The next morning,
After a sleepless night full of tossing and turning, Odelia woke up with dark circles under her eyes combined with puffy eyes after crying herself to sleep. She realized once again that she was now all alone in this world.
5 years ago, she had not even looked back once at her parents in the countryside after she found out she was the Graham family's daughter. Oh, how she wished she could feel the warm embrace of the only woman who had really cherished her as a daughter so that all the coldness she was feeling in her heart would be melted.
Her whole body felt weak, and when she stepped down from her bed, she knew that even though things had come to such a bad state, lying here in bed was not going to change anything about how people perceived her, so she patted herself on the back and mustered all her strength and set out to begin a new day.
Odelia had always been like this; it was said that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, and after many disappointments, she had learned that the only one who was genuinely worried about her wellbeing was herself. She had not had many friends, apart from Philip and Sarah.
Thinking about Sarah, Odelia wondered if she had found out about everything that happened to her. Sarah never liked Adam and had been telling Odelia to be careful about him, but she was too in love to even see it. She had even foolishly told Adam what Sarah had said about him. She could vividly remember what Adam had said that time.
"That friend of yours is one to talk; I didn't know that her greed was greater than I anticipated. Think about it; she was just a little actress with no backing and didn't have many opportunities, but ever since she started telling people about you being her friend and always saying she's eating your food to keep in shape and doesn't become fat no matter how she eats from your restaurant, look at how famous she has become, but she is still not satisfied and wants you to kick me out of your life so that she can be the only one left by your side and suck you dry. I'm telling you, you should watch out for her."
Odelia had chuckled and laughed at his words and asked, "I don't think she is doing anything bad; besides, what she said served as advertisement for my restaurant; Sarah can't be taking advantage of me, would she?"
Seeing the doubt creeping into her mind, Adam added, "You are so naive, Odelia. See the many people who want to be friends with you but can't approach you; they are all sucking up to Sarah and licking her boots just to have a reason to be close to you; that girl is only taking advantage of your position and family name to get more exposure. She's just using you."
After that talk, Odelia had started to have doubts about Sarah's intentions, and her doubts became even stronger when Sarah would not stop harping on about how Adam was not good for her and was cheating on her.
One fine afternoon, Sarah had called to tell Odelia she saw Adam and a woman together, and the woman looked familiar, but she hadn't been able to see her clearly due to the distance between them and that she should check on Adam. Odelia, who had had enough of Sarah's interference in her and Adam's relationship, shouted angrily at Sarah and said hurtful things to her.
She had been so sure Adam was not with any woman because he had left for a meeting together with her secretary, and Adam had even called her when he reached the venue for the meeting and had told her he might not be able to pick up her calls during this time because of the discussion that would soon commence. So how was she going to believe Sarah, who had called about 5 minutes later?
Even though she had later asked the secretary to be sure just in case Sarah was right, she had decided to trust Adam and had even felt guilty for doubting him when the secretary had also said the same thing Adam had said. The secretary said Adam and him had been together throughout the time they left the company.
That was how she lost her friend; looking back, she realized how foolish and blind she had been. Maybe due to the reality show she had been cast for, Sarah might not have seen the news. Odelia remembered the first time Sarah went to something similar; she had not been in touch with her for months.
Taking one final look in the mirror, she wore dark sunglasses to cover the puffiness of her eyes and dark circles that were still visible under her thick makeup and made her way out of the door. She was going to Odelia Foods and Restaurant headquarters and put measures in place to salvage the reputation of her company. It might be a difficult and arduous journey, but she would do everything and put in all her strength to revive her company.
~~~
Odelia Foods and Restaurant headquarters,
Odelia walked straight to the private elevator when a woman came to stand in front of her and blocked her from advancing further.
"May I help you?" The woman asked with a puzzled look on her face. It was then that Odelia realized something was amiss; it seemed the receptionist had been changed and didn't recognize her.
"I'm Odelia Graham, the CEO. I hope all the department heads have arrived and are in the conference room for the meeting." Odelia said it with her usual straight-to-the-point tone. 'Maybe due to the incident, there have been some changes and some of the employees have been replaced,' Odelia thought inwardly.
"A meeting?" The receptionist looked up at Odelia in confusion; since when was she the CEO? She had been working here for a month now and had been told the CEO was Adam Gray of the Gray family, and now this woman was saying she was the CEO.
Luckily, one of the department heads who had just arrived and heard the exchange between Odelia and the receptionist turned to the confused receptionist and said, "This is Odelia Graham; allow her to go to the conference room for the meeting."
He didn't add any titles to Odelia's name and excused himself. Odelia could not help but feel something was amiss again; her premonition getting stronger, she then realized that all the previous decorations had been changed and the company had been renovated. Many types of green plants were placed in visible spots, and some artwork had been displayed in the lobby area.
Odelia had always preferred simple and bright designs, but it seemed someone had a different perspective. She couldn't help but ask an employee who passed by her, "Has this place been renovated? Whose idea was it?"
"It was Mr. Gray's idea," the man replied, making Odelia slightly stunned. Did he decide to change the atmosphere in the office to distract people from her going to prison and the bad press involving Odelia Foods and Restaurant? But why would he do something to help her company? She had clearly heard what Adam had said yesterday.
Odelia took in everything lost in thought when the man said again, "Mr. Gray said that everything should be changed so that people's moods would improve and be much better when working."
Odelia counot ld help feeling that something was wrong. Even though Adam was rich, would he do these things without a motive? What was he planning again, she wondered? But who was even going to tell her what was happening if she asked? She had better proceed to the conference room.
Odelia had sent an email to all the departmental heads this morning and invited them for a meeting. She planned to discuss some solutions she had come up with to clean up their current bad reputation little by little and reclaim their spot as the number one brand in Manhattan.
All the department heads were seated in the conference room for the meeting. More than half of them were new, with a few old ones. Many of the previous heads had left during the first week of Odelia's absence, and Adam had begun to take charge as CEO.
Even though Odelia had been strict and spoke with no filter, most of them liked her straightforward nature, and they knew how serious she was about her work. Only lazy people would not like her working style.
Since Adam Gray was not present and they had just come to listen to what Odelia, the ex-prisoner, was going to say, they were not even hiding their disdain and spoke their minds.
"Who does she think she is to be giving us instructions so early in the morning? Does she plan to do something unspeakable?" someone said.
"What are you worried about? CEO Gray has already taken over; it's only left with the change of name, and then we will begin to enjoy more bonuses and allowances just like CEO Gray had promised," a second man said.
"What did you just say?!" Odelia, who had just heard what the second man said, asked in shock.