Jonathan's POV
I felt more fresh than I had in days.
It had been a week since I went home, as I was staying at the office.
I had been going through the files and USB drives I had.
But yesterday night, I did go home.
For the first time after she left me, I felt her presence at home.
Maybe because now I have begun to understand where we really stood and the traps that lay around us.
Also the reasons why we parted and how I could amend them.
Rollings Designs - Early Morning
I was back at the office and going through the files again.
This time I had a fresh mind so I hoped I would find something important that maybe I missed out.
The three year realization was more than just a fact.
It was an emotional blow for me.
Three years.
She suffered.
I was staring at the records.
Back home I was thinking how come I never questioned…
In reality…I would question only if I felt something.
But Veronica and Imelda hid it so well, how could I know?
"And all the while, I thought her suffering only began in the past few months when she began working for Imelda, as the parties were always verbal comments."
On reviewing the files to make sure I hadn't missed out any…
That's when I remembered about hidden files.
So I toggled it on.
I rolled my eyes.
There were hidden files on the drive.
But each one had a password.
Imelda was the first person who came to my mind.
She had a particular habit in making passwords.
The files opened.
My vision sharpened.
Anger rose within me….
….such, I broke the pen in my hand in two pieces.
I couldn't believe my eyes.
I had about fifty files to go through.
After seeing them all, I had noted every detail I needed in a folder of my own.
I had client names…
I noted the delivery record, day by day…
Time by time.
Every project tag that I could find in those files.
Another thing I found out was,
The clients that Imelda made Veronica deliver the documents…
They were all the same.
She had about thirty customers.
After checking them online, I was more shocked.
As…
None of them were in the jewelry business.
And most of them I didn't even know.
Yet…she was working with them.
"This wasn't random work. If they were she could have chosen anyone. But she chose Veronica. That meant she chose her for a reason."
Normally that would mean they were high-value projects, and the files had to be delivered by a trusted person
But was Veronica only a trusted person, or something else?
"They definitely weren't random files."
"Imelda what are you up to?"
I questioned as I was cross-checking the hidden files again to make sure I don't miss any point.
On the second look around some name seemed to be familiar.
Not in a way that I knew them, but I do recall Imelda mentioning some of them to Fredrick.
And some of the clients were even linked to Harmon Designs.
"Veronica wasn't just a delivery person…for that matter she was a pawn to something much bigger."
Then I stumbled across a file that was encrypted.
The password didn't work.
I forwarded the email to a trusted hacker friend.
"Hello, I sent you an email. Crack it open."
"Jonathan, I began the moment I received the email," he said on the phone.
I waited patiently for his reply.
Then…
"Jonathan," his voice was almost scolding. "Could you please tell me before not to open the file?"
"What's the matter?" I said sitting upright on hearing him.
"Well," he said. "There are health records of an employee working for your fiancee Imelda."
A pause.
"I don't get it though," he said. "She seems to be an important employee as it says, 'Imelda said to the doctor she handled the main work."
"There's also a recording."
He played the recording on the phone:
"Ms. Harmon, her health is a grave matter."
"Doctor, I told you just to make sure she's fine. I won't be able to explain to her husband if anything happens to her."
"I still suggest giving her time off, at least a month or two."
"What? Are you mad? She's the only one who can do the work."
"Even so, Imelda completely neglected her health."
"She?" The word barely came out of my mouth as a dreaded fear crept into my mind.
"Yeah," he said. "I said it's a female employee. Some Veronica Smith."
The hand receiver slipped from my hand the moment he took her name.
"Send the file now, and," I trailed off a bit to control my emotions.
After disconnecting the call, I slapped myself.
Hearing him mention Imelda as my fiancée and Veronica as a simple employee was like a knife being stabbed into my heart.
I controlled my emotions as knowing what's in the file was more important.
My eyes were open wide in shock as I scanned Veronica's medical reports.
Reports flagged Veronica having physical and metal strain.
There was an internal folder labelled 'Medical'.
My hand trembled as I clicked to open it
I paused as I scanned the content.
I crumbled the paper I was holding in my hand in anger.
There were reports of Veronica.
Stress related.
Fatigue.
Exhaustion.
The shocking part was that Imelda personally went with her on 'check-ups'.
The doctor had noted multiple times things like:
Overworking
Irregular diet
Physical exhaustion
I froze on reading the reports.
My gaze turned from sad to fury.
"Imelda," I cursed under my breath. "I had a feeling you were deeper than what I knew. But so deep."
I slammed shut my laptop's screen and left for Imelda's office.
Harmon Designs - Later Afternoon
"Mr. Rollings," the staff member said, rubbing the back of his neck.
He was nervous as I was asking about Veronica.
"She used to stay back more than any of us."
He paused.
"Or rather, every other day."
"At times she would stay overnight, and at times, we'd come in the morning and she'd be asleep at her desk."
He smiled a bit.
"She was truly devoted," he said. "I mean, she never complained. Don't know why she left?"
I scoffed in my mind.
"Everyone saw how only she was the one working so hard. Yet they all presumed she liked it."
"And lunch time?"
"Sorry Mr. Rollings, but I go home for lunch."
Another staff member stepped forward.
"Mr. Rollings," she asked. "Are you talking about Veronica Smith?"
"Yes, why?"
"You're asking about her lunch meals."
"Yes," I said, hoping she would be able to tell me something.
"Well," she said in a low voice as she looked around.
As if checking no one was hearing.
"She used to skip her meal every day."
"When we used to ask, she'd always tell us she'd eat later. But we never did."
The canteen lady told me personally, she never came for food when she was alone."
I paused for a moment.
Recalling she used to bring me lunch.
"But I remember she always brought me my lunch whenever I came here. Then why wouldn't she take hers?"
"That's another thing. And we often told her to stop, but she said you wouldn't get angry."
Seeing me pinch brows she continued.
"She used to eat with you."
Her face relaxed.
"That was the only time she ever ate."
"That's what we told her not to. After all, you're engaged to Ms. Imelda."
"Even though Ms. Imelda may not say on her face, but an employee eating with her fiancé and that too the CEO of his own company."
"Don't know where she got the guts to do that. But Ms. Imelda also never minded."
I waved my hand for them to leave.
Then I went to the stairs exit as I wanted to be alone.
I went over what she told me.
She brought me lunch, and ate only when she was with me.
Never alone.
"Imelda never got angry."
A small bitter laugh escaped my mouth
"She was the one taking her to the hospital."
"She knew she was malnourished."
"Did she…"
I trailed off as the thought Imelda was behind this crept into my mind.
I paused as I recalled some incidents.
Veronica was always calm at home.
Never complaining.
Only in the last seven days…
That was the first time Veronica ever spoke in front of me.
"She never looked tired."
"She hid all of this from me."
"Was she…no she wouldn't…"
I trailed off.
"But now with Imelda involved, I can't be sure of what's right or wrong."
I left her office and went back home.
At the present I wanted to be away from all those who only knew Veronica as an employee.
Apartment - Later Evening
I opened my laptop and turned it on.
Now my screen only had one icon:
Veronica's folder.
I clicked on it.
Medical files.
Work logs.
Late night projects.
Each project related to the clients mentioned in the hidden files.
"She wasn't just working on random office work."
"Imelda made her do the paperwork for these projects."
"It's obvious she was doing this work under cover."
"If Veronica did this work in the daytime, the others would know."
"That's why Imelda made her work at night."
"And if the work is done at night, the documents will be delivered at night as well."
"She kept enduring. But why?"
"I had my reason to obey Imelda, but why Veronica?" "Why did she work for her for three years?"
"Why?"
I banged with my hands on the table.
"When I told her about joining Imelda's office…"
"She didn't tell me she was already working there."
"Imelda never told me she recruited Veronica."
"Then why was a new record made when she was working for Imelda for three years?"
"Why was her previous account encrypted, and her current one was open to all?"
"I never expected anything from Imelda, but Veronica…."
"Had you told me…I would have known Imelda was playing with us."
"I would have stopped her."
One thing I was sure of by now…
Imelda assigned these secret tasks only to Veronica.
Veronica complied and never spoke against the work.
She never refused..
To the extent she even left Janet home alone at night so she could go and deliver those documents.
Veronica hated Imelda to the core.
"What made her so obedient to Imelda?"
"Unless…."
"Did she threaten Veronica with Janet?"
"If she did…then Imelda's going to be sorry she was ever born."
I paused as I leaned back broken in my chair.
"Who am I to blame Veronica for not telling."
"If anyone is to blame for her sufferings…it's me."
"I made her work at Imelda's."
"I knew Imelda made her sit by the trash cans…yet I told her to agree."
"And since I met Imelda, I've allowed Imelda to talk to Veronica like she's a common person."
"Ever since Janet was born, Imelda would always find ways to cut down on my giving Veronica money."
"Why didn't I ever question how she was raising Janet?"
"How she managed to pay for the rent and bills?"
"I never asked where she works or what work she's doing."
I banged again on the table.
I straightened up.
I began to merge the emotional and logical understanding that I had complied over the past few days.
Emotionally:
Veronica must have agreed to work for Imelda thinking she would get money to raise Janet.
Logically:
There was something Veronica knew, that forced her to work for Imelda.
Emotionally:
Veronica didn't tell me as she thought I knew.
Logically:
Veronica hid from me as she didn't want me to know.
Emotionally:
She wanted to reach out to me.
Logically:
Veronica knew or thought I wouldn't be bothered.
Emotionally:
Imelda thought she hid it from me.
Logically:
Imelda knew even if I found out, it wouldn't matter.
Emotionally:
I will find the reason, and I will get justice for Veronica. As for Imelda, considering she's Adrian's mother, I won't consider it.
Logically:
"Reason, I will find. Justice for Veronica, at all cost. Imelda, I won't consider her being Adrian's mother. She will pay."
I was sitting alone in the chair by the lamp.
I kept turning the lamp on and off.
Anymore I might have fused it.
I stopped.
I began to drive my curiosity, but kept my emotional pull at bay.
I sat in the silence of the apartment with the lights turned off.
Not that I had given up.
But I needed time to clear my mind.
And a long silence engulfed me.