#THE_SACRIFICE_SEASON_2
EPISODE 30
©Sir Zach
The tension inside the conference room kept rising by the second. Everyone had there own thoughts going throu-ghtheir mind. Hillary’s supporters were on a hot seat, while they impatiently waited for her to come show them a way out of this. If she hadn’t threatened them with their dirty secrets they wouldn’t be here in the first place. They’d never had dared to step on Jake’s toes.
As the seconds went by while they were still un-der Jake’s intense and murderous gaze, some of them began to break out in cold sweat. Were they really going to lose their shares because of that sinister woman?
They looked at their ring leader and he had a calm and unfazed look on his face. His calm demeanor sort of made them relax to a certain degree. He was the one with the largest shares among them and if he was this relaxed then they shouldn’t be too worried right?
Jake’s eyes scanned across their faces. He could read their expression.
‘Idiots’ He scoffed inwardly.
“That’s 10% off the initial price” He announced.
“We can keep going if you want” He added in a calm and relaxed mood, informing them that he had all day to carry on if they so wanted. But that wasn’t his plan. He knew waiting for long before fixing the software wasn’t an healthy plan, because the person on Hillary’s side was quite good and he couldn’t take the risk of losing to her.
“CEO Jake why are you doing this? If you pursue this not only would we suffer, the whole company would” One of the men tried to reason with him.
“Not on my watch” Jake retorted. His confidence in his ability made them uneasy. They knew that he was indeed capable, and could bear the company up from crises. How did they not think of this before starting up this madness?
“Fine I’ll sign” One of the shareholders surprisingly caved, making the others look at him with treacherous gazes in their eyes.
Mr Andrew looked at him and snickered, “Weakling” but the man didn’t mind.
“Good choice” Jake said to the man, who in turn picked up a pen and quickly signed the docu-ment. He didn’t have hu-ge numbers of shares like some of them there, but if he made a walk with the deal Jake was offering him, he’d still be left a substantial amount of money. Enough with this foolishness. If the others wanted to burn then that was their choice. To him he has just made a wise move….and of course he did. After signing, Jake signalled Patrick to receive the docu-ment from him.
And as if that was the inspiration others nee-ded, a few others also began to sign theirs. Mr Andrew couldn’t believe the betrayal. He scoffed at the gullibility. They were all in this together. Hillary still had incriminating evidence against all of them, hope they haven’t forgotten that?
Patrick retrieved all the transfer docu-ments that had been sighed by the shareholders who still had se-nse in them.
Jake glanced at Mr Andrew who still had that unfazed look on his face. He chuckled out amusedly. The man’s confidence in Hillary was intriguing.
He Surreptitiously signalled Patrick before he turned to look at the stubborn and foolish shareholders who still believed in their stupid queen.
“If one of my team members steps throu-ghthat door with good news then consider my offer cancelled, because you’ll be signing a new docu-ment other than the one in front of you. What do you say?” He asked.
The rest of the shareholders shifted uncomfortably on their seat while they looked at Andrew.
One leaned closer to him and whispered into his ears, “Why is she taking so long?” He asked, but Mr Andrew glared at him. He was also getting worried. What was he going to do.
He was caught between the devil and the de-ep blue sea.
‘And where the hell was that vicious woman?’ He asked himself panicly.
……
Hillary kept pacing at the front of the room, while anxiously waiting for Shirley to call her back and give her some good news. She had a feeling Jake had something to do with this, but she didn’t want to believe it just yet.
“That bastard” She cussed un-der her breath, while her phone began to ring.
“This had better be good” She spoke into the phone immediately she answered it.
“Hillary, we’ve found him, but he said that it isn’t his virus. Someone else had a similar created a virus similar to his into the software–” She frightfully reported. She knew this wasn’t good news to Hillary and the woman might snap.
“Hillary?” She carefully called when Hillary remained quiet on the other side before she burst out a round of eery like laughter.
“Hillary?” Shirley called again in a low voice. She was worried for Hillary. Things weren’t looking good on her side. And when she laughed like this, then scary things were currently going throu-ghher mind.
“That evil son of Henry” She said amid laughter. She couldn’t believe Jake had just beaten her at her own game, using her whole plot against her while acting innocent.
“Hillary what do we do?” Shirley panicly asked when Hillary finally stopped laughing.
“Nothing”
“Huh? Nothing?” Shirley thought she had heard wrongly.
“Nothing” She repeated, as she turned and glanced at the door before her with anger and hatred filled eyes. She knew if Jake really installed his own malware into the software, there was nothing she could do to savor the problem with such limited time. She’ll accept defeat, but just for this time. Jake has beaten her at her own game, but there won’t be a next time, she @$$ure him that.
“Call Black, and tell him I want one Beau dead in the next two days but definitely not Jake” She evilly ordered before ending the call.
This should teach Jake not to mess with her plans next time.
The moment Hillary walked into the room, all eyes turned to her.
“Your savior has arrived” Jake mockingly announced, making Hillary look at him with angry eyes, which she managed to mask out with a stiff and fake smile. She looked at the men who were staring at her and she hissed in her head.
‘Useless beings. They’re of no use to me they might as well go to prison’ She hissed in her mind.
“Gentlemen—” She started to say but was suddenly interrupted when the door was opened from the outside and a man stepped into the room. He bowed to everybody before looking at Jake.
“CEO, ProGuard is now up and running” The man announced and Jake couldn’t be more grateful for his perfect timing. He didn’t want to listen to the br@in-depressing speech Hillary was about to give to comfort her miserable minions.
Sounds of applaud suddenly start to rise in the room from the loyal shareholders who had been faithful to him.
Andrew snapped his head to look at Hillary same as the other shareholders who had been waiting for her.
“What is this?” Mr. Andrew asked Hillary lividly, but the woman scoffed and walked past him.
“I lost, he won” She nonchalantly replied, before walking to her seat. She locked eyes with Jake, who flashed her a meaningful smile, before turning to his secretary.
“Give them the new papers” Jake instructed, attra-cting all the eyes of the people who looked at him.
“What new papers?” Mr. Andrew asked lividly as Patrick swiftly gathered all the initial docu-ments from them.
“The one where I get all shares without paying a cent. I might be generous but believe me it doesn’t last for long” He said before standing up to his feet.
“No one leaves this room until each paper is properly signed and believe me I’ll get it even if I have to chop each one of you into pieces. Now sign those docu-ments and get the hell out of my company” He yelled ferociously, slamming his hand on the desk, his eyes shooting lasers at them. The men all looked at Hillary with accusing eyes and a bit of hope, still waiting if she could still do something.
She had @$$ured them of her victory, and that’s why they went this far…..okay not just that, she had leverage over each of them.
Hillary noticed the gazes on her and she turned to look at them.
“It’s only a few shares, you all have more stuck up elsewhere, just give it to him,” She said with a shrug. She looked at Jake one last time, her li-ps curved upward with a malicious smile before taking a pen from her bag, and with a painstaking heart, she signed the papers.
This was the most tangible belonging she had and now this br@t has taken it away. She signed the paper and stood to her feet.
She looked at Jake again and smiled wickedly, “It’s gonna be my turn next. I’ll take something from you, stepson” She said before walking out of the room, not minding the idiots who looked like they had run out of blood.
Who would believe she had come fully dressed to take her crown, but she went home not just without the crown but also, she lost her most valuable possession.
“I’ll make you pay Jake” She swore as she made her way out of the building.
Left with no choice, the others had to sign the docu-ments as well. They wished they had been as smart as the others who had earlier sighed their shares away and had gotten paid for it. Now they had to give it away for free. They could do nothing except let their shares go away like that.
Mr. Andrew signed his paper and glared at Jake before storming out of the office and so did the others.
Jake looked at the docu-ments which Patrick had gathered before him, and he sighed.
This was the first thing he was going to take from that vicious woman. Next up was going to be that house she was living in, and then he’d se-nd her to the place where she truly belongs.
“se-nd all these to the legal team immediately,” He said before walking out of the room.
…
Blake was now walking out the programming room where he has been working his @$$ off when a certain happy and giddy person ran into the room. With a happy squeal, she pulled him into a big hu-g. Blake stiffened when she hu-gged him like that with no care.
“You did it, didn’t you?” Amy asked gleefully as she hu-gged him ti-ghtly, not noticing how stiff he was.
“I’m super proud of you,” She said as she patted him on his back. When she had realized who he was, and how capable he was, she @$$ured herself that with the help of his brother they’d be able to save the company.
She loved working at Acrosoft, it was the first company she had worked with after graduation and it had grown on her same as the stupid son of the owner.
Blake whose head was muddled with the way Amy was holding him ti-ghtly, didn’t know if he should hu-g her back. He was currently in a dilemma. A pa-rt of him wanted to hu-g her just as she was hu-gging him, but another pa-rt of him reminded him of the promise he had made over an hour ago, to keep his distance away from her.
Remembering the fact that she now had someone, Blake felt a pang in his che-st. He didn’t know what has come over him recently. He was always thinking of her and doing things he didn’t want to do. And hating the fact that there was now someone in her life.
Blake awkwardly cleared his throat and that snapped Amy back to the realization of what she was doing, and it was now she realized how stiff he was standing. But instead of p-ulling away like he hoped she would, she ti-ghtened her arm around him even more and placed her face on his che-st making Blake stiffen even more. His heart suddenly began to race and his breath seized.
“A–Amy?” He called out softly, but the girl hissed and said,
“Just let me hu-g you”
Blake’s heart was over the moon, when Amy kept hu-gging him like that. He didn’t know why his heart was reacting that way, and yearning for him to desperately wanted to hu-g her back but…..
Amy sighed warily when Blake remained that way and didn’t even hu-g her back. She felt a pang on her che-st and she must admit that it hurt badly.
A while ago they had shared a moment at the server room, and her stupid heart has been ministering some things to her. Telling her Blake might have actually started to like her. But him not responding to her, even though by hu-gging her back, she couldn’t help but feel like she has been deceiving herself all over again. How could she let herself be swayed by just that moment which lasted for less than a minute.
Realizing how she had embarr@$$ed herself by hu-gging him, Amy slowly let go of her hold on him, and took a step back.
“I’m sorry” She apologized with a hurt tone, which she was trying so much to hide. Blake looked at her when he heard how low she sounded.
Feeling hurt and embar@$$ed, Amy decided to walk away, but Blake unexpectedly held her back. His hand firmly holding her wrist.
She was surprised when he held her hand and pulled her back. Her eyes looked at his hand holding hers and she slowly raised her eyes to look at him.
His eyes were looking at her face intently like they were searching for something.
“Why are you sad?” Blake asked her, his eyes were seriously searching hers which were lacking the glow they had minutes ago.
Was she sad? of course she was sad and he was the reason for it.
“I’m not sad” She replied, but Blake didn’t believe her. He removed his hand from her hand and cu-pp-ed her face. His actions made Amy looked at him with surprised eyes. He was doing it again wasn’t he? Acting all lovey with her when he still wasn’t interested in her.
“You know you just lied. I know you well Amy and you know that” He told her, his eyes not leaving her for one second, and his hand still holding her cheeks.
Amy looked at him in the eye as he said those words. He knew her? If he did why didn’t he know she still liked him? And why didn’t he know she wanted him to love her back just as much as she loved him. That she still hasn’t stopped having feelings for him. Or was that too ha-rd for him to see?
“Blake what are you doing?” She snapped as she angrily brushed his hand off her face. Blake was surprised when Amy snapped at him.
“What am I doing?” He asked confusedly, his eyes blinking rapidly. What has he done now? He felt uneasy when he noticed how sternly she was looking at him.
“This Blake, you’re doing this” She pointed her hand at the both of them.
Okay, Blake was even more confused. What was he doing now that was making her this mad. He didn’t know, and he wanted to know so he would stop doing it. He wasn’t liking the fact that she was being angry at him.
“Amy please tell me what you’re talking about, I don’t un-derstand” He pleaded with her. He didn’t know why he was being anxious right now, but he really didn’t like the thought of her being angry at him. It was breaking his heart.
Amy gave him a knowing look, “Of course, you won’t know” She hissed as she turned to leave again, and again he grabbed her back and this time he didn’t hold her hand, he pulled her into his arms and hu-gged her ti-ghtly.
“Amy don’t be angry at me, just tell me what it is, I’ll apologise” He desperately pleaded. All his resolution about keeping his distance from her has been thrown into the wind. He didn’t care about that, he Just didn’t want her to be angry with him, like she was right now.
Is he this dense?
“Are you dense or you’re trying to be dense?” Amy snapped again and for-cefully pushed him away, making Blake to look at her with wide-ned eyes.
‘Dense?’
“Can’t you see what you’re doing? Can’t you see I’m still in love with you? Why are you giving me all this mixed feelings? I know you’ve rejected my feelings once and I’m so stupid to still have those feelings for you, but can’t you just love me back? Can’t you just have a little feeling for me? And you keep making things difficult for me with all these things you keep doing. I don’t even know why I still care about you, I don’t know what’s so special about you that I can’t let go of. I…I” Amy had tears in her eyes and she wasn’t fast enough to withhold them from falling down because the very next second a fat tear rolled down her cheek.
Blake was stunned when she started lashing out like that, he was transfixed to the ground.
But when he saw her crying, he didn’t know when and how he pulled her into a hu-g. It felt like the best thing to do.
“Please don’t cry” He whispered comfortingly into her ear, while Amy wrapped her arm around him.
“Why don’t you like me? Am I not good enough?” She asked against his che-st. She didn’t know why she was crying now, and to be honest she despised herself for it. She didn’t want to cry in front of the man she loved but she couldn’t help it.
What could she do? She had selflessly being in love with him for a long time with no reserve. She had to admit that she was pained by his rejection towards her. What was so ha-rd in loving her back? Maybe if he agreed to date her and things doesn’t work out for the both of them, then she’d know that at least they tried and it might be easier to let go of him and forget about him altogether.
Blake pulled her face up to look at him, his hand holding her fluffy cheeks while he wiped her tears with his thumb.
He didn’t think she wasn’t good enough. To him she was the most perfect girl to date if ever he wanted to date any girl. She was smart, bold, loving, daring, and most importantly she had a beautiful soul. She was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen and there was this weird reaction his body gets whenever he was close with her.
Looking into her eyes, he said, “You’re more than perfect” his voice and the way he was looking at her at the moment showed the sincerity in his words.
“Then why don’t you want me?” She asked in a small and sad voice. Her eyes were searching his eyes, just as much as his eyes were looking de-ep into her eyes.
“Maybe it’s because I’m stupid” He replied. His voice was slow, calm and gentle, and it wad pricking on the walls of her heart. Amy didn’t un-derstand what he meant by that. She didn’t want that kind of answer.
She pulled away from him, wiped the remnant of tears from her eyes and intensed her gaze on him.
Looking him straight in the eyes, she asked, “Blake, do you like me?”
Blake was shocked when he heard that. Okay, like for real he wasn’t expecting that. He sighed de-eply when he saw the intense and serious look she had on her face. He could tell she nee-ded and answer and she nee-ded it now.
He lowered his head and replied, “I don’t know”
To be honest, he really didn’t know. He didn’t know if he liked her, just as much as she liked him, or if he liked her enough to date her…or if he wanted to start dating at all. But all he knew was, he has been thinking alot about her lately, and most especially that day when she had confessed her feelings to him. He had been a se-nse of regret towards it, he has been wishing if he should have handled things differently…. like maybe not turn her down? He has been finding himself missing her when she was not around. And when she was around him, he’d want her to stay more. And he remembered how he felt when she admitted dating that guy. He felt like ripping the guy’s ne-ck off. He didn’t know if all these feelings qualified as him liking her. So in all honesty, he truly didn’t know.
“Then I guess it’s time you find out” She told him fiercely. Blake looked at her in stupefaction. How was he supposed to do so?
“What about that Ethan guy?” Blake couldn’t help but ask. Weren’t they dating?
Amy looked at him with angry eyes. ‘Is he really that stupid? No, tell her why she was foolishly in love with a guy as dense and stupid as this?’
“Just so you know, we’re not together” She curtly replied.
“Really?” Blake incredulously asked, making Amy roll her eyes at him, but she chose to ignore his silly question and say what was on her mind.
“Blake I’m getting really impatient with you. So you better find out how you really feel about me, and tell me or I’m really going to date someone else for real” She declared making Blake’s to look at her with surprised eyes. Was she going to threaten him now?
Amy narrowed her gaze at him, and sternly said, “And you have two weeks to figure it out” She said before storming out of the room.
WATCHOUT FOR EPISODE 31