Chapter 240: ~ 240
Chapter 240
~Octavia~
The crisis from yesterday had finally passed. My father was awake, stable, and bossing the hospital nurses around by early morning, which was the ultimate sign that he was officially out of danger. A massive weight had been lifted from my chest regarding his health, but as my logical, analytical brain began to clear, it naturally drifted right back to the unresolved tension from the night before.
After we left the hospital, I had asked Franklin what he was about to tell me on the beach.
He had stiffened for a second, his grip on my hand tightening before he brushed it off. With a smooth, gentle smile, he had kissed my temple and told me that it was just minor issue and that it wasn’t important enough to worry about while my father was in a hospital bed.
I knew my husband inside and out. He didn’t look that deeply conflicted, over a minor thing. I consciously forced the suspicion down. No, don’t push it, I told myself firmly. It might just be nothing serious. I won’t nag him about it.
Distracting myself from my thoughts, I turned the corner toward the main administrative hub. As I approached a secluded side hallway, a sudden flash of movement caught my eye.
It was Miranda.
Her posture was incredibly rigid as she held her phone tightly to her ear. She was whispering frantically, her eyes darting nervously back and forth across the open floor. I couldn’t make out the words, but the panic and intense secrecy in her low tone screamed that she was up to no good.
I slowed my pace, carefully stepping closer to the edge of the wall, pressing my back against the paneling to listen in. I needed to hear her.
"Octavia!"
A bright, incredibly enthusiastic voice suddenly pierced through the quiet corridor, shattering the silence and almost blowing my cover.
I jumped slightly, snapping my head around. Walking toward me with a massive, radiant smile was my best friend, Victoria. She was practically vibrating with excitement, her heels clicking loudly against the floor as she waved her hand at me. Behind the wall, I heard a sharp gasp and the immediate, rushed click of Miranda hanging up her phone, scurrying off down the opposite exit before I could catch her.
I let out a soft, defeated sigh, but the moment Victoria reached me and threw her arms around my shoulders, my frustration instantly melted away.
"Oh my gosh, girl! I have been looking everywhere for you! Let’s have lunch together later." Victoria squealed, pulling back to look at me, her eyes filled with genuine warmth.
I gladly agreed. By the time the clock struck one, Victoria and our close colleague Sarah had dragged me out of the office to a quiet, high-end bistro just two blocks away from the office. We ordered a spread of light salads and pasta.
"Wait, where is Ava today?" Sarah asked, glancing at the empty fourth chair at our table as she took a sip of her water.
"Oh, Ava wasn’t feeling well this morning," Victoria replied, tossing her hair over her shoulder. "She called in sick. Some kind of sudden stomach bug, I think."
I nodded, making a mental note in my head to text Ava later tonight to check up on her and see if she needed anything dropped off at her apartment.
The lunch went on smoothly, filled with lighthearted office gossip. It wasn’t until we were nearly finished, sipping on our post-meal coffees, that Victoria leaned across the table, her eyes glinting with a mischievous, sharp curiosity.
"Alright, so I have a little bit of a spicy thing that I’ve been suspecting for the last few days," Victoria whispered, lowering her voice so the surrounding tables couldn’t hear. She looked directly at me. "Octavia... who exactly is that William guy?"
I blinked, slightly caught off guard. "William? He’s a new partner. Why do you ask?"
"I don’t know, there’s just something completely off about him. I was leaving the lower executive lounge late Tuesday evening, and I swear I saw him and Bella together in the parking garage. And I don’t mean just talking business. They had this intense, almost intimate closeness to them. It looked incredibly shady."
Sarah instantly let out a dramatic gasp, while I just stared at Victoria for a moment. Then, Sarah burst out laughing. "Oh, please, Victoria! You think every attractive man in this building is having a secret affair. You’ve been reading way too many romance novels lately!"
"I’m serious!" Victoria protested, laughing along anyway. "It was just a vibe! They looked like two villains plotting a coup in a movie."
We laughed it off and brushed the information away as simple, harmless office paranoia. But as we paid the bill and began walking back, I quietly held the information deep in my mind. My analytical brain stored it away, registering the connection. William and Bella. Intimate closeness.
Just after the lunch break ended, I stepped back onto the executive floor. The receptionist immediately walked up to me. "Ma’am, just so you know, Mr. Peterson is already around. He arrived quite early."
"Early?" I muttered, wondering why. "Alright, thank you."
I decided to head toward the conference room ahead of time to set up my laptop and review the presentation slides. The hallway leading to the private boardroom was completely empty.
As I approached the door, I noticed that it was slightly opened, a tiny two-inch crack revealing the brightly lit room inside.
I paused. What was going on? Why are the lights on already?
I walked up to the door silently, intending to just push it open, but a strange, muffled sound from inside made me freeze completely in my tracks. It was a low, heavy, rhythmic thudding sound, accompanied by a sharp, ragged gasp that sounded unmistakably like...
My breath caught in my throat. I leaned forward, tilting my head slightly to peep through the small gap in the doorway.
The sight that met my eyes completely paralyzed me with absolute shock.
Bella was bent completely flat down on the boardroom table, her red dress pushed up all the way to her waist. Her hands were gripping the edge of the wood so tightly her knuckles were stark white. And right behind her, aggressively locking her hips down, was William. He was completely disheveled, his expensive suit jacket thrown onto a nearby chair, his shirt half-unbuttoned as he slammed into her from behind with a raw, animalistic fury.
William’s jaw was tightly clenched, his veins popping out against his neck as he worked himself into a frenzy, trying desperately to keep his heavy grunts down so they wouldn’t echo into the hallway. Bella’s head was thrown back, her eyes closed in pure, ecstatic pleasure, a low, breathy moan escaping her lips every time he hit her against the table.
They were completely, utterly lost in their own pleasure. The air in the boardroom felt heavy, suffocating, and dripping with raw, toxic lust.
My heart hammered against my ribs, a wave of profound disgust washing over me. I didn’t scream. I didn’t gasp. I didn’t push the door open to cause a scene. Instead, I calmly and quietly reached into my blazer pocket, pulling out my phone.
I raised the camera, completely silencing the shutter sound in the settings, and framed the shot perfectly through the crack in the door.
Click.
I captured a crystal-clear, HD photo of William’s face, contorted in pleasure, completely identifiable as he held Bella’s waist.
Click.
I took a second, wider picture, capturing Bella’s face turned toward the side, her expression undeniable, with the Flemington Group corporate logo etched into the glass wall right behind them. You never know if an explosive piece of blackmail material like this will be useful down the line.
I carefully slid the phone back into my pocket, turned on my heel, and quietly walked away. I walked fast, scurrying off down the hallway as quickly as my feet could carry me. I was 100% sure they wouldn’t even hear me leaving; they were entirely too consumed by their disgusting boardroom rendezvous to notice a shadow in the doorway.
The moment I stepped safely back into the privacy of my own empty office, I slammed the door shut and leaned my back against it. My mind was reeling, the vivid, raw imagery of what I had just witnessed burned into my retinas.
"Oh, shit... that was absolutely traumatizing," I gasped out loud to the empty room.
A sharp, breathless bubble of amusement rose up in my throat, and I suddenly burst out laughing. I laughed so hard I had to cover my mouth with both hands, my shoulders shaking as I collapsed into my office chair, wiping a tear of pure, hysterical amusement from my eye.
What a complete mess.
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