18 IS IT A FRAME?

Mary opened the website which Olivia showed to her the other day and half of the screen was occupied with the article about Wilson Media Corporation.

The article was dedicated to fraud, and it was committed by none other than a well-known socialite Gabriella Wilson! Scandalous money transfers from Wilson Media to an unknown company which was supposed to be hired for advertising and marketing purposes but turned out to belong to Gabriella herself along with one of her associates. The company had not yet launched any advertising campaigns and was just a dummy company to take away the money from her parents business. The amounts which were transferred were rather impressive and if she had to hide it this way it meant that her patents did not give their consent to it.

On top of the detailed information about the fraud scheme there were photos of some paragraphs from the contracts and proof that the company sponsored by Wilson Media belonged to Gabriella.

Mary was impressed by the article, it was written in simple language and yet showed all the facts in correct light; but the name of the author was not the one Mary gave to Olivia but probably the name of Olivia's friend. Maybe it was for the best... Direct fight with Wilson Media Empire would only complicate their lives.

"Feel any satisfaction?" Olivia wrote another message.

"Kind of," Mary felt satisfaction alright, but thought it to be more appropriate not to show it off. She believed that people like Gabriella should find out what karma was and they should do it not in their next life but in this one. Otherwise they would continue interfering with other people's lives without any regret or consideration.

"And would your satisfaction grow if you found out that I wrote not one article but several?" Olivia wrote another message.

"???" was all that Mary could reply.

"And sent them at different time to different newspapers and magazines..." Olivia went on.

"And did you really?!" Mary couldn't believe it, it meant Olivia had no sleep that night and dedicated all her time to writing those articles.

"Guess what? I did!"

"I'm taking my hat off!👏" Mary wrote back.

"Now even if she tries to stop the avalanche it will still bury her again and again!"

"But she is an heiress to a mass media empire... She can stop any avalanche..."

"Not in these newspapers. Wilson Media crossed them many a time!😈"

Mary knew that Olivia was a very determined and serious girl, but she did not expect that she would have the same serious attitude to this kind of dirty business. But on the other hand maybe it was not that dirty after all, it was just bringing someone's illegal actions to light, for a journalist this must be very interesting.

Mary checked her own expression in the mirror and made sure that when she exited the elevator her face would be unreadable. When she was passing Helen she suddenly asked, "Is my meeting still in the schedule?"

"Yes, though Ms. Gabriella Wilson called just now and asked whether she can come earlier. I said that Mr. Melrose is very busy and cannot meet before agreed time!" Saying it Helen actually winked at Mary.

Mary winked back feeling that friendship with your boyfriend's personal assistant may come in handy sometimes.

Daniel did not forget that Mary should have come earlier and enquired why she changed the time, so she used the same lie that she told Helen - inspiration surge... there was no fighting it.

Just when Helen brought their coffee Daniel's mobile phone rang. He saw the name of the person calling and did not answer. The phone rang, again, then again. At last he took the call.

It was Gabriella and she was hysterically screaming something into the receiver, Daniel could not stand the sound and moved his phone further from his ear.

"And now can you repeat slower and quieter?" he asked when screaming stopped.

While he was listening his eyebrows were raising higher and higher and after they reached their peak he knitted them into a gloomy frown.

"Of course, you can come now. I will inform Helen." When he hang up he gave Mary a long look, "It seems Helen likes you very much..."

"Why?"

"She refused to move Gabriella's meeting earlier instead of yours saying that it's too important."

"And is it not?" Mary raised her eyebrows questioningly.

He smiled instead of answering her but his smile was not completely genuine.

In a couple of minutes Gabriella marched into his office and started telling the story once again sobbing hysterically. "What an act!" Mary thought.

Somewhere in the middle of Gabriella's story Mary heard a phrase "those liers!" and then a word "framed".

"Is it a frame?!" Mary asked with innocent curiosity. "I just read the article... they have photos of those contracts... Who knew they were fake!"

It seemed Gabriella saw her for the first time. Mary was sitting not at the table but on a big easychair near the panoramic window and looking at the city while finishing her coffee, since she was silent all the time after Gabriella entered the room it was possible that her presence escaped the guest's notice.

"What is she doing here?!" it seemed the news pushed Gabriella out of balance and she could no longer control her emotions and hide her dislike for Mary. "Can we speak alone?" she directed the question to Daniel since in her opinion Mary would do whatever Daniel told her to.

When Daniel met Mary's eyes she gave him a look saying "Remember who cooks your suppers every day!" and he decided that it would be easier to deal with Gabriella than with Mary... Gabriella could not believe her ears when she heard him say, "There's nothing to hide now. The whole world knows... I think she can stay."

Then he carefully repeated Mary's words, "Are you sure it is a frame?"

Gabriella looked like she would explode from anger any minute now.

"I. Am. Sure!" She pronounced each word separately.

"Then we should clarify it with media and make sure that this newspaper takes off the article from its website."

"We already published a refutal. The problem is with the newspaper... They refused to delete it."

Mary silently thanked Olivia for being so considerate about the newspaper choice.

"I do not have connections in this circle..." Daniel said in deep thought. "Have you called Jim?"

"He doesn't answer my calls!" she sounded irritated.

"Ever?" Daniel was surprised.

"Now..."

"Maybe he thinks the accusations have some ground under them? I'll call him myself." So for Gabriella's sake he was ready to forget his recent arguments with Jim?

"Remarkable!" Mary thought.

Jim really took Daniel's call, he listened carefully for their request and Mary heard his answer because the phone was on a loud speaker.

"Why would I risk my reputation for her when she was stealing money from her own family?"

Gabriella gasped but said nothing; she believed Daniel could still persuade him.

"I told you, it is a frame..." Daniel insisted.

"Are you an idiot? Or maybe illiterate?! Anyone who can read and has some experience in business would understand that it is no frame! Contracts are real!"

Daniel looked at Gabriella who continued to deny her fault making multiple gestures to support her silent speech.

"Jim, we are childhood friends. If we don't support each other, then how good is this friendship? I know you can help her..."

"We're not children any longer. And I don't feel like the old Jim who won't notice all the shit she does! She must take responsibility for her actions at least once... This is my final word." And he just hang up, thinking to himself that he already made his choice whose side he was on when he gave the documents to Mary. He could not and did not want to go back on this choice.

"He refused?!" Gabriella was shocked.

Daniel on the other hand opened the web page where the article was published and read it carefully.

"Gab, it's a fraud. You knew it, right?" He asked her when he finished reading.

Gabriella knowing that there was no denying it anymore found only one acceptable way out, she started crying and the louder became her sobs the more nauseated Mary felt. Any woman could see through this act. But Daniel was not a woman so when Gabriella told him that it was a mistake and that she regretted it but there was no taking it back, he just believed her.

Mary really wanted to hit him with something heavy to wake him up.

"I know a couple of other people who might be able to help you. But they might ask for a return favor. Can you accept such a deal?" Daniel decided to help her in any case, even if she did commit a fraud.

"Of course! Anything they would ask!.."

He made a call, but the person refused. He made another one and it was a bingo. They stroke a deal and in ten minutes the article disappeared from the website. Gabriella looked triumphant regardless of the high price which she would have to pay for this deal. But if she only knew that it was not the only deal she would have to strike that day...

"I think you would need to make things right with your parents now. Call them, tell them you're sorry or better go and talk to them. I'm sure they'll forgive you." Daniel tried to soothe Gabriella and at the same time to hint that his next meeting would start soon so it was time to go.

Gabriella agreed with him and left the room, he then turned to Mary to tell her that she must go now too but his words were muffled by a heartbreaking scream from the waiting room.

Mary looked at her phone, on the screen there was a message from Olivia with a link to another website.