The Billionaire's Getaway Tryst

~Chapter 29~

My week went by in a blur and all I did was wake up and just go back to my lonely slumber party. Skye didn't bother to contact me in any way after he had heard the inconspicuous news of Ms. Maxwell's resignation. I wouldn't say that it didn't affect me because it did.

I thought that we were in this together but not even once did he manage to include me or even ask me for my help. However, I couldn't be so sure about whether he was even looking into the matter or not.

My disappointment had skyrocketed even more when Keith couldn't make it the next day. Since Ms. Maxwell had resigned, the whole department was in a complete haywire. Amidst it all, I actually made a silent note. Whoever did this had to be smart because their carefully planned idea gave the ZAE Inc. most of the hit after the campaign was over.

It has to be some insider. I thought while I slurped on my chocolate shake.

My friends and I decided to meet up today inside a small coffee shop. As it's their day off and I had nothing better to do, I agreed.

"What do you say, VVJ?" Shivaay asked me from across the table. I hadn't listened to a single word he had said because I was continuously spacing out, thinking nothing more than how my life's transpired from normal to 'I-don't-even-know-anymore'.

"Hmm?" I looked up at him questioningly. "Think about what?"

"Why did Ms. Maxwell resign?" This time Chelsea tossed the question over at me.

"I don't know," I whispered the lie, not meeting anyone's eyes.

The whole table went silent after my uninteresting reply because just a few days ago, I was hell bent on finding out the culprit behind this but now I wasn't so sure anymore. My mind reeled back to the day when I had first heard the news of Ms. Maxwell's resignation.

"Why would she do that?" I had asked him, only half expecting him to ignore me completely.

Skye looked at me but I could tell that his concentration was elsewhere. "Somehow, the upper management got the whiff that Ms. Maxwell left you off the hook with a warning instead of firing you the first time she came to know about it. They got this information that she was receiving the pictures and didn't act upon it the way she was supposed to," he informed me in a monotone, pinching the bridge of his nose.

My eyes widened and lips pursed as soon as his words registered in my brain. It was my fault. If only I hadn't meddled myself with Skye, none of this would have happened. The ZAE Inc. would have been a successful and peaceful corporation. Somewhere or the other, I was to be blamed for starting the chain of all these problems. But... I didn't regret a single bit to have been this close to him.

"It isn't your fault, Val. Look at me. Here, please look at me."

How could it not be my fault? Because of this very same reason, I didn't have it in me to tell the truth to my friends. They wouldn't straight out say it on my face but no matter what, I'd still blame myself.

I saw my friends giving me assuring looks as the sense of realization was written all over their faces. "Can we just not talk about this? I am just... I am literally done for." It was true. I was tired of everything going on around me. First my suspicion on Ms. Maxwell was hogwash, then Skye going all MIA on me and lastly someone was on our backs targeting big people inside the ZAE Inc. And the cherry on top? I was not even a part of the company anymore.

From the looks on my friends' faces, I could tell that they must have taken my words in a different although half true context. They were probably thinking that I was still sour about getting fired.