Only the Strongest Survive (8 page)

“
All the
basic decisions are made
by the executive
board,” Alexandra said.

“I see.”

“
That is all
for now.” Alexandra pushed her chair away as she got up.

Miles got up too and Blake followed
closely.

“
If your
article
is positive and realistic, we’ll
keep informing you of any changes,” Alexandra said.

“
I can
promise you that,” Robert Miles
said
before he left.

*

Alexandra
Regan came home at seven in the evening, extremely
irritated.

“In a good mood again?” asked her
husband.

She was so
angry she didn
’t see any point in
answering.

“
S
o it was another of those
days?”

Edward
was a tennis coach. Every morning when she got
up at six, he was still fast asleep, and in the evening when she
returned, he had been home for a few hours already. He was never
short of time, while she was always in a rush. He was an attractive
guy with dark hair, around thirty, with a muscular body. This had
attracted Alexandra to him eight years earlier and she had married
him. They were very much in love. She focused on his
attractiveness, and he on her confidence and dominant nature.
Alexandra was beautiful, but her beauty was not what was most
important to him. When she was telling him about all the decisions
she had to make at work, involving millions of dollars, he always
desired her. He felt he loved her more and more with every new
day.

“
Dinner
is
nearly ready, honey. A delicious
steak, some fresh vegetables.”

Her face relaxed for a moment and she gave
him a loving look. “I’ll have a quick shower.”

He stepped
closer in order to embrace her, but then changed his mind as her
eyes were
shooting angry sparks again. He
felt for her, knowing that she didn’t have it easy at the moment as
the finance director. Every evening she told him about the stupid
decisions Blake Crouse had made.

From a glass
cabinet h
e took two small glasses and put
them on the glass table in the dining room. Then he lit a candle in
the middle of the table and dimmed the lights. Alexandra liked
vodka as an aperitif, so he added a bit of ice and poured the
transparent liquid on top. He could barely wait for her to come out
of the bathroom. It didn’t bother him that she was angry and he’d
have to listen to her work problems.

“
Just think,
today he signed a contract with Coloron,” she said
as soon as she sat on a wooden chair with a high
back. “The company is just about to go bankrupt and that idiot goes
and signs a contract with them. I couldn’t believe it.”

Alexandra had to implement the financial
decisions of the board. She had to sign money transfers for sums
that often had over seven digits. All business deals went through
her department and she knew every transaction. When she felt the
deal was pointless it was like being on a sinking ship without
being able to call for help.

She downed
the vodka. Edward went to the
liquor
cabinet and took out the bottle. “And what does that mean for the
company?”

“
What does it
mean
? A catastrophe, that’s what. Blake
Crouse will lead us to bankruptcy.”

Edward knew
his wife was exaggerating.
Donnovan
Corporation was a solid conglomerate, its capital spread over many
different areas. For a long time now they were not only involved in
stockbroking. Emely Donnovan had bought factories, hotels, chain
stores, and had taken the company in completely new directions.
Experts in all sorts of areas helped her with the reorganization of
the newly acquired companies.

“
Is there no
way in which you could take the place of the CEO
since you’re the most capable?”

She gave him
a loving look and her eyes
wandered away
from him. “Perhaps something could be done, but I have to wait
until he does another stupid thing. That’s when it’ll be the right
time to make a move. I’ll call a meeting of the executive board and
try to get a majority on my side.”

“
And who will
vote
on behalf of Emely, the majority
shareholder?”

“
That’
s the thing. No one, until
her death has been confirmed.”

“And then?”

“
Then
things
become clearer. The company will
be taken over by whoever she has left her shares to in her will.
But it’ll probably be someone who will have no idea about how to
manage such a big company and will hand the leadership to someone
who does.”

“And who will that person be? As far as I
know, Emely had no one.”

“
I’ve already
tried to get the answer to this question from her
attorney. Since he was being stubborn, I told
him it was for the benefit of the company, but the bastard didn’t
want to reveal the beneficiary.”

Edward put his hand on his chin and frowned.
“Hmm, who could it be?”

“
I have no
idea, but the police will not be able to deny her death
forever. I think things will be revealed
soon.”

“
Maybe
there’s no beneficiary
. How do you know
she left it to anyone at all?”

“
That
’s possible. It is possible
that Emely never thought about her death since she was still young,
and so the only possible beneficiary is the state, considering she
has no relatives.”

“
Maybe she
left it all t
o the Church. She was
brought up by nuns.”

“
Who knows?
It’ll all become clear soon. I’d just like Blake to stick to legal
matters, which is what he’s good at, and not
try to manage everything.”

Edward knew
his wife inside out
and was aware that
he’d have to listen to how useless everyone at the company was.
Alexandra even used to criticize Emely.

“
I think
you’ll soon be the CEO of
Donnovan
Corporation,” he said, taking her hand.

Again
she looked at him with affection. “It would be
the only right thing, considering how much effort I’ve invested
into it. I really don’t know why Emely chose Blake to stand in for
her in her absence.”

“Clearly she didn’t think she’d ever be away
for more than a week.”

Alexandra
gave him a surprised look and then began
to laugh. “That’s funny. She didn’t think she’d ever be
away for more than a week.” She dropped her knife and fork and kept
laughing. “Oh, Edward, you put that so well. She didn’t think she’d
ever be away for more than a week.”

Chapter
7

_______________________

John
lifted her gently and carried her to the
vehicle. “Damn it, how will I get her home?”

Laying her
down a few yards away from his SUV, he scan
ned the area to look for a strong branch. He was lucky. Not
far away he found one that was the right size and strong
enough.

After
p
ushing it under the side of the car he
leaned against it with all his strength. The vehicle lifted, but
not enough to balance over onto its wheels. Once more he grabbed
the branch at the end, took three deep breaths and pushed, grunting
loudly. He began to think it would all be in vain, and nearly
despaired. But in the end, the vehicle righted itself.

He put the
unconscious Emely on the
backseat, turned
the ignition, and drove off with relief.

He drove
slowly past the tall green pine trees and other mighty trees that
were staring at him as if horrified at what he had done. In spite
of everything, the car ran perfectly and about an hour later he
reached the estate. When he
came up to
the overgrown wall, he was much calmer. The two large stone dogs by
the entrance were barely visible as their heads, trunks, and paws
were covered in thorny creepers. He stopped in front of the tall
metal gate on which there was a sign that read:
Private Property
.

As
John carried her up the stairs, his feet
dragged; he was exhausted. His arms were shaking from all the
effort. But he could feel Emely breathing calmly and this gave him
the necessary strength.

He laid her
down on the bed, fastened her right hand to the metal
frame
, and covered her. What he really
wanted most was to lie down next to her and go to sleep. For a
while he watched her and then he dragged himself to his own
bedroom.

He closed the
old b
rown drapes, as the morning sun was
shining straight onto his bed. Clumsily he took off his pants and
barely managed to pull off the T-shirt before he fell into
bed.

Thank
God,
John thought.
Everything happened just at the last moment. If I had got
there only a few minutes later, the poor thing wouldn’t have
survived.
He was hoping that her brain
had not been deprived of oxygen for too long and that she would be
alright.
She’ll pull through,
she’s very strong.

Then he closed his eyes and tried to go to
sleep.

He could see
her face, dirty from t
he soil and
immobile, her eyes closed. Her lips were dry and cracked. He turned
his head to the other side and opened his eyes, not wanting to
think of her.

Then his eyes
closed of
their own accord. The pain
spread around the whole of his body, every muscle hurting. A
burning sensation coursed in his hands every time he moved a
finger. In spite of this he was happy and felt like a hero for
completing his plan.
She will
be so happy I saved her life.

*

John
thought he had been asleep for about an hour
when he heard a dull thud. He opened his eyes and listened. It
sounded like the front door had opened and closed. Then he heard
footsteps on the stairs.

He
catapulted out of bed, throwing off the blue
cover. His heart that had only a few seconds earlier been beating
in a slow, regular rhythm, was now racing.

Before
opening the door of his room he had to pause for a moment because
he felt
dizzy from springing up too
quickly. The next moment the weakness turned to rage. He realized
who was creating all the noise.

He opened the door swiftly.

Ronald
stood there. “John, what’s happened?”

“
I
…”

“
Your car is
all
damaged. Were you in an
accident?”

John put his
hands on his throbbing head,
confused,
trying to think what to say. He was not sure that Emely really was
lying in the room. The whole thing seemed like a terrible
nightmare. He looked at his watch. It was 6:00 p.m. Then he glanced
downstairs, making sure that Ronald had not brought his wife with
him. He felt so dazed that he nearly fell.

“
When I
couldn’t get to sleep, I set off for home. But I was unlucky and
hit a large tree root and my car turned onto its side.”

He looked
toward the room where
Emely lay. The door
was closed. He backed away, hoping Ronald would follow. “I spent
over an hour getting the vehicle back on the wheels, by which time
I was so dirty and tired that I just came back here
again.”

“
I
can see, you left mud everywhere.” He pointed to
the bits of soil that trailed all the way to Emely’s
room.

“
And why have
you come back?” John asked
Ronald,
keeping the reproach out of his voice.

“I left my briefcase. Damn it, I don’t know
where I put it.” He looked around. “Have you seen it?”

“No!” John said sharply.

Ronald, deep in thought, walked to one of the
rooms and opened the door. He went in and looked around, then
wanted to go to the next room, frowning. “Where could I have left
it?”

John looked
helplessly on as his brother was getting closer and closer to
Emely’s room.
He’s sure to go
in there too. I’ve got to do something. This time he won’t spoil my
plans.

“
I wouldn’t
have come back,” Ronald said while examining the interior of the
fourth room, “if I didn’t urgently need some papers that are in my
briefcase.” He stopped for a moment and scratched his chin,
thinking, and looked at John.

“
Oh, I know,”
he
said with a nasty smile, “I probably
left it in the room where I watched Emely while she
slept.”

“
I don’t
think you did,” John
said, clenching his
fist.

Ronald
grabbed the
door handle and turned
it.

John
shouted,
“Stop!”

“What!”

“
I've
just
remembered. You left it in the guest
lounge when we drank coffee yesterday.” John approached his
brother, almost shouting, “You do remember, don’t you?”