Chapter 7: A deranged woman

ABIGAIL

Abigail stared back at Caroline blankly, twirling a black pen with her fingers. She had been expecting her lovely aunt to pay her a visit. The woman had been so impatient that she had to come and see her at her work place. 

“You want me to give up the shares that Granny passed on to me”, Abigail reinstated what Caroline told her. 

On a normal day, she would not have let Caroline in, as she did not have an appointment. She had a meeting in the next ten minutes, and she was wasting her time. 

“That is exactly what I said. It is in our best interests”, Caroline said casually, resting her back on the chair and swirling it like the office was hers. 

“You’re a business woman, Caroline. Can you explain to me how I am to benefit from this deal?” Abigail asked, and Caroline let out a chuckle. 

Abigail stopped twirling her pen, her grip on it tightening. Caroline had a smile on her face, one that did not seem to reach her eyes. Her laughter was malicious, full of mockery and promises. Abigail would be lying if she said it did not scare her. 

“I did not come here to negotiate with you Abigail. I’m only giving you a choice. Clearly, you have shown me which side you are on, but I thought I should give you another chance. With you being my darling niece and all”. 

As Abigail stared into Caroline’s eyes, a shiver ran down her spine. Her mind went back to the letter Felicia left for her. She had a poor sense of judgment. She always knew Caroline was not to be trusted, but she thought that she could not have been so evil to be responsible for her own mother’s death. 

But now, she could see the desperation and insanity written all over her face. And as the thought crossed her mind, Abigail could not let it go. Caroline could be her grandmother’s murderer. Her heart beat faster against her chest, throat tightening. Her hand shook and the pen she held dropped on the table which caught Caroline’s attention.

“What is wrong?” Caroline asked, a smile on her face. 

That smile. Why won’t she stop smiling at her like that?

“What did you do?” Abigail asked, trying to control her rapid breathing as she glared at her.

“Nothing. Yet”. 

Nothing? Abigail did not know whether to believe Caroline. But then again, she had no reason to trust her. 

“Do yourself a favor and drop the shares, Abigail. And if the board makes a mistake and end up picking you as the chairwoman then be a good girl and refuse it”, Caroline threatened with a friendly smile.

“That should be the board’s decision. Why should I say no?” Abigail asked coldly. Why should she drop everything and let her have it? Felicia warned her about Caroline. And if her suspicions were right and she was her grandmother’s murder, then she was not going to spare her. Regardless of what she threw her way, Abigail knew she would fight her until one of them goes down. 

Caroline shrugged and said, “It is just a friendly advice. And it’s totally up to you to take it or not”.

“It sounds more like a threat to me, Caroline. Why? Are you scared of me taking away everything that you have worked hard for?” Abigail asked, her lips tilting into a small smirk. Caroline raised her brows as if surprised.

At first Abigail was hesitant. She did not want to challenge Caroline. But now her blood rushed with anger and determination. 

“Between the both of us, I think we know who should be scared”. 

She was wary of Caroline, and aware of the kind of things she could do to her. But she wasn’t scared. 

“Don’t you think it is time you leave? I have a business meeting and you have overstayed your welcome”, Abigail said. 

“Apologies, I didn’t know that. Let me leave so you can get to work”. Caroline smiled politely, before getting up to leave. 

Abigail watched her leave, her index finger tapping the table at a consistent pace. She could not read Caroline’s mind, but she knew for a fact that the woman was done warning her. 

Abigail’s blue eyes scanned the laptop screen blankly, reading reports based on the new product that was yet to be launched. Four of the beta testers had no issues, while the last one complained of dryness and mild irritation. All of them had one thing in common; albinism. The product was specifically meant for them. 

While she knew that a product might not be suitable for everyone, even with people with the same skin condition, she was still skeptical. Perhaps they needed a few more people to test it before the release? 

Abigail reached for the intercom and spoke to it;

“Come to my office, please”.

“Yes ma’am”, she heard her reply. 

Abigail picked up the file on her desk to go through it. She did not look up, not even when she heard Karina walk in. 

“You called for me?”

“Yes. One of our beta testers complained about dryness and irritation. Do you think we can reach out to more people?” Abigail asked, wondering why they had to make the print to tiny she could barely read what was inside. 

There was silence, and Abigail looked up. Her brows furrowed when she set her eyes on Karina. She looked distressed with her lips opening and closing as if she wanted to say something. Abigail’s eyes shifted to the tablet she held. Her grip on it seemed to be loose, fingers trembling slightly. 

Karina was not the nervous type. Not after her first few months with her.

“What is it?” She asked, closing the file. 

Karina gulped, hesitating. Abigail tilted her head in question. 

“Ma’am… you might want to look at this”, Karina said nervously, walking towards her with the tablet she held. 

Abigail watched Karina as she came to stand beside her. She guessed that it had something to do with the media, and it worried her. Did someone have something to say about one of their products? 

Nervous but composed, she took the tablet from Karina. The first thing her eyes caught was the blog name, ‘Morning Tea’ and she instantly knew that nothing good was going to come out of it. 

But what she saw next made her body still. 

They were photos of her being dragged into the psychiatric hospital, attacking faceless nurses and attendants. The article had the caption “CEO of Luxe Beauty, Abigail Rivera is a deranged woman hiding behind a mask!”

Her hands trembled, but she held on to the tablet. 

“How… how did they get these photos?” Abigail asked. Something unsettling set at the pit of her stomach, and she felt the need to throw up. She let out a shaky breath as her sight blurred for a moment. But she held on so she could read further.

The gossip blog had not only brought up news about her being unstable in the past, but also that she was still mentally ill. They were even photos of past gossip news about her that were earlier ignored. 

Abigail had a reputation for being cold and detached. Even in front of the media and in public, she never bothered to put up a smile or even a frown. Due to that, some sites put up news about her being crazy but no one paid attention to them. 

And now with those photos of her in the psychiatric hospital which was no longer in existence, everything resurfaced. Her heart threatened to burst out of her ribcage. It was a good thing she was sitting, because Abigail would not be able to stand with how weak her legs had gotten. 

“I saw it this morning. This has gone viral, it is everywhere”, Abigail heard Karina say and her heart sank. 

When she scrolled further, there was a video of her being questioned by a journalist about her love life. She had barely responded and excused herself. It had not been a big deal then, but now they were adding fuel to the fire. 

More photos, more theories. Bloggers, journalist, everyone was talking about it. 

Morning Tea was a gossip blog well known for putting influential people’s dirt on the internet. What made them popular was the fact that they always told the truth, with a touch of lies and exaggeration to spice it up. For some reason, no person had ever succeeded in taking them down. It was owned by an anonymous person, and they always managed to resurface.

There was no way they decided to slander her out of the blue. And it would have been impossible for them to get their hands on those photos and videos. 

“Caroline”, she muttered under her breath. 

“What?” Karina asked. 

Abigail clenched her jaws, as a wave of anger washed through her. The things she saw threatened to bring back bad memories that she had forced to the back of her mind. She slammed the door shut, reigning them in. 

The election for the new chairwoman was taking place the following week, and Caroline wanted to ruin her chances. She had succeeded. There was no way she would be considered, not even after Felicia’s recommendation. 

“What should we do about this?” Karina asked worriedly. 

Abigail had no idea. Those photos, videos, none of them were fake. But they had been used the wrong way to defame her. 

And something told Abigail that Caroline was just starting. 

Abigail sat at her study, dressed in her pajamas. She held her phone in her hand, glaring at the screen. It was a tweet that Caleb had made, which people were talking about after the photos and videos had been taken down.

But it had not been done by her. 

Before Abigail could raise a finger, the post had disappeared along with the photos and videos, like it was never there. And she had no idea who could have done it. Unfortunately, Abigail never made friends or allies who cared enough about her to save her reputation. 

However, people were still talking as the damage had been done. And Caleb decided to start the dying fire with his unnecessary tweet. 

‘It is totally unnecessary and unkind to continue talking about a person’s condition online. Please, you all need to stop. Even if Abigail and I are no longer together due to unavoidable circumstances, I will still be there to support her through everything for as long as she would have me’. 

“Bullshit”, Abigail muttered under her breath.

What condition? There was nothing wrong with her, but Caleb was making it seem like all the allegations were true. And he was going to support her through it, like the kind hearted man he was. 

And it certainly had the people talking. Some people even speculated that Caleb broke up with her because she was sick in the head. As she read through comments Abigail nearly commended them for creativity to come up with such nonsense and the confidence to post them. 

While she had done her own part by debunking the posts about her, and threatening to sue, it had not done much to help the situation. But it was better than keeping silent and letting them talk. 

Her main concerns, which were those photos circulating the internet, had been taken down. And the fact that she had no idea about who could have done it, bugged her mind. A certain problematic man that she had pushed to the back of her mind came up. 

Abigail’s brows drew together slightly. He could have done it. If he could stalk Caleb and call her number with nonexistent line, made sure there was not a single incriminating post about him online, then taking down those photos was a piece of cake for him. 

The question was why? He told her she owed him, yet he was doing her a favor. Probably to pile up her ‘debt’ and collect it when it is due. 

Abigail ran a hand through her hair, letting out a sigh. And there was Caroline, who had released those photos and started everything.  

If she did not do something about her, Abigail knew Caroline would try something else to ruin her. 

As if Caroline knew she was thinking about her, her name flashed across the screen of her phone. The woman must have seen that the photos had been taken down. What did she want to tell her? 

Abigail’s eyes narrowed, before she answered the call. 

“It has been quite a while since you took me by surprise, aunt. I was not expecting you would do what you did. Honestly, I’m impressed”. It could not have been easy for Caroline to get those photos and videos, and she wanted to praise her for the effort. Abigail had underestimated the woman, and it cost her. 

“Wow, is that a compliment from you? I have no idea what you are talking about, but thank you”. 

Of course, she would never admit it. Caroline would never confess to her wrong doings, even if evidence was staring at her in the face. 

“Why are you calling me?” Abigail demanded, annoyed. 

“You know, even if the both of us are at odds, I am still your aunt. Don’t be cold with me. Now tell me, how did you manage to get rid of those photos before they could have done more damage? I cannot find a single trace of them online, just people talking nonsense”. 

“Why? Are you upset that your hard work went to waste?” Abigail’s lips twitched with amusement. While she was sure Caroline knew that those things would not be online for too long, it had been taken down too fast. She knew her aunt was annoyed, and it pleased her. 

“It is wrong to accuse someone without evidence, Abigail. Especially someone who is family”. 

The word ‘family’ coming from Caroline, left a sour taste in her mouth. 

“Speaking of family, do you remember that my birthday is tomorrow?” Abigail’s brows furrowed. She did not remember, neither did she care. What was Caroline up to?

“You don’t. I am hosting a party tomorrow night and you have to be there. It will look bad if you do not attend, I hope you know that”. 

Caroline never invited her to any of her parties. She knew that people were going to talk after what happened, and with her presence, it would give room for the media which was a constant thing at her parties, to ask questions. Not just the media, there would be important people there. 

And if she did not attend, it would be worse because then they would gossip and make up stories that were not true. They would know she was hiding from them. 

The urge to ruin Caroline crashed into her, so strong that her fingers trembled. 

“I will be there”, she said with no emotion, before ending the call abruptly.