't happy with the thought of taking a break from her work, but she was left with no choice to it...