Talia placed her purse on the table and took a look at the monitor which was blank and she looked at Rebecca who looked a bit in a dilemma. Stacy was standing by the side looking stressed.
The confusion in the CEO's office made the other employees restless and Joe Feldstein got out of his office with a reassuring smile trying to calm the employees. They all know how serious getting hacked is.
Just as he opened the door, like a storm, entered a woman.
"Why are you still letting this trailer trash inside? She unleashed a mob on my fiance... Poor Peter..! Did you think he is a nobody, Natalie? His father is a Senator and Peter is about to run for Congress this election cycle. And now you ruined his reputation. And Joey, she was supposed to sign a contract with him last night! Can you see how big a mess she made? Expect a call from his father soon" she wiped the corner of her eyes while Joe sighed with a helpless expression.
Rachel is right. Peters father and his father are senators belonging to the same party and they all are friends. What happened last night will create a great divide between the families and he knew his father must be pissed of right now. His father was the one who asked to represent Peter Campbell for his campaign. And now there is serious trouble.
"You..." Rachel's pretty blue eyes misted with tears as she looked at Talia, " See... We are engaged. You endangered his life... What do you know? You've never been in love with anyone, right? Have you ever felt hurt seeing the man you wish to have a family with in pain and suffering?" Rachel looked at Talia and her eyes swirled with darkness.
'Love? Marriage? Family? What does that even mean?'
Her left thumb unconsciously traced over her empty ring finger and a mocking smirk formed in her face and she took a deep breath.
'Yeah! What would I know about marriage or love? I once was betrayed by my love and was once married for whole five minutes to the man I despise! '
"Fire Natalie and her assistant!" Rachel screamed that brought Talia back and she saw the curls in Rachel's strawberry blond hair waved along as she pointed her finger at Talia and she rolled her eyes.
'I'm not Natalie! And what does trailer trash mean anyway? This is the first time someone is calling me that! '
Talia wondered and she could sense trouble and she gestured at Stacy urging her to leave the room. Stacy was a bit scared at that Rachel Crawley who is a childhood friend and Director of Personal Relations in their firm would actually hit her.
Rachel is an heiress to a chain of five star hotels and grew up in the Upper West Side like Joe Feldstein and they practically grew up together and she was with Joe right from the start and she is pretty good at her job and so she has some authority in the firm. And she hated Talia for some reason but she always tried to be civil as they were colleagues.
And what happened last night must have triggered her as Talia could understand. But her choice of man could be better.
" What does a Yatch girl like you know about love? And...Who are you calling a trailer trash, knobhead? Do you know who she is? You aren't even worth her... " Rebecca stepped forward fisting her hand, about to slap Rachel and Talia stopped her shaking her head and Rebecca was not pleased.
"Miss Crawley, get your facts straight and then come lecture me. Now, if you'd excuse me, I have work to do"
Talia said calmly, turned and walked to the computer but stopped hearing Rachel shout, "Facts? Facts? Peter is hospitalised with broken ribs! Natalie, how..."
"Who's Natalie?" Talia asked calmly. She never believed in screaming or cussing. It's like throwing stone at mud. It will definitely splash back at you.
"We work together for five years and you don't even know my name. And about your fiance, he harassed Stacy and hit her and so the men around in the pub intervened and it was your fiance who threw the first punch which later turned to a brawl. How is any of it my fault?" she spoke smoothly with no ripples in her face making Rachel more mad.
" Joe!" Rebecca looked at her husband gritting her teeth and he pulled Rachel out of the room and Stacy followed as the door closed.
The door closed but muffled voices were coming from outside. Talia could hear Rachel Crawley's voice, blaming her as always.
"Don't worry Tallie, Joey will take care of her. That jealous bitch! Where was she when Joey was an addict lying in his own vomit and poop? She was sailing with her model boyfriend in a frigging yacht! Now after I've made a man out of him, making him sober, she wants him? She had the guts to say that to my face that both her families wanted them together. Like I care! She and her perverted fiance can ride towards oblivion for all I care. My man is mine! How...," she paused seeing Talia's indifferent look.
She really doesn't care, right? She doesn't trust anyone or cares about anyone...
Rebecca saw Talia turning on the monitor. Talia looked at the monitor and she was shocked.
"A ransomware?"
Most of the important files in their system has been entirely encrypted and looked weird and unreadable. The other side had asked for Talia to come over to Esteria, in return for the key to decrypt the files.
"Yeah, and they want you, Princess Talia,... But why in Esteria? Even our backups are gone and I could only save a little. Can you figure out who might do this to you?" Rebecca asked worried.
She didn't want to tell her husband they wanted Tallie. She has kept the secret about her friend for ten years and she wanted to consult her before telling him. But it is weird why people from Esteria want her.
She knew Talia has dangers around her but it has never disturbed others till now. But if it comes for their company... What should she do? But her friend's safety must be the priority now.