Koruna

Another One Down

Chapter 94

Another One Down!

“It’s like a gift that keeps giving!” Bernie grunted.

Kelvin made some calls and discovered that Shola had made use of their past deeds as evidence for them to relinquish control of the organization. Margaret and her past with hard drugs, Kelvin’s secret business as an information haggler was also exposed as well as Bernie and Annie’s history with bullying, all painfully documented and shown to the board members. Koruna had to appreciate Shola’s attention to detail and exaggeration, how can they trust people like this, Koruna’s existence and reputation would have done nothing to help their present state.

“I don’t know which hurts more, this or him trying to burn us alive.” Kelvin hissed.

“He said it wouldn’t hurt so I suppose he was going to kill us before burning us.” Koruna pointed out earning her a glare from them.

“He knows all of you inside and out, it is not surprising that he would use your past against you now that you are out of his reach. It is a good tactic, if he cannot get rid of you, the next best thing would be to discredit you, who would believe anything any of you have to say?” R’ao said adding salt to injury.

Oni joined in his assessment, “Shola is well respected in the business circle, and even Jacob holds his word in high regard. Do you not have anything against him? Anything at all?!”

Koruna blinked as she remembered when she was provoking Shola, she had her phone’s recording device on, in the midst of the chaos and troubles that ensued, she forgot. Koruna ran to R’ao’s room to get her phone, it was all broken up but she was sure that they would be able to retrieve something useful, “I recorded his confession, threats and everything he had to say when I tricked him into revealing himself to them.” She handed the phone to Oni. Oni looked at the phone and stared blankly at her in question, “Hey, I was in a fight with him and some of his men. It was bound to happen one day.”

“Did you save the recording?” Kelvin asked.

“Does it not save automatically?” Annie blinked.

“Not that model, you have to manually save for it to actually be saved.” Kelvin explained.

Koruna’s eyes widened, “Oh, I don’t remember saving, I got carried away with the gas and betrayal from the staff. I wasn’t expecting him to have that many allies in the Castle. I also did not think he would be heartless enough to kill everyone else who didn’t work for him.”

“What about the cameras?” Annie asked.

“There’s nothing there, nothing was recorded about the day which meant that Shola knew exactly what he was doing when he confessed his involvement in their parents’ death.” R’ao answered.

“This is crazy, I feel like he is mocking us right now.” Annie stumped her feet.

That action surprised Koruna, she had only seen people do that in movies, and Koruna had never seen anyone do that in real life. “You are cute, do you know that?”

Annie blinked and looked at Koruna with surprise, she did not know what to make of her, and this was neither the place nor the time. “I… I cannot even.”

“Kelvin, you are in the business of information, how could you not have recorded anything?” Margaret asked.

Kelvin sighed, he was also mad at himself. “I was too surprised to think but wait, I always have something on Shola. I used it to get information on other people, same way I knew about Koruna and other things I don’t think we should discuss now. I haven’t checked up on it because of everything that had been going on, I’ll look it over and see if there is anything we can use against him. It’s at home, it’s stationary and in my room.”

“Let’s go.” Bernie announced.

“No, it’s dangerous for now. Give it till tomorrow, by then the Castle would be safe for use.” R’ao said with his deep voice.

Bernie wanted to argue that the faster they made a move, the better it would be for everyone but although, it was hard for him to admit. He had always been intimidated by R’ao even now as all he did was sit, he found it hard to swallow. “Oh… okay.”

Kelvin completely avoided Oni and R’ao’s eyes when talking, “Is it not better that we do something now?”

“My men have the place covered, today, tomorrow. Makes no difference, no one is going near there.”

“Okay.” Kelvin agreed simply.

“Kelvin and I will contact the board members on our side and see what we can do to manage the damage Shola has done to our reputation.” Margaret said.

“Wait, I know that this might not be a particular route you all might enjoy but these board members. Do you have their house addresses or secrets?” Koruna asked.

“I don’t understand, blackmail?” Annie stuttered.

“Something like that.”

“What makes us different from Simi if we stoop that low?” Margaret fumed.

“Oh, there is a lot that makes us different from Simi. Listen to me, we don’t necessarily have to confront them, Simi had something on nearly everyone in position of power. Now that Simi is gone, we could… wait, hear me out insinuate that we have the same information Simi had in our possession. What’s to say that the board members were not a part of her secret vault of blackmail materials? The system has made it very easy, there are only a few people in positions of power of any consequence. It suffice to say that Simi would have something on some or if not all of them.” Koruna smiled mischievously.

“Should I be afraid of you?” Margaret asked but she could not deny that it was a brilliant idea, morally wrong but it wasn’t like she was hurting anyone.

“Calm your tits. We are only going to release the word out without saying anything publicly. The… what did you call it again? Character assassination can only do a surface damage, I have been to your school, and there is only a handful of students who aren’t into drugs, illegal businesses or bullies. It is only noise, you have to look beneath and beyond that sound, Shola might have been a publicly known Betsy loyalist but he is not family.” Koruna continued.

“I like where this is going.” Bernie relaxed for the first time since he came here, the fact that there could be a workable plan was more than enough to settle his troubled heart.

Annie sighed, “Before Kelvin has access to his devices, I would suggest that we stand as a family first. We say our side of the story, we can throw in the death of our parents, grandmother and the betrayal of Shola into the mix. We do it now before Shola gains any more grounds. Look at us, an adopted son, an abandoned daughter, a publicly known drug addict and twins who are known to be the biggest partiers. We are like a poster card for dysfunctionality, it would get attention. We say our remorse, Koruna’s name is cleared publicly by putting everything we have against Simi out in the open and at the same time we declare as one that we will ensure that the empire doesn’t go down. We would not even have to accuse Shola, all we have to do is show our shock and sadness at the recent events.”

“I like it.” Koruna shrugged.

“You are good, so press conference. Now?” Margaret asked.

“Yes now, I believe it is obvious how we feel about Shola. People can tell these things even through the screen, let’s use this hurt and anger against him.” Kelvin agreed.

Media houses jumped at the chance to interview the Ballans since it was all people could talk about, it also made it strange that the conference was to be held in the Arks Mansion. The venue alone had wetted the gossip enthusiasts and in two hours, each of the Ballan children were seated facing lots of cameras and media houses but they weren’t their focus. Jacob had ensured that the conference was live streamed by his people to avoid interference from Shola or his unknown helper.

Jacob believed that Shola must have been assisted as no man just attacks immediately after a defeat without the chance to lick their wounds. Shola had bounced back too fast for someone whose ear was nearly bitten off few hours ago, he was following orders and Jacob wanted to know who it was pulling his strings.

They hadn’t bothered changing their clothes, Annie believed that the more haggard they looked, the more it was to gather sympathy. Koruna naturally did not do well with pretending to be weak, every word that Annie tried to make her say was followed with a sarcastic retort or some tease that she had to give up and hope for the best.

Margaret had delivered a speech with her bruised face and highlighted the accusations against them with as much sincerity she could muster. “… At the end, all I can say is that you don’t judge me by my pasts and mistakes but for what I do here on out.” 

The members of the press were pleased with Margaret’s frankness but they wanted more drama and so the questions started with most of them thrown at Koruna. Annie had suspected this, she held her breath for whatever Koruna had to say to these questions.

“This question is for you, Ms. Koruna. Is it true what they say? That you killed Precious because of your jealousy and your love for R’ao Ark.” A woman in a short black dress asked.

Koruna smirked as she folded the sleeves of R’ao’s oversized shirt, “Please, why would I kill someone over what is mine?”

The murmurs started as multiple questions came in, Koruna crossed her legs as she shushed the crowd. Yes, she shushed the crowd, “I know that you have many questions and I will answer them all but you have got to talk one after the other. My superpowers are limited and so I cannot hear all your questions at once. The young man over there with the tie, what was your question?”

The man cleared his throat embarrassed at being the center of attention. “Did you call R’ao yours?”

“The shoe fits, don’t you think?” Koruna winked at him. “You over there with the small eyes, your question?”

“Did you live a life of crime before the Ballans found you?” The man frowned.

Koruna chuckled lightly, “To be found would indicate that I was lost somehow. The answer to your question would be yes, I dabbled to make ends meet as most people do in the Flames. The murmuring started again as Annie prayed for inner peace.

“Does that mean that your life of crime is over?” The man continued.

“What life of crime?” Koruna asked puzzled.

“You know…”

“No, I don’t. Why do you assume I have lived a life of crime? Is it because I am from the Flames? A stereotype?” Koruna raised her brow.

“So you haven’t lived a life of crime?” Another woman cuts in.

“I didn’t say that, I am just surprised at how aware some of you are. You all know and understand that it would be difficult to survive in a place like Flames without resorting to illegal activity but you are alright to live in your comfortable homes until it concerns you. No, do not get me wrong… I am not judging your aloofness to the plight of other people, in fact I applaud it. I am just surprised that most of you are well aware of what the Flames is really like, I just thought people lived in ignorance. Yes, I have stolen to eat, I have broken into homes to hide from the rain or the sun, I have fought to defend myself, and many more things I did out of self-preservation. Most of these things that people fight for are privileges that all of you enjoy and no I am not saying it excuses my actions, I am saying that until you have been in my shoes, and manage to stand upright, only then do you reserve the right to judge me.” Koruna replied calmly but one could feel the intensity and the sincerity in that statement.

Another reporter scoffed, “You say you are not excusing your behavior but isn’t that exactly what you are doing?”