18 "YOU HAD JUST ONE JOB!"

In Grace's dream, she saw her mother, Angela Chisholm. She was young, pretty, and ambitious. Her mother had pieces of paper scattered all over the ground where she sat with a faint lantern. She looked very tired and pale. But she was stubborn. She never gave up until what she wanted was finally done. 

The scene changed, and she found herself inside a room where her mother was having a meeting with two men. She was trying to convince both men to invest in a business idea, but the men looked like they'd rather eat her up. One groped her behind, and when she slapped him, he slapped her back and told her he was never going to get himself involved in her business. 

Then the scene changed to a boardroom where her mother suggested increasing the salaries of workers because, at that time, there was an economic recession in the country, which led to inflation in the cost of goods and services. She didn't think it made sense that everything was on the rise and yet the salaries were still the same. But a man told her to sit down if she had nothing better to say. And that was how they had dismissed her idea. Even though she had a high position at the company, she was still powerless. The company was not that grown anyway, so she was still doing her best to bring in people who would buy her idea and invest with them.

'My child, whichever gender you turn out to be, never let anyone trample on you like they did me. Be bold, be courageous, and live like the queen and king you are. It doesn't matter whether you are loved or hated. People will hate you if they cannot manipulate you.'

Grace opened her eyes slowly and felt tears trickle down the corners of her eyes down to her temples. She didn't know whether it was a blessing or a curse to have these dreams where she saw her mother and the things she had passed through in order to build ANC. She had read countless of her mother's journals, which wrote down every detail of her life, and also a journal for her unborn child during the whole time she was pregnant. There were also several pictures of her mother, and in most of them, there were no excited sparks in her eyes. 

Reading all those journals made Grace feel like she was there with Angela and had experienced all that she went through in order to build ANC. The same ANC that they wanted to take away from her. She was going to protect the company at all costs.

"You are awake." She turned towards the voice and squinted at the person. She didn't even know where she was. "Who... are you?" She asked as she cleaned her eyes with the back of her hand. 

"O4— I mean... Bradley."

He shook his head and muttered something that sounded like he was cussing at himself. She guessed it was because of his introduction. It almost made her amused. Almost. 

"Oh... O43." She called as she sat up on the couch she was sleeping on while Brad approached closer and stood beside her before he turned and went to the mini-fridge to take out a bottle of water.  

If he noticed she had cried, he said nothing about it. 

 "I fainted." She noted and remembered bumping into him inside the elevator and her instructions before she passed out. She looked down at her body and was relieved that everything was still intact. She was glad he had shown up at the right time.

"You did." He said softly and handed her the bottle of water after opening it for her. Even though he had helped her, she gave him a suspicious look and also looked at the water suspiciously. 

"I just... got it from your fridge." He sounded flustered.

If there was something Grace was known for, aside from her temper, it was the lack of trust she had for everyone and anyone. 

"Why are you here?" She asked and took the bottle of water from him before taking a sip tentatively. 

"I was looking after you. In case you needed something." 

She used her hands to comb her hair to the back and snapped her head up to look at him when she remembered something. 

"I wasn't seen by a single soul, right?" She asked. When he nodded slowly, she was about to sigh in relief, but the next thing he said burst her bubbles. 

 "Ac-tually... you... were s-seen by a... few souls." He said sheepishly with a nervous smile that had his teeth on full display, causing her to snap her head to look at him. 

"YOU HAD JUST ONE JOB!" She screeched angrily. 

"It's not my fault, I swear. I did my best to bring you here quietly, but it seemed everyone in this area had a thing or two to do here, so..."

"This is messed up!" She ran her hand through her hair messing it up more than it already was.

"I'm sorry, Miss Anderson." He mumbled. 

When she saw how guilty he looked, she felt awful. He had helped her and brought her here and even went as far as to stay back, but she was being a spoilt brat. 

"It's fine. Thanks for helping me here." She murmured and hoped he wouldn't catch it, but the smile that lit up his face told her otherwise. She had to admit, he was good looking. Very.

"What about the people who saw you?" 

"No big deal. I'd check the footage to get their identities and snipe at them tonight while they are asleep." 

When 043 said nothing, she looked up at him and noticed the horrified look on his face. "It was a joke." She deadpanned. Seeing relief flood his face made her amused. Of course, there were people in the world who believed she had snipers working for her who were ready to take down her enemies at her command. 

 "They won't say anything. You all signed a contract. Whatever goes on on this floor stays on this floor. It means you won't ever talk about this with anyone. Are we clear?" 

He nodded. 

"What are you still doing here? Leave." She said, cocking her head towards the door. The bland expression was back on her face. 

He wanted to ask her if she was truly alright and also ask her about the private job she had spoken to him about last week. He had agreed to work for her after she had clarified she didn't want his body, which had left him embarrassed by the way. She hadn't raised the issue, even after a week had passed. He needed every bit of money he could gather and didn't mind how he was going to get it.

Except using his body, of course.