Chapter 20: Trouble

A number of people flocked to FSS's meeting room simultaneously with slumped shoulders and appeared to be under a great deal of mental and physical strain. The sudden passing of Marcella shook everyone to their core, not only out of sorrow but also out of fear since some of them would end up with no job. They were well aware that they had made a grave mistake by ignoring Marcella's plea; now, they had to take responsibility.

The employees took their seats accordingly. Each team huddled together and cast a cursory glance in the direction of the other team. Then, their attention began to crack as the television showed the news channel airing Marcella Williams' death. The anchorwoman sounded stern as she explained general facts about the case, including the possibility of suicide.

There was nothing new in the news. Everything that had been told was pretty much the same as the report from Vin. As for now, FSS was saved since there was no mention of their alarm system. But, in the coming days, it would be a catastrophe.

They looked up toward the entrance as the sound of several pairs of footsteps drew their attention. Then, they stood up from their chair, sweat dripping from their palms as they waited for their boss to come.

As Arthur strolled into the room, he exuded a sense of calmness that made everyone else in the room feel even more frightened than they already were. They thought it would be better if there were a rage on their boss' face as it would be easier to know what to expect. However, he was way too calm for their liking.

After settling into the center position, he turned the television off. His eyes flew across the room, scanning all his employees with strange behavior. But they were all the same, scared out of their wits.

"Who was responsible for Marcella's alarm yesterday?" He asked, straight to the point. He spared them from anxiety.

Arthur purposefully avoided making eye contact with the alarm team. Instead, He sat still and waited patiently for them to raise their hands voluntarily. From the edge of his eyes, he could see the three of them exchanging glances as if they were attempting to coerce one another into admitting the truth.

He exhaled a long heavy breath at that. "Stop looking at each other and give me an answer!" He surprised everyone by slamming the rectangular table with enough power, which caused his employees to want to piss.

A young man in his early twenties raised his hand while maintaining a fixed gaze on the floor. It was an unfamiliar face; Arthur had never seen him before.

Arthur's brow fused together, and he asked, "What is your name? And since when did you start working for FSS?"

"My name is Leon Park, Mr. Ford. I joined the company around December last year." Leon's voice shook slightly when he spoke.

In response to Leon's comments, Arthur's frown deepened. Nobody with less than three years of employment at FSS should be allowed to work on Pen, and that includes Leon. His gaze then landed on Ryan, the team leader. "Who gave you permission to let him work on Pen?"

Ryan's complexion turned whiter instantly. He could not speak to defend himself since he was wrong. Initially, Leon was only a lower staff at IT. However, Ryan occasionally asked him to monitor the alarm for a few hours when he had an appointment with his wife. It was going well for a whole month, so his courage increased, and he asked Leon to monitor it for an entire night.

"WHO GIVE YOU THE PERMISSION?!" This time, Arthur lowered his voice, making everyone's attention shift toward forty-year-old Ryan as if they were all looking to him to answer Arthur's question and spare them from their boss's wrath.

Ryan raised his eyes to meet Arthur's intense stare. It felt like he was being stabbed repeatedly as Arthur's attention was fixed on him. Finally, Ryan stood up and bowed his head regretfully, "I'm sorry, Sir."

Belle, who was standing behind Arthur, could feel the man was on the verge of exploding after Ryan apologized. "Save it. Your apology won't bring Miss Williams back." His voice was devoid of emotion despite the raging fire in his heart.

"You-"Arthur pointed at Leon, "Did you do something to the alarm?

Almost everyone was taken aback by Arthur's accusation. It was not a light indictment; they could end up behind bars because of it.

Leon's heart leaped into his throat as the gravity of Arthur's words fell on his shoulder. He swallowed hard before opening his mouth, "I didn't do anything, Sir."

Arthur scoffed at Leon's response. It was evident that the young man was not a good liar. The way he fidgeted in his seat as if he wanted to bolt out of the room at any moment was sufficient to tell Arthur that Leon had done something to their alarm system.

"Who?"

Perplexed by the question, Leon mumbled, "I'm sorry? "

"Who ask you? How much money did they give you?" Arthur was almost sure someone had wanted to sabotage his business. While this wasn't the first time such a thing had happened, this was the first time they had succeeded. It infuriated him to think someone had broken into the system he had designed.

"I did not do anything, Sir. I swear on my life."

"Then you should die." Arthur's reply came as soon as Leon finished talking. He said those words without hesitation. "Don't you dare to lie in front of me. Tell me who?"

As Arthur walked closer to Leon's position, everyone watched with bated breath. They were rejoicing in their heart for not being the object of Arthur's wrath, but on the other hand, they felt terrible for the young man.

"Is it someone from Millers?" His voice dropped lower and menacing. He gripped Leon's shoulder blade harder, making the young man wince in pain. "I want the truth from you."

Despite the low temperature in the room, Leon had a bead of sweat dripping from his. Leon wriggled to free himself from Arthur's grasp, but Arthur's grip only tightened. "I really don't know anything, Sir. I swear."

"Do I look like a fool in your eyes?" Arthur towering before Leon. He clasped both of Leon's shoulders, increasing the young man's misery.

Due to Arthur's menacing stare, Leon felt his heart spring out of its position. He believed he had died multiple times in his boss' mind. To be completely honest, Leon really did not have any idea about Miller. He did tamper with the alarm system using a flash drive, but it was not from Miller. A package with the flash drive and a large sum of money was mailed to him two weeks ago. The instructions were simple; he only needed to connect to the computer on a predeterminate date.

Since the alarm was not Leon's responsibility, he didn't foresee the fatal outcome.

"Two weeks ago, I got a delivery with a flash drive and some cash. I did not know who the sender was." After some consideration, Leon decided to tell the truth. He was under the notion that Arthur would not blame him if he were honest. "I was told to connect the flash disk yesterday. But I swore, I did not know the effect, Sir. I did-"

"HOW DID YOU JOIN IT TEAM IF YOUR SMALL BRAIN CAN NOT COMPREHEND SOMETHING LIKE THAT?" Arthur shouted. His words reverberated off the walls of the room. Out of frustration, he pushed Leon's body in the opposite direction. He could not believe someone in human resources had hired such an idiot.

"Mr. Ford, I'm-"

"Stop talking!" Arthur lost his temper for a moment. He needed to think clearly about how to solve the predicament. A bunch of his business rivals would be on his neck in less than a week. Mocking him for his failure.

Arthur took a few deep breaths to regain his composure, then turned his attention to his employees. "How about her report? Did you miss something?" He asked the man with a scar on the left cheek.

"I did not. As I mentioned before, it was true that Marcella had a stalker, but it was her former boyfriend. It was not serious." The man answered.

"Are you sure you did not miss anything? You weren't trying to keep anything from me, right?"

"No, Mr. Ford."

"Vin, did the Detective tell you something else yesterday?" Arthur's gaze moved to the three bodyguards who were on shift the day before.

"Nothing else, Mr. Ford. I think they are quite sure that Marcella has been murdered."

"Of course. She wouldn't press the alarm if she intended to die." Regret filled Arthur's chest as he remembered his last encounter with Marcella. The woman had begged him, but his rational mind won't let him offer his hand to her.

'Now is not the time to feel bad. You have a mess to clean up.' Arthur prompted himself to remember. If he indulges in self-blame, it will never stop.

"So, after all of you exit the room, all the conversation we had never happened. Understood. All of Arthur's staff members nodded their heads in agreement at the same time. Then Arthur continues, "Reset all the alarms and immediately update the system. I want everything done in less than three days."

"Yes, Mr. Ford."

"Meeting adjourned," Arthur stated. He ambled his way out of the room, but before he did, he looked back as if he had just remembered something and pointed toward Leon and Ryan. "Both of you should start packing. FSS did not need people like both of you." He finished and then left those two rooted in their place.

"Ask Leon about the package and then tell Dion to track the sender down. You also need to write a press release about the alarm and send it to me after you are done." Arthur told his secretary as he walked, "And make sure those two won't disclose the incident to media out of spit. I don't care how. Just make sure they don't talk to anyone before I get the whole picture of the situation."

"Okay, Mr. Ford." Belle peeked at Arthur's side face from the corner of her eyes. She knew he had not slept since she dropped the news last night. She was worried but did not know how to cheer the man up in this kind of situation.

"I'll leave for the rest of the day. Call me if anything happens."

Arthur walked faster, leaving Belle behind, looking at his back longingly.

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