His Beautiful Addiction

"HOWELLS CORPORATION IN BIG TROUBLE; INVESTORS AND SHAREHOLDERS PULLING FUNDS '' 

''There has been a big fuss over the contamination of the Tee beverage produced by Lorries and Co, a subsidiary company under the Howells Corporation, which produces one of the top selling soft drinks in USA. About a hundred people have been affected in the last day and they have sued the Howells Corporation for damages.

Many investors have pulled their funds and future investments and from this chart we can see that the stocks of Howells Corporation are falling greatly…''

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Tiana stood in the middle of the parlor, the remote controller in her hands, her eyes so wide that it felt it would pop.

What… what just happened?

Her head turned slowly to look at Nicklaus and he looked deathly calm. So calm that he looked like he had been frozen in time.

She couldn't even speak, her tongue refused to move and the only thing she could do at that moment was to switch off the television causing the most piercing torture at the moment.

Tiana switched off the television and dropped the remote controller on the center table, turning slowly to Nicklaus.

With the little she knew about stocks and investors, she knew that news was bad, extremely bad.

The room was silent as graveyard now, but Nicklaus had not still said a word. Tiana walked towards him. His face was calm but as she approached, she saw that his eyes were filled with deep thoughts.

She stopped a few inches away from him; she didn't even know how to console him.

Before she could even find the words to say, his phone started buzzing again, they both glanced at the phone in his hand;

It was an unknown caller, without thinking, he declined the call, as soon as he ended it, another came in, he ended it again, and another came in right after, angrily, he switched off the phone and threw it across the bed, his head falling.

Those fuckin' reporters!

Tiana swallowed as she watched him;

Right now, he looked strong. There were only a few people on earth, who could receive that news and remain calm. If she heard correctly, that news meant that he would lose tons and tons of money and the image of his company would be gravely tarnished. And yet he was this calm.

She could remember the delight in his eyes when he talked to grandpa about Orica and the plans he had for the company, even if she wasn't sure of anything, she was sure that he cared deeply about this company, but yet he got this news and forced himself to act strong.

He was holding it all in. She couldn't even imagine the pain he must be going through at that moment;

Tiana took in a sharp breath and closed the gap between them, hugging him tight.

''it will be okay. We'll get through this. ''

She consoled, kissing his hair.

''You don't have to act strong, it's okay to be sad sometimes. ''

Nicklaus heaved a sigh, his eyes shutting close after a few seconds; he raised his hand and hugged her back.

He would just stay like this for a moment, shutting everything out but her.

He hadn't expected that the news would be this shocking, but he had acted strong, he had always acted strong in front of everyone as though it was okay, but she saw right through him, she saw right through his walls.

They didn't speak; they just hugged like nothing else mattered;

''Let's pretend as though nothing happened for tonight, let's not think about the news, okay? ''

Nicklaus pleaded, and Tiana nodded;

''Okay. ''

She said, and they hugged for a while.

Dinner was calm; although they said nothing about the news, and tried to chat away, it still felt strained.

After dinner, they sat on the balcony for a while, holding hands and watching the stars before they finally retired for the night.

Tiana hugged him close, comforting him. She knew everything would be tough from tomorrow, but as for that moment, he needed a good sleep.

…

''What happened? ''

Nicklaus asked the staff in Lorries and Co, who were sitting in front of him at that moment. His face was as icy as death and his eyes glaring daggers at the top staff of the company.

''Am I speaking to myself? What the hell happened here! Do you all want to lose your jobs?!''

He blared, kicking out the files in front of him, sending the papers flying in the air.

''Boss… we don't know who contaminated the drinks, and before we realized this, dozens of the drinks had already been distributed. ''

''it is impossible to contaminate the beverage except it was done by someone working in the factory, have you guys checked the CCTV?''

Nicklaus asked, and the branch manager nodded. He was overseeing the branch where the contaminated drinks were found, so he had to bell the cat.

''We did that immediately, Boss, but… ''

He paused, hesitating a little;

''But what? ''

Nicklaus creased his brows as his gaze stared pointedly at him;

''The CCTV in the distribution house was broken. ''

Nicklaus eyes blinked.

Distribution house… this means that the contaminated drinks didn't come from the company, it was brought in and distributed with the other drinks!

But who could have done this?

 Nicklaus brows creased;

Catherine?

No, it wasn't her, he just gained her stocks the previous night, she would have just gotten head of it this morning and doing this does not benefit her in any way,

So who could this benefit?

Douglas…

Nicklaus eyes flashed with rage. He was not expecting anything less, but he didn't know he would act this soon.

He wanted to make him look incapable of handling the affairs of the company, so it would be transferred to him.

What a sick move; because even in his dreams and until he breathe his last, he would never let go of the company.

''Any news from the victims? ''

Nicklaus asked; shifting from the topic entirely.

Now that he had shown his wings, he would be very careful about what he says. A spy might be among the staff in front of him. He would never let him know what he was thinking.