Josh’s Pov
I had no idea how, but my wife seemed different, maybe it was because my accident had given her a scare. She was all caring and making sure I was comfortable and well placed. In short, she was too nice, Jessica was never nice.
Maybe we needed the accident, it’s not like anyone died.
I still could feel pain around my pelvic but that was only when painkillers were worn out. Everything was working and in good condition, I was urinating and doing number two okay.
What was worrying me was sex, the doctor assured me that everything was okay but I was not taking his words. I needed practice or a test ride but the doctor warned us to wait for two weeks. It was irritating the sh*t out of me.
I missed my wife’s touch, her naked body riding against me and giving me all the amounts of pleasure that a man desired. I couldn’t wait, especially that Jessica suggested we continue our honeymoon in Hawaii.
She vowed never to ski again or see snow again. All she wanted was water. I couldn’t help but believe that she was somehow blaming herself for the accident. To be honest, I was blaming myself, I was too scared down that slope and concentrated on my safety most of the time instead of skiing.
The following day the police concluded their investigation and found no sign of foul play. I was just some random unlucky guy that may have stepped on something and lost control of my boards or skis.
And for the plane crash, the plane was too small to carry five people. In short, I was very unfortunate but lucky to be alive. That was one thing I was grateful for. I sat on the bed thinking about my next move, going on a second honeymoon was not on my options. Agreeing to the first honeymoon made me leave a lot of undone work.
Jessica was going to understand maybe after some months we were going to be free to have another honeymoon.
The door opened, Jessica walked in together with my father who looked like sh*t. I could smell the sh*t all the way to my bed.
The man had not changed clothes in two days. There was something wrong and I could tell from Jessica’s face. The two looked like they were arguing about something big.
I stared at them without saying a single word, it was evident they wanted me to ask what was wrong but I wanted them to say the sh*t upfront. Jessica signaled my father who in return cleared his throat. And asked if I was okay.
I only gave him a straight face. He knew I could take anything, therefore, he was wasting both our time.
“Son, we have been hit with a lawsuit,” he stated and went directly to the point.
I felt my heart flip for a moment, I knew he was going to deliver bad news but I did not expect it to be about my company.
I moved in a sitting position with the help of my wife. I was freaking out deep inside, but I did not want to show it. I waited for more information but they both kept quiet, further irritating the sh*t out of me.
“Can you open your mouth!” I yelled on top of my voice. “Who the f**k is suing us and why?”
“All the dialysis machines that we supplied in both private, public, and overseas hospitals malfunctioned,” he replied.
I kept my eyes glued on him, shock evident on my swollen face. “I will be honest with you son, things do not look good,” he stated. I turned and looked in my wife’s direction and found tears rolling down her face.
Jessica was one of the strongest women that I have ever come across. Seeing her crying only meant that things were rotten worse.
I cleared my throat and asked, “and who is suing, was there any causality?”
“No causality, the Department of Health is suing. They want all our gadgets and instruments to be put on halt until the investigations are over,” he replied.
My mouth became dry, while the walls of my throat began wrestling against each other. My company, my baby that I sacrificed a lot of years, began sinking. I had not even finalized everything. All I wanted was to take a break and give my wife the honeymoon that she deserved.
“The… lawyers? How…could…all the equipment malfunction on the same day?” I stammered.
“Son, calm down,” my father tried calming me down but I pushed him away. “Just answer the dumb question!” I yelled at him.
“We are still waiting for the date to present our case, our people are still investigating a possible sabotage,” he stated.
“A Sabotage?” I asked confused, a lot was running through my mind. I was trying to come up with names of people that would want to destroy me. One thing was right, it was a total setup.
Someone set my company up but who? I was so stup*d and naive thinking that no one was going to come after me. I had everything wrong, my initial thought was that Thalia had nothing or the will to ever come after me.
I forgot about other scavengers outside my circle who would want to see me on the floor.
“Call the doctor?” I requested.
“For what? Please babe you are not well,” Jessica replied.
“I would rather get transferred to my own bl**dy country! I need to smell the same air that my enemies are smelling!” I yelled on top of my voice.
The monitors began flashing red, forcing the nurses to come to my aid. I was so p*ssed, my blood was boiling, I was going to fire all my stup*d advisors for not doing their stup*d jobs. I needed a new set of advisors and a set of lawyers.
While the nurses were busy trying to calm me down, I was busy giving my father instructions to fire every idiot that did not do their job and to arrange my transfer back to my country.
I was not going to sleep in Canada, so I quickly instructed Jessica to begin packing all my things while I waited for the doctor to sign all my papers.
Immediately the doctor walked in and I gave him the instructions, to my surprise, he did not even protest. As soon as my vitals were stabilized he began signing and facilitating my transfer back to the states.
In two hours we were in the air, I couldn’t help but think that the doctor seemed relieved that I asked for a transfer. He was so quick to have me transferred. It was the first time that I saw him smile, maybe my wife had given him a hard time while I was unconscious.
My wife was always difficult to deal with, I was the only one that was able to tolerate her. Many found her uptight, self-absorbing, and irritating.
In hours we were at St Louis Hospital in the states under the care of my family doctor. My father was nice enough to stop them from performing any stup*d tests.
Everything was done in Canada, all I needed was rest and wait for the pain to subside. I got my painkillers and began working, my hospital room was turned into my office. There was no time to rest, it was not like I had heart surgery or any or*an transplant.
I called all my directors, consultants, new advisors, and new lawyers. My father was against changing the lawyers but I convinced him otherwise.
Days had passed but they had not made any progress, we needed wolves that were eager to make money and not idle idiots that were already on our payroll and could still get paid even if we lost millions.
We were going with the sabotage defense but after an inquiry on the machines that were still in stock, they were found with the same problem.
The fault was also found within our company, that was too much for sabotage. Unless the sabotage was internal.
That was another ball game, we were left with options of going through all our surveillance. Hours, days, weeks, and years of surveillance. We had no idea when such a sabotage would have taken place.
Our consultants suggested it was near the time of my take over but some modes were as old as the time I got married to Thalia.
My head was spinning, like hell, the meeting was hectic. Because of my health, my father had to clear and reschedule the meeting because my BP was rising.
The person that was calm during the entire process was Jessica, it was weird. The old Jessica would have been running up and down and insulting everyone in her way but she was only standing beside me and wiping my sweaty face.
She was too quiet, and I was too p*ssed to ask what was going on in her head.
The following day I was discharged, I went straight to the office. The company that I left peacefully was in chaos.
We had auditors, assessors, engineers, and lawyers from different government departments and NGOs in the building assessing and Auditing every machine, gadget, and file that the company has ever produced even before I was born.
It was like someone had sent them to look for a needle in a haystack but they did not care. Someone was paying them big money or had thrown a bone with a price tag over my company. We were not given a chance to present our case or were we allowed to stand before a judge.
My blood was boiling, we couldn’t even find a judge that was willing to give us a stop order to stop the nonsense.
They were all saying it was out of their jurisdiction, according to them it was a direct government probe and it was Gentex vs the government vs the people even though no life was lost. In short, it was a witch hunt.
The scandal was all over the news, papers, tabloids, and the internet. From a new rising and branded company, we were a new death trap. If the Audit was not worse, all the families of the patients that were using our machines at the time of malfunction were organizing a lawsuit.
The worst was that they did not even want to settle. They wanted to drag my company into the mud which was only confirming that we were being sabotaged but we had no proof of the higher hand that was sabotaging us.
It began sounding like we were old women looking for a ghost to blame for our misfortunes.
Deep down I began regretting taking over the stup*d company that was giving me sleepless nights. It was like someone set me up, dug a hole, waited for me to take over, and then began burying me.
But I still had no idea who? Maybe Charles Nash, Thalia’s father had set everything in motion ahead should I have screwed over his daughter. The man was very intelligent.
Thinking about it, it was weird how Thalia gave up easily and disappeared. I quickly got up, if indeed it was Charles’s allies sabotaging me Thalia would have known and she would tell me if I manipulated her.
I knew how her brain worked. I quickly got up with difficulty, my pelvic area was still giving me a nightmare. I walked to the window, took out the phone from my pocket, and dialed a line, giving instructions to the man at the end to find Thalia.
That was if she had not run in front of a moving vehicle and my theory was correct.
The door opened and both Jessica and dad walked in. From their faces, I could tell they were as defeated as I was.
“Son, have you found anything?” he asked.
“Thalia,” I replied, my attention fixed on the window.
Jessica quickly walked to me, “Thalia can not do this, the girl can’t even think using her head,” she replied.
I turned and asked, “What if her father set up something in case someone took over her company?” I asked as I turned to face my father.
I could see his eyebrows raising, my theory was not that far-fetched. The man was once his best friend and could go that far.
“But why would they wait after a total takeover?” Jessica asked.
“To sink us, if his daughter can’t have company then no one,” my father replied.
We all looked at each other, there was total silence before my father spoke. “Where is that useless little girl?” he asked.
“I have my men looking for her, we will start with the lawyer. He once came looking for her but never retained, maybe he found her,” I replied.
“Come on guys, no one would plan such for the future. I think you are giving Thalia’s father too much credit,” Jessica cut in.
“We are not giving him any credit! We have run out of f**king theories and ideas!” I yelled at her.
She quickly looked away and walked out of the room. I knew I was only frustrated and taking everything on her but I did not want negative people. All theories and ideas needed to be followed up until we hit a dead-end
