1. Farah’s Revenge – Reginald St. James


    Date: 12/23/2023, Categories: Reluctance Author: jxa2012 

    My husband, Hossain, grew very concerned as my due date approached. It was a big baby and I felt like a whale. I was very uncomfortable and had to pee every few minutes. I called in and began my maternity leave.

St. James called me a day later.

“I’ve shortlisted the candidates to take over as the new CEO of the Foncault Group,” he said. “I’ll send the resumes to you. Can you attend the interviews?”

“I may go into labor at any time, Mr. St. James.”

“You could attend online.”

“Not interested.”

“You’re going to be the executive assistant of the new CEO and working closely with him or her. Don’t you want to be involved in deciding who it is?”

“I won’t be returning to work for you after my maternity leave.”

There was a pause on the line.

“I won’t give you a reference,” he said. “And I’ll do everything I can to make sure you don’t get another job.”

“That’s fine, Mr. St. James. I won’t need your reference.”

“You think you can work in the corporate world with me for an enemy?”

“I don’t want to work in your corporate world.” I paused and smiled at the video link. “I take pleasure in telling you this, Mr. St. James. Over the years, Jack directed me to move excess profits from our overseas operations to secure tax haven accounts all around the world. There are billions of dollars of Foncault Group money sitting tax-free in those accounts. You were too lazy to work with us running your Group – so now you’ll never find that money.”

“How much?” His ...
    ... voice was strained, and I could see the shock on his face.

“I can tell you the exact amount, 34,681 million dollars. Over thirty-four billion.”

“Jack stole all that money. It’s mine.”

“He never took a penny of it, Mr. St. James. He was too honest for his own good. All the money is in corporate accounts, the access codes are in the Foncault Group system. But I doubt you and your new CEO will be able to find them without me. Goodbye.”

“Wait, wait …” he began but I cut the line.

He called back immediately, but I did not pick up.

I went into labor soon after the call. I delivered the baby that grew from the seed that Jack had planted in my womb nine months earlier. My husband, Hossain, held my hand through the entire four hours.

*

It was my second child. Both were Jack’s, though Hossain thought they were his. The first one, a girl we named Noor, had brown eyes like me and black hair that Jack and I shared. Even though she had Jack’s brow and aquiline nose, Hossain had no suspicions.

However, this second child, a boy, was born with Jack’s distinctive gray-blue eyes, and Hossain frowned when the nurse handed him the baby.

“Eye color is often blue at birth,” said the nurse. “It may turn darker as the weeks go by.”

Hossain smiled with relief at this.

We named him Darius and brought him home to his four-year-old sister. She delighted in playing with her new brother. It made my mother’s heart glad to see them together. They were both quiet children, ...
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