I couldn’t refute his question.
Because itdidmake things worse.
“Someone helped her,” I whispered instead.
Hasan’s gaze caught mine and all I could see was worry.
My heart quieted for a moment because Hasan wasn’t mad at me. He was just concerned and so was Umaima.
Being worried about myself and the company made me forget how this affected them too. I’d been selfish as usual by not noticing when all they did was stand by me.
“I don’t know what it was, but she let it slip out that someone was there to help her up.” I continued despite their burdensome gazes.
Umaima released my hand, and I instantly missed the comfort and courage it gave me. Her and Hasan were thinking—albeit with more frustration by rubbing a finger over his brow.
“I took pepper spray with me and the only danger I came across was a high school couple asking me if I wanted to have a threesome.” With widened eyes, the blubbering nonsense continued. “Well not really a threesome but the girl asked if I wanted to join them, which was absurd, I refused. Of course. But the guy was looking at me all weirdly and I didn’t like it, so I ran. I ended up finding Ayeza’s place and?—”
“Addie,” Umaima smiled at me, and all the words vanished. “Breathe.”
I took a hefty breath in and let it out with a slump in my shoulders. “I swear I was safe,” I said to Hasan.
“Okay,” he breathed out with a slight shake of his head. “I believe you but next time,” a stern finger pointed in my direction. I hated finger-pointing. It made me feel like I was five years old again. “You’re not doing anything stupid like this again.”
“Without me,” Umaima corrected with a nudge to my shoulder.
And finally, my lips curved into an honest smile for the first time that night.
“Since you did go,” A strand of wet curly hair fell over Hasan’s eyes as he leaned back against the chair. “What else did you find out?”
Hasan was more relaxed than I assumed he’d be. He wasn’t exactly known for being calm and collected. Maybe Ishouldgive him credit for being chill more often.
“Other than there being another person involved? Nothing.”
Hasan nonchalantly played with his wedding ring, something I’d only seen him do when he was anxious. “Do you think this person and the person sending the emails are the same?”
Umaima shook my head like she couldn’t believe it. “It’s two different people. It has to be. Why else would they pay her to stay silent and then tip off a bunch of news stations to expose the situation?”
“They could have done that if they wanted Adelaide to step down from her position as CEO.”
Umaima’s finger poked my arm. We looked at each other with knowing expressions. “Harry!” She abruptly stopped and ran to her room.
Static sensations of newfound anxiety rested on the grounds of my stomach, electrifying the soft curve from left to right. “My gut is telling me the shareholders are involved.”
Especially with how they looked when Albert mentioned Ayeza. Their unusualness stuck to me like honey. The sweetness was overbearing to the point of nausea and there had to be a reason for it.
Harry Samuels was a man of force. He pushed through everything in his way and right now, I was standing on what he wanted the most.
Shame wrecked through my body like a hurricane. Because of me and my inadequacy, Ayeza went through something traumatic. On top of that, I handed Starlight straight into the hands of those men.
“We shouldn’t make assumptions,” Hasan pulled meback to reality. “We can add him to the suspect list, but for now let’s think of ways we can work on Starlight’s reputation because as CEO,” he moves his hand in my direction. “You have to get your position back to investigate this.”
He was right. I knew he was. I had to figure out how to bring Starlight back up from the ground through Eda’s directions. I was so stupid to give up my power so easily. If I’d stopped to think when they talked about it, I would’ve never lost it.
“Actually,” Umaima jogged back into the room with her laptop in tow. “We can make assumptions because it’s true.”
She turned her screen around, so it faced us.
In the video, Harry grabbed Ayeza’s arm and whispered something in her ear. Ayeza’s face blanched white before she hastily nodded and sped away.
