Chapter 41: Chapter 41

In Val's office,

The dim lighting that shone in from the outside through the glass window as it approached dusk contrasted the mood. Files and papers were still scattered about everywhere, showing signs of the office having been ransacked during the previous search. Val couldn't care any less to have the office tidied. At the moment, she was exhausted.

The fear still lingered in her heart as that situation where Mark almost got her in trouble could very well jeopardize her future plans.

It was as though people were still in the office as from earlier, and were now staring at her with accusatory gazes. Val couldn't help but wonder if she hadn't made a mistake trying to help Bob, her whole life had taken a strange turn ever since she met him.

Val put her hand away from her head which she prior held, and reached to grab her mobile phone to dial Bob's number. It rang through several times but all was to no avail. She tried again and again and again with a dreary expression worn on her face. She felt so alone and so subtle, like she would break any minute soon.

Has he left her all alone in the jaw of the wolves that surrounded her, ready to tear her up?

If it weren't for Kaitlyn's intervention, Val could have been in Mark's position today. Ruining both her image and her future plans all at once.

' She was once a thief at Citadel's, she'll only rob us of our money as well. Do not trust her!'

She knew the business prospect she had wouldn't succeed ever if that ever happened. She would forever be tainted a bad egg.

Citadel's was a renowned Enterprise, it was only a matter of time before news of this scandal went viral on the net.

Val put her phone down when Bob's phone wasn't pulling through and lowered her head on the table sulkingly. She suddenly remembered someone and she sluggishly dialed his number. Surprisingly, he picked up the phone.

" H-hello Attorney Chris! Are you guys aware of what is going on right now?" Val rambled.

" No, everything is not fine! totally not fine! I almost got framed for theft at the company right now!" Val complained.

" No... No, I do not care what you've been doing! Bob has been clearly ignoring my calls. You haven't been monitoring what's going on around me as you promised! This isn't what we agreed on!" Val struggled to find the exact word to express how she felt. She was totally flustered and in a state of mess, unsure of what to even think of.

Through her frustration, she seemed to still be logical as she calmly listened to the words of attorney Chris on the other side of the line.

" Meet and talk about what exactly?" She asked with knitted brows. She still wasn't certain about what had happened that last time they met, she meant to inquire as well.

" Something happened?" She asked and slowly released her frown.

" ...." Val was silent again. " Okay" She said in the end before the call was ended.

" Haaah!" She heaved a deep sigh and put down her phone to place both palms on her burning face. She still felt weird, out of place and insecure.

Val suddenly remembered something. She rose from her seat, and headed out the door to her office.

Without Kaitlyn, she had been totally helpless in the earlier situation. After the Laguna teardrop had been found in her office, Val knew she'd been established as the culprit right there before them. No one would believe her, no matter how much she tried.

As she took her key to lock the door, she made a mental note to retrieve all keys to her office from all janitors.

' On the other hand, I could request to have them changed and that the key only be in my hands. I wouldn't mind that the janitors clean the office while I'm in there' Val thought as she strode down the corridor.

What baffled her the most was why Kaitlyn had helped her?

It couldn't have been because she had a fight with Mark as the latter had proclaimed before, that was too shallow a reason for anybody to expose their supposed lover like that. That too, considering this involved Mark's career going down the drain. Yes, it wasn't any short of ruining his life. A stamp of theft and attempted defamation of colleague would be in his name for the rest of his life.

So what could have prompted Kaitlyn to make such a decisive action?

Val made towards the path opposite the elevator at the end of the hallway and took a left turn towards the stairs before reaching the other offices along the corridor.

The offices were built with convenient stairs towards each department's floor. The corridors had stairs leading from each director's office to each department wings and sections. For example, right next to the finance director's office, a staircase led slightly down, not up to another floor, but straight into the finance sector office workspaces and other segments. Same was with the other managers.

If anything, the company has a very dynamic and strange layout that spreads out extensively. Val hadn't even been to some parts yet.

At the upper floors were the conference rooms, Board meeting room, Maggie's office, and the CEO's office.

Val could feel the coldness of the staircase as she made down to the next floor below.

Click! Clack!

Her heels slowly clicked at every step she took down the stairs.

Just as Val got close to the floor, she heard the slight echoes of low murmurs and the sound of keyboards being tapped resounding from afar. After alighting from the stair, Val walked past two offices in the short hallway before getting to the open workspace where the sounds became clearer.

She easily spotted Kaitlyn. Being a sales representative, her staircase wasn't that far off.

Val noticed the murmurs lowered for a moment as she came in view. She didn't mind the stares. and just proceeded towards Kaitlyn. It didn't take long for the sounds of typing on keyboard to resume in its prior bustling splendor anyway.

" Kaitlyn?" She called out to the black haired lady who had her head placed on her desk in a depressed manner.