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[Hearts got involved]
GENRE: Office Romance
Written by; Racheal A.
DON’T COPY OR REPOST ⚠️
DON’T GHOST❗
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Chapter 34 & 35
Daphne exhaled and stroked Kiara’s back soothingly.
“Let’s get out of here. Please”Kiara muttered.
Daphne nodded.
••••
Natasha ran her hands through her hair feeling restless and frustrated as she raised her phone to her ear after dialing Thomas’s number.
“Thomas”She said immediately he picked.
“Natasha…”
“We have a problem. Where are you?”
“What’s wrong?You sound -”
“Just answer the d@mn question! Where are you?!” She yelled,anger boiling within her.
“I-I’m not home but if you want us to meet -”
“I want us to meet”She cut in “Right now”She stated authoritatively.
Emily stood immediately she saw Kiara and Daphne walk in.
“Kiara”She went to meet them.
Daphne made Kiara sit on a couch and then sat beside her. She still had tears in her eyes.
Emily went to sit on the table, facing them.
Kiara looked down at her fingers,biting her lower lip.
“How could she do that to me?”She muttered, still feeling hurt and betrayed. “All I’ve ever done is love her but she…”She sniffed, wiping her face with the back of her hand “I should have listened to you when you tried to warn me about her”She said,facing Daphne.
Daphne sighed”it’s of no use regretting now. I’m just glad you now know she isn’t worth all the things you’ve been doing for her”
“I’m sorry I didn’t listen you”Kiara said, looking down at her fingers again “I feel so stupid”.
Daphne wrapped an arm around Kiara’s shoulders.
“Don’t feel that way. It’s not your fault that you chose to love her and see past her flaws”Emily said. “Don’t be so hard on yourself”
“Yeah,I don’t think that’ll be easy to do”Kiara said “It would have been easy if I was the only victim of my stupid love for Natasha but I’m not”Kiara raised her head and a tear dropped on her hand.
“What do you mean? If you’re thinking I’m affected by the things you did for Natasha as a result of the love you had for her,you shouldn’t. Don’t think that way. I mean it hurts seeing you this way because of her but…”
“Did you mean someone else other than Daphne or just someone else entirely?”Emily asked seeing the look on Kiara’s face.
Though Kiara was having a sad facial expression on presently,her facial expression still managed to answer a ‘yes’ to Emily’s question.
“Who?”Emily asked.
“Is there something you’re not telling us?”Daphne asked.
Kiara bit her lip as she remembered the night Natasha told her the story about her dad being deprived of his wealth and then being asked by Natasha to get it back to which she agreed.
Gosh,she felt so stupid right now and a wave of embarrassment washed through her. The thought of Erik permanently occupied her mind after it dawned on her that Natasha had lied to her about getting her father’s wealth back and was only using her to get Erik’s wealth instead. She was still yet to understand why but that didn’t matter much.
How would Erik feel if he knew the reason she came to work for him in the first place?Wanting to get her father’s wealth back from him because his father deprived him of it or letting herself get used by Natasha as a tool to get his wealth? Though the first was a hoax,both reasons were still enough to hurt him and make him h@ťě her forever. And what if Natasha had succeeded in using her to get his wealth?
The thought of her hurting him alone made her feel so mad at herself. She could still stand him hating her,she deserved it…
“Kiara,is there something you’re not telling us?” Daphne repeated, thinking Kiara didn’t hear her.
Kiara swallowed, snapping out of her thoughts.
“I…”Kiara scoffed,still feeling angry at herself.She felt awkward also.
Daphne raised a brow, expecting her to say another sentence while Emily looked at her, inquisitive but worried,urging her to speak.
“The reason Natasha got me a job at Tech Builders”Kiara said “I should have told you long before now. I’m sorry I didn’t. I let Natasha get into my head”She said,facing Daphne.
“You…Knew the reason?”Emily asked in surprise, exchanging glances with Daphne.
“The reason she got me the job…Which I stupidly believed. She told me she wanted me to get to back my dad’s wealth from Mr Erik”
“What?”Daphne and Emily said at a time. Both shared a shocked and confused look.
“She told me about my dad partnering with Mr Erik’s dad for a business and then being deprived of his share of the profit. She wanted me get it back and being the blindly loving step daughter,I believed her story and agreed to help her. I had no idea…”
“Hold on,your dad once partnered with Erik’s dad?” Daphne asked.
“No…I don’t know. Natasha probably told me that she could trick me into helping her get Mr Erik’s wealth”
“She knew you wouldn’t help her if she had told you the real reason she wanted you to work for Mr Erik” Emily said.
“Why the heck would she even want his money. She owns a big supermarket and she doesn’t lack anything,why…”
“Greedy people are never satisfied”Daphne muttered.
“If you ask me, there’s still more truths to discover” Emily said and they looked at her.
“What do you mean?”Daphne asked.
“I’ve been thinking about Natasha and Thomas’s conversation in the footage. Though I was confused at first,I now understand it” She looked at Kiara “In the footage, it’s easy to tell that your step mom and your supposed uncle are working together to use you in getting Mr Erik’s money and if you still remember,after they kissed,they spoke about their meeting being business related before going on to talk about you wanting to quit and that they had to quickly use you in getting Mr Erik’s money before you change your mind again”Emily said.
Kiara raised her eyelids to look at Emily.
“What if this is some sort of business to them?” Emily asked
“Using Kiara to get Mr Erik’s wealth?”Daphne asked.
“I’d look at it as using someone to get someone else’s wealth”Emily broke it down, trying to make them understand what she was trying to arrive at.
“What sort of a business is that? Manipulation?” Daphne asked, confused.
“Earning a person’s trust so they can use that to get what they want from the person. Meaning, using Kiara to gain Mr Erik’s trust so they can get they want from him”Emily said.
“His money”Daphne said though she was still trying to understand what Emily was trying to arrive at.
“The only set of people who do these things are frauds,con artists”Emily said and Daphne finally understood.
A look of disbelief and shock appeared on Kiara’s face.
“They deploy lots of methods in getting what they want but it still has to do with earning a person’s trust”Emily said
Kiara scoffed with tears in her eyes.
“I was a tool to help her carry out her fraudulent plan”She bit her lower lip “I feel even more stupid” She muttered.
“Why use Kiara though?Why didn’t she carry out her stupid business herself or use someone else?”Daphne asked angrily “I feel like ripping her heart out”She gritted her teeth.
“She has reasons for using Kiara. Probably because she thought Kiara would earn Mr Erik’s trust faster or… I don’t know”Emily shook her head.
She looked at Kiara with concern in her eyes.
“Don’t be so mad at yourself. You should be glad you found out before she got the chance to use you in getting Mr Erik’s wealth” She said.
“You know,this feels like some sort of dream”Kiara muttered “I did not just find out all these things about Natasha”She shook her head.
“It happened so sudden and it’s not something you expected so… You’re still shocked, it’s understandable” Emily nodded “I mean,I am too. And if I can feel shocked about this,I can only imagine how you feel”
“Natasha, that witch”Daphne seethed “There should be some sort of way to get back at her. Report her and that partner of hers to the cops. We should do that.Conning is a crime”
“I don’t think the footage is enough evidence to get them arrested and even if it was,it could backfire on Kiara”
“How?”
“They could lie that she works with them or something”
“They clearly said it in the video that they were using her”
“They didn’t make it specific if she was aware of what they were using her for or not”Emily said.
Daphne sighed.
“Kiara, you’re not saying anything”She said softly.
“By the way…Are you going to let Mr Erik know about this?”Emily asked.
Kiara looked up at her
“I…Can I be alone?”She asked quietly and stood. “I really need to clear my head, I’m just…”She swallowed and bit her lip. She glanced at the both of them before leaving for Daphne’s room.
Emily sighed.
“She’ll be okay”Daphne said, bringing her gaze back to Emily “She will”. There was still a hint of concern in her eyes but she still hoped and believed that Kiara would recover from what she was feeling. It may not be as fast and as easy as she made it sound but she really hoped it was.
“It’s getting late,you should be on your way”She said.
Emily nodded and stood.
“Thanks for coming and not choosing to ignore us”Daphne expressed sincerely.
“I’ll always be happy to help my friends and no doubt that you guys would do the same for me also”Emily said.
Daphne smiled.
Natasha rushed in immediately after parking her car in the garage.
Thomas walked to her immediately he saw her.
“What’s wrong? What’s with the angry yelling over the phone?”He asked.
“She knows everything!”Natasha said with anger in her voice.
“Can you be more specific?”
“Kiara,she knows about us,our affair and our plan to use her in getting Erik’s money”
His eyes widened in shock.
“What? How?”
” Kiara didn’t find out herself. There’s no way she did. Someone told her, someone whom I suspect has been spying on us”
“Spying?”
“She showed me a picture of you kissing me in my office yesterday”
“A picture? That’s impossible. No one came into your office while I was around and there are no windows in your office or openings”Thomas said confused.
“The picture looked like the person was in my office while taking it”Natasha said
“That’s…”Thomas was still confused.
“I think someone planted a camera in my office” Natasha muttered after giving it a thought.
“Who the heck would do that? And how’s that even possible. You never leave your office opened whenever you’re not in it and none of your customers could have planted the camera”
“Whoever planted the camera must be someone close to Kiara for her to have known everything the camera captured and since it’s obvious my customers couldn’t have done it,it has to be one of my attendants”Natasha said and released a scoff “In other words… Daphne was the one who did it” She said and gritted her teeth in anger. “I don’t know how she managed to plant the camera but…”She scoffed again
Thomas sighed and scattered his hair frustrately.
“Daphne is going to regret ever messing with me” Natasha said,her eyes blazing with rage.
“Why the heck would she even think of planting a camera in your office. Did she suspect us or what? We’ve always been careful”
“That’s the least of my concern right now”Natasha said “Kiara now h@ťěs me. My plan to get her father’s money from her after she gets access to it can no longer work”
“We’re not getting Erik’s money either,are we?”
Natasha shook her head “I’m not going to lose both” She said with a fierce and determined look. “We can’t get Kiara’s money anymore doesn’t mean we can’t get Erik’s”
Thomas gave her a questioning look.
“What are you talking about?”
“We’re getting Erik’s money”
“How? Do you have another plan in mind?”
“It still involves using Kiara”Natasha said.
“We both know she’s not going to help us”Thomas said
Natasha smirked.
“There’s no need to ask for her help. She’s already earned Erik’s trust. That’s what matters”
“What are you thinking? What’s the new plan?”
“It’s one that we must carry out quickly but carefully”She said “Also,we have to deal with Daphne for ratting us out to Kiara and ruining our plans”She said.
Thomas nodded in agreement.
Kiara sat on the bed with her back rested on a pillow, staring blindly at the closet in front of her while lost in thought. She had a gloomy and tired look on her face as a result of her brooding and sleepless night.
She looked away from the closet and faced Daphne who’s been watching her.
Daphne released a sigh.
“You’re not going to work?”Kiara muttered.
“No and would you stop thinking? Overthinking is not going to solve anything. It’s only going to get you more depressed”Daphne said feeling concerned “What are you thinking about anyways?”
“Is Natasha the reason you’re not going to work?” Kiara asked,her voice was quiet.
“I can’t go to work and leave you in this state” Daphne answered and later sighed “Kiara don’t keep wh@ťěver you’re brooding about to yourself. I’m here,share it with me. You’re hurt already, don’t add to it”
Kiara sighed and shook her head
“I’m just thinking about… Everything. Natasha,her lies,how I let her manipulate me,me not suspecting anything at all… Everything”She muttered.
“Is…Erik included?”Daphne asked. “You seem really bothered about him last night when you talked about you not being the only victim of Natasha’s inhumane act of using the love you had for her to manipulate you”
Kiara swallowed.
“You’re worried about what he’s going to think if he finds out?”
“It’s actually more of how he’s going to feel”Kiara said “Hurt, really hurt. I did worse to him than Ivy”She said.
“Ivy?”
“His former girlfriend.She cheated on him”She muttered.
Daphne mouthed an ‘O’
“That’s… Really hurtful”She said “But there’s no reason for him to feel hurt if he finds out what you did. You’re just his assistant and there’s nothing going on between you two. He’s only going to feel disappointed and…”She paused and blinked “I was wrong when I said there’s nothing going on between you two isn’t it?”She stared intently at Kiara, expecting a response
Kiara bit her lower lip. “We kissed”She spilled “He also confessed his feelings to me”
“Oh,things got that far already”Daphne muttered “So,you guys are a couple now?”She asked.
“No, I’m still yet to tell him how I feel about him” Kiara said.
Daphne stared at Kiara.
“You feel the same way he feels about you, right?”
“It doesn’t matter anymore. After what I did,we shouldn’t be together. He shouldn’t be with someone like me”
“Kiara… It’s not your fault things turned out this way”
“Don’t try to make me feel good about what I did,please”
“I’m not trying to…”Daphne sighed “So,are you going to let him know? The reason you came to work as his assistant and the actual truth behind it”
“I…I don’t know” Kiara looked away
“You do know that him getting to know about it is not the only thing that can hurt him, right?”Daphne said “He really likes you Kiara. You not wanting to be with him because you feel you shouldn’t be is also a reason for him to feel hurt”Daphne said “You should rethink your decision”
Kiara looked at Daphne.
Ken stood and greeted Erik as he walked into the office.
Erik stared at Kiara’s seat, paying no attention to Ken’s greeting when he noticed it was empty.
He looked at Ken
“Why is Kiara’s seat empty?”He asked.
“She’s still yet to arrive”
“Yet to arrive?”Erik muttered.
Kiara had never arrived late at the office before and the one time she came late was the morning after she spent the night at his house which he wouldn’t really count as being late since he knew the reason behind it.
He responded to Ken’s greeting and went into his office.
Ken picked the tablet on Kiara’s desk and turned it on, going through Erik’s schedule to see if he had any meeting that morning. He felt he should help Kiara do her job since she was still yet to arrive.
••••
Rather than work,Erik kept glancing at his wrist watch. Time was almost eleven am and she was still yet to arrive. He picked his phone and dialed her number.
His worries increased when she didn’t pick his call. He tried a second time but she still didn’t pick up.
After trying several times without her picking up his call,he brought down his phone,his heart racing fast with the thought that something might have happened to her.
He stood and left his office, dialing her number again as he did.
••••
Daphne stared at Kiara who had her eyes on her phone which was on the bed, watching it ring without making any effort to reach it so as to pick the call.
Daphne sighed “He’s been calling you for a while now. You’re still not going to pick his call?”She asked and Kiara looked at her.
TBC…✍️