One meeting and a piece of shocking news.

"All things truly wicked start from innocence."
― Ernest Hemingway

Maverick.

"Sir we can't find her, and Mr Chukwuma is also nowhere to be found." Maverick sighed, trying his best to digest the information he had just taken in.

"Alright, we'll start the meeting without him. Inform the others." He got up from the recliner, trudging towards the door with his usual aloof disposition- A mask used to conceal his true feelings.

To others, Maverick was his usual self, but only himself knew how he felt inside.

He felt dead. It felt like the life was sucked out of him, he had been feeling that way since Leticia's betrayal three days back. It was something he could never imagine.

He wondered how she managed to put up the innocent act for such a long time. Initially, he couldn't accept her. First, she was half a decade younger than him; one thing he really disliked. He hated the idea of marrying a woman with s much age gap between.

Next, she was... well just not his type; everything he disliked in a woman. Physically, she was quite... attractive, nothing too special. Although he found the shape of her eyes unique.

Character-wise, a no-no. She was timid, had low self-esteem, couldn't stand up for herself, she lacked confidence... the list went on and on.

However, his mother pleaded with him to marry the girl, insisting that she was a rare gem. A rare gem indeed. At first, he vehemently refused, but when she added emotional blackmail, coupled with the dramatic Yoruba mother's act, he had to give in. Especially for the fact that he loved his mother so much.

When he got married to her, she was annoying. Plain annoying. Everything she did annoyed him but he tried his best not to scare the poor girl by avoiding her.

Then she would cook his meals, do his laundry, clean up after him, fulfil their matrimonial duties and try her best to please him. Gradually, her actions started getting to him and he was beginning to develop a soft spot for her, after all, he wasn't made of stone.

After living with her for so long, he began to rethink his past actions; he wasn't there for her when they lost the first child, neither was he there the second time. On both occasions, he saw how much the loss hurt her, yet she never complained and he realized how unfair he had been.

His indifference was a natural thing; he could not help it. But it tugged his heartstrings anytime she told him she loved him.

For that reason, he decided to cooperate for their marriage to work.

He regretted making that decision as shortly after that, the bomb was dropped. She had been the one behind the second near-downfall of his company.

When he heard it, he refused to believe it, but when all the evidence stared him in the face, as much as he wanted to deny it, it wasn't possible.

Behind her innocent facade was a cunning fox. She was a very smart one- that, he would give her.

Never had he suspected that she could be so scheming, yet she was perpetrating so much evil behind him. It hurt.

Maverick was not very familiar with expressing his emotions, but that night he cried. He shed tears of anguish.

If it was his personal money she stole he would have silently dealt with it and buried the matter, but it was the company's.

"...sir."

He snapped out of his thoughts, turning to face the person calling him. "What did you say?"

"I said the board of directors are already seated."

He peeped into the conference room and true to the lady's words, only he was absent.

"Good morning," he greeted, taking a seat.

"We'll get straight to the point," said Mr Johnson, one of the directors. "I heard that the culprit has been caught."

Maverick sighed; It was going to be a difficult meeting. "Yes, the culprit has been discovered."

"So who is it? And what is the next action that would be taken by the company?" Another of them asked.

Another sigh for the umpteenth time. "Leticia Wagner."

"Wait... you mean, the perpetrator is from your family?"

The room was getting filled with murmurs and whispers until another cut in.

"He doesn't mean. The culprit is his wife."

The news created an uproar this time. Maverick pressed his fingers to his temple as he felt a headache coming.

"Please let us maintain decorum," he said.

"We will maintain decorum Mr Wagner, but not until you tell us how you are going to handle this situation. How did you live with her without knowing her capabilities? That is not even important yet, what is more important is how we are getting back our money."

"Not only that. I hope you are going to follow the law accordingly and handle it without sentiments."

"Mr Wagner I'm honestly disappointed. You could have known your wife's intention, how could you marry such a person?"

Everyone had his or her own comments to put in. His fingers dug into his palms and he was tempted to yell at them to keep their thoughts to themselves.

The harsh sound and the rattle of the table made the noisy place go still. Maverick took deep breathes, ignoring the throbbing of his fist that collided with the table.

"I think that's enough for now. I want to apologise for her actions, and I assure you that I will deal with her according to the law, without sentiments. As for the funds, we have been able to retrieve some, and we are still working on how to get the rest," he explained.

"Sir, sir!" The room went silent once again as one of the staff barged in.

Maverick shifted his attention to the intruder. "Yes Miss Dami, what is the matter?"

The girl was struggling to catch her breath and they all waited for what was to follow.

"We-we found Mr Chukwuma's car in the bush after the nearby bridge. The car... the car looked like it got into an accident. It was upside down, smashed in by the driver's side and nearly burnt completely. We're afraid Mr-Mr Chukwuma was in the car as a piece of the shirt he wore two days ago was spotted. The remaining part of the clothes and every other thing was burnt to ashes," she explained.

"What?!" Maverick rose from the seat.

"That is not all sir. It seems like this was done by M-Mrs Wagner as she was last spotted with him."

An uproar, following her narration, started again. The place was in utter chaos; the asset manager was just confirmed dead.

Maverick breathed heavily, running his fingers through his curly hair as a cold sweat broke out on his forehead. He knew the hidden message behind the details. Leticia was not capable of murder, not in such a gory manner, or was she? He had no idea what to believe anymore.

He inhaled and exhaled, loosening his tie to allow the passage of more air into his lungs. He badly needed it.

"Okay. Where is Leticia?"

"She is at large, sir. Shortly after the accident, she was seen running by the fence of cruiseville estate, then no trace of her again."

He couldn't believe it. He didn't want to believe it. It was impossible, Leticia could not be that heartless-- At least he tried to convince himself, even though the efforts were futile. 

"What are the police saying?" He questioned.

"They are searching for her presently, although there are no leads at all, for now."

He gave a nod of acknowledgement, turning into face the people in the room. "Please let us close this meeting for now."

Maverick's P.O.V finally. So... was it well written? Or boring? Let me know what you think, please.

For now, I've got nothing to say. Please comment and share.

Thank you once again for giving this book a chance. I'll try not to make you regret it LOL. Until next time. Chubiley;-)