The conference room fell silent as a graveyard. A pin dropped on the fall could be heard from a mile away. No one dared to cough, sneeze or even breathe as they stared at the young chairman, whose countenance resembled that of an awakened angry beast.
"Everyone, leave," Blaze growled in a half-suppressed voice as he paused the playing audio recording.
No one in the room moved a muscle as they were all frightened, unsure of his order.
The operation manager who was still standing, frozen, managed to clear his throat and ask in a stuttering voice.
"You want us to l...l...leave the conference room, sir."
Blaze's gaze turned sinister, both his fist clenched and his bloodthirsty gaze narrowed at the operation manager.
"Are you deaf?" Blaze growled between clenched jaw, his deep and terrifying spine-chilling voice cutting through the air. "I said you all should get lost, NOW." He thundered, banging his fist on the table.
Imdiately, the sound of a chair scraping against the marble floor drowned the room as everyone scrambled to their feet and hurried out of the room, with so of them leaving their personal gadgets behind out of fear.
When the last person left the conference room, shutting the door behind him, Blaze clasped his head with both hands, his heart drumming loud in his ear and his temple throbbing.
It felt as though soone had subrged his head underwater making it difficult for him to breathe. He loosened the tie around his and unbuttoned his suit jacket while trying to gulp in air into his lungs.
He tried to inhale and exhale to calm his spiralling emotions. But all his attempts proved ineffective as the very thought of the only woman he had ever fallen in love with, cheating on him felt like a deadly blow to his heart.
Abruptly standing up, Blaze started pacing up and down, his fury evident in his restless movent as he tried to calm his spiked nerves.
Different agonizing questions clamoured for attention in his mind, as he tried to make sense of what he had just heard and seen.
"My Alia pregnant and cheating on ? No! Impossible!"
Blaze felt as though his world was about to collapse. His jaw locked, and a vein throbbed visibly on his forehead as he glared dangerously at the blank screen of his laptop which was currently in sleep mode.
Who was the man in the picture?
When was this picture taken?
Is Alia really cheating on him?
But how and when?
He had always had her on twenty-four hours of surveillance. If she was seeing so other man, he would have found out. Or was this an old picture from her past life with a past lover?
But how does it explain Dr Ashely's statent about her pregnancy and why did Alia keep this kind of huge secret away from him?
Blaze took his seat again and tapped on his laptop touchpad to awaken the screen. He clicked on the initial paused audio and listened to the entire edited conversation between Dr Ashely and Alia. His features hardened as the audio recording ca to an end.
"So Alia is really pregnant?" Blaze's eyes flashed a deadly glint as he reopened the picture of Alia and the unknown lover.
"Wait a second!" Blaze's eyes widened as he zood in on the picture of Alia's supposed lover.
The man's curly jet-black hair, his stylish blue jacket, his customized EM branded wristwatch and the dimple on his left side cheek struck Blaze like a lightning bolt.
"Henry!"
Blaze zood in further on the picture to one hundred percent, his heart pounding really fast as he used so image sharpening tool to brighten the picture. He recognized his best friend even in his favourite disguise.
"No way! Henry and Alia." Blaze said between clenched jaws. He picked up his mobile phone which had been on silent mode and tapped on the screen only to discover several missed calls from Alia, Eugene, his mother and even Henry.
'Why were they all trying to reach him?' Blaze pondered. 'Has Alia said anything to mom? Has she spoken to Henry already? Is that why she was so excited to pick him up at the airport?'
Blaze felt like punching a hole through sothing as a raging fire, consud him from within.
'Think, Blaze,' He heard his voice of reasoning echo like a warning bell in his head. 'Don't just jump to conclusions. Get your facts straight before taking action.
Blaze stood up and picked up his phone and laptop. He decided against calling Alia to avoid any form of confrontation without solid proof.
Dialling Echo's number, he dished out orders while making his way out of the conference room.
"I just forwards a file to your mail. Find out who the hell Jack_123 is and how this person got hold of my wife's private conversation with her doctor and my email address." Blaze paused briefly as a mory flashed across his mind.
"Also put a tracker on Tina Stevens. I need to know what she is up to and where she has been in the last forty-eight hours. Find out if she is in collusion with the Jack guy. I also need to see the hospital video footage from the day my wife was admitted to the day she was discharged. I need to know all those who entered and exited her hospital room."
"Yes, sir." A male voice replied from the other end.
"And one more thing..." Blaze paused, his heart aching as he said. "Find out if my wife is having an extramarital affair and with who."
"Yes sir."
Blaze ended the call as he stord towards his private elevator, a deadly glint in his eyes. His phone started ringing and when he saw that the call was from Alia, he ignored it.
The ride down to the parking lots only took a minimum of one minute and within seconds, Blaze was already seated in the rear seat of his Black Bentley, a murderous look in his eyes.
"Where to, sir?" Blaze chauffeur asked, putting the car on reverse as he felt his boss's volatile and aggressive energy dominate the car. He noticed the boss's mobile phone ringing in his hand and couldn't help but wonder why the boss was not taking his calls.
"Take to the city general hospital," Blaze commanded in a deadpan voice.
"Yes, sir." The chauffeur imdiately stepped on the gas pedal, zooming out of the company premises.
-
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On her way to Blaze's company, Alia kept trying his number, her heart pounding erratically in her ribcage as she waited breathlessly for him to take his call. She listened to his number ring continuously while she bit down on her nails in anticipation.
Sadly, just like every previous trial, he didn't take his call.
Alia looked up to Eugene with tears clouded eyes as if to say, he is intentionally not taking my call.
"Probably the phone is on silent mode and he is still in the eting," Eugene said reassuringly, troubled by the panic and hurt in his sister-in-law's eyes.
"Yeah...maybe." Alia dropped the phone on the car seat and looked out the window, blinking her eyes severally to push back her tears.
"Don't worry, he will call you back "
Alia nodded without looking in Eugene's direction. Her heart was heavy and her thoughts were shrouded in fear of the unknown. She watched as the morning streaming traffic passed by in a blur, her hands trembling and her face slightly paled from different scary thoughts.
She could feel it in her bones that sothing bad was about to happen, that is if it hadn't already happened. Blaze not taking her calls even after the intimate mont they both shared earlier this morning was a bad sign.
Alia was certain that by now, Blaze must have seen her many missed calls and those from his mom and Eugene. It felt odd that he hadn't even returned his mother's or Eugene's calls, knowing how important his family ant to him.
The sudden sound of a ringing phone made Alia flinch as she snapped her head to look at Eugene, her eyes widened in alarm.
"It's your phone. It's ringing." Eugene said in a thrilled voice as if to say I told you so.
"Blaze!" Alia stared at the ringing phone, her heartbeat quadrupling.
The phone screen was faced downward. So she couldn't tell who it was even though she had a strong feeling that it was her husband returning her calls.
"What are you waiting for? Answer it." Eugene urged her, a hypnotic smile stretched across his face.
"Okay." Alia nodded, beaming. She took in a deep breath as she picked up the phone.
However, when her gaze fell on the caller, her smile slowly turned into a frown.
"It's not Blaze." Alia sighed.
"Then who is it?" Eugene's forehead furrowed.
"It's my dad." Alia let out another deep sigh as she swiped the receive button.
"Hello, dad."
"Alia, where are you?"
A frown was etched on Alia's face as she observed the panic and urgency in her father's voice. 'No hello, no, how are you. How strange.'
"I'm on my way to see my husband? Why?"
"Baby, if you're in a car, I need you to turn around and co straight down to the mansion right now."
"What!" Alia's jaw dropped. "Why?"
"There is no ti to explain over the phone, baby. Co down imdiately and I will explain everything to you."
"Dad, I'm afraid I can't. I need to see my hus..."
Alia's father didn't let her complete her statent as he explained in a greatly troubled voice.
"It's about your husband and an email I just received that might ruin your marriage."
"An email? What email?" Alia's face turned white, her hands trembling even more vigorously.
"I will explain everything to you once you arrive. But please, do not go to your husband right now. I think whoever sent this email must have also sent it to him and knowing who your husband is, it might get out of control. I don't want you getting hurt."
"I'm coming." Alia ended the call and turned her attention to Lance, who was watching her from the review mirror. "Turn around and take to my father's mansion right now."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Blaze is not going to like this." Eugene warned.
"We will be quick." Alia assured him even though her mind was in complete chaos.
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