chapter 8

Sophia then thought for a while as the car sped up, the only good thing that had happened to her today was Mark, he saved her from all the embarrassment and if he had not given her this money, she had no idea what she would have done now, it seemed weired that the man didn't even ask for her number but offered her money, Sophia had a creepy feeling at the time, the man was giving off a fishy vibe and she planned to throw away the money but now it came to use as she estimated that the money was more than enough to pay for her transportation, the sun was going down and the view of the city looked much better, Sophia looked out the window as she tried to clear her head but Layla's face came to her mind, and her mood went sour, her hatred for Layla was unreasonably strong and she blindly blamed her for everything that was happening to her now, the girl was more beautiful than her and she hated to accept defeat, she was obviously older than Layla and Layla's innocence only made Sophia loathe her more, she seemed like a spoiled rich brat who had no problems in her life, Sophia just wanted to make her lose everything she had, Layla had done nothing to her but she just felt like Layla was a witch who wanted to take everything away from her, she closed her eyes and tried to sleep a little but she couldn't suppress the anger and hatred she was feeling, she looked outside and tried Not to think of things that would make her feel unhappy, she tried to distract herself but Jaden's face suddenly popped up in her head, and that other young man she met today who said his name was Jordan, he seemed more handsome than Jaden, she had almost mistaken him for someone else and thought at that moment how fortunate Layla was to have such a good looking boyfriend, her jealousy and hatred for the innocent girl only grew as she thought of how poorly Jordan treated her, her face turned red with anger as her hand held unto her seat, her grip grew stronger, her knuckles turned white and she would have shouted her lungs out if only she was in her house, she was getting more and more irritated as time went by, she tried breathing in and out heavily so she could feel better but it wasn't working, there was something she didn't understand, how could Jordan hate her so much, they had just met but he seemed to see right through her, hot tears started trickling down her face as she covered her mouth and tried not to make a sound, images of how Jordan had looked at her and how he had spoken without even bothering to hide his hatred flashed through her mind and that was the last string she finally let go, why would he speak to her like that? Sophia thought and the only reason she could think of was Layla, she was having a very bad feeling about this, Jaden and Jordan looked almost the same "Oh no Jesus, let this not be true, God help me, it can't be!" Sophia panicked and then she screamed, her voice was so loud it startled the driver who hadn't slowed down and was about the take a bend, he panicked for while and that was enough for him to miss the turn, he suddenly held the brakes when he realized they were in great danger but there was a truck behind that was also at high speed and didn't see this coming, the truck driver held his brakes but it was too late as it crashed into the car Sophia had taken, there was another car coming in the opposite direction and it also crashed into the two others that were almost damaged. This happened too fast for Sophia to process anything, she couldn't feel her body anymore and the last thing she said was "Layla" before her eyes closed involuntarily.

********

Vincent quickly got down from his car, immediately his driver opened the door for him and strutted towards the biggest company in the city. Metaverse was a big name in the whole country, it was known worldwide for its diversity and the owner of this great company was praised and admired by all for his great achievements, the company had a long chain of industries and other smaller companies under it, it was the main supplier of about seventeen different products to the whole country and partnered with other companies to supply the rest, they were actively present in every sector, education, engineering, agriculture, artificial intelligence, just to name a few. Vincent Andy, the hottest bachelor and most successful young man in the whole country inherited metaverse from his father few years back, he worked so hard and the rank of the company moved up to the first position in few years, Metaverse was in partnership with the government of the country and other foreign countries and it kept expanding, it would have crashed a long time ago if Vincent wasn't as perfectly efficient as he was, he didn't promote any form of laziness, hard work and smart work, was all he knew, he could spend days in his office when he needed to, so he could see his company grow and he made sure no one was lagging behind among his hundreds of thousands of workers, he didn't have time for any girls but always made time for the one person he cherished more than anything in the world, He loved Layla so much and wouldn't even think twice before giving up his life for her, but for four years now, a deep hole had been left in his heart, the hole he was trying everything he could to fill, and if he didn't, he would never rest. As he walked in, time seemed to freeze as everyone's eyes were on him, even the men couldn't help but stare dreamily, he looked like a god that had just stepped down from heaven, he was so unbelievably charming and no one ever got used to seeing his face, he sometimes fired his workers when he was in a bad mood and caught them staring at him for too long but today, he seemed to be more occupied and just went straight to the elevator which took him to the twenty-seventh floor of the building he didn't even wait for the elevator to open properly before he stepped out, " good morning sir, the owner of empire keeps insisting about the meeting, and your schedule.." the secretary Stopped halfway as the CEO simply walked pass her and shut his door, "Mike, in my office. Now" he said through a phone call immediately he stepped into his office before sitting down. Mike, his personal assistant came in a few seconds later as he knew better than keep the young CEO waiting, the only people that kept him waiting were those willing to lose their job or their life. "Good morning sir you called for.." Mike began saying before he was caught up, "Is there any new development with the case?" Vincent had the bad habit of impatience, he always wanted people to go straight to the point, and even thought greeting people was a waste of energy and time, these two things were money. Mike panicked a little as he tried to figure out the case his boss meant, he didn't have a death wish so he couldn't ask him which one he was talking about, there were many cases they were working on, but for him to ask him not on phone and immediately he got to work, only made him come to one conclusion, he heaved an uneasy sigh as he felt sweat trickle down his spine, he had taken about twenty seconds trying to figure out which case and Vincent who thought he took the whole day was about to scold him but Mike immediately spoke up " sir, my team is still to find anything, but I can assure you, we'll soon get a lead, I.." Vincent had heard this in the last three years even more than he heard his own name, "you are fired, get out" Vincent spat out this words as he looked at his personal assistant with a dark expression. Mike was flabbergasted, he didn't see this coming at all, he knew this case was most important to his boss but he was trying, he had figured out way higher things than this and did his job efficiently, forcing him out was nothing less than cruel, he had been so loyal to Vincent and this company, he didn't deserve this. Mike tried to say something but the moment he stared at Vincent, the words got stuck in his throat, the CEO's gaze made him shiver all over, his dark and powerful aura was filling the whole room and Mike felt like he would suffocate any time soon, " you can keep the car and the rest of the company's things in your possession now, but I don't need you anymore, you're just useless" Vincent said.