Chapter 41

Aiden's Point of view

Yesterday was an extremely hectic day. Unfortunately, the meeting lasted longer than I would have preferred.

It consisted with us planning and negotiating for hours extended past the normal business opening hours.

Exhaustion was an understatement.

While I was leaving the meeting, I was surprised to see a message from Ava, not wanting to waste time I rushed to her place.

I had not been in my office since yesterday since I had to rush to the meeting. Immediately as I entered, I caught a glimpse of the photos that where left on top of the cabinet. I made my way to the direction they were.

Standing in front of the cabinet I picked up the pile of freshly printed out photos sitting on top of the white cabinet not sitting long enough to start collecting dust.

With my briefcase in my left hand and the pictures in the other I appeared in front of my desk.

I made myself comfortable on the desk before looking through the pictures.

He did as was instructed of him and printed out the ones that I thought looked the best. Individually I examined them.

I stopped when I reached the picture at the bottom of the pile. The last picture took me off guard, it was a picture of Ava as she was getting out of her apartment on one occasion.

It was extremely similar with the picture I had seen on one of the various magazines that were orchestrating all types of lies about Ava and I.

With anger knowing that I have another clue as to what was going on, I rang Maxwell.

As the phone was ringing, I tried calming the anger I felt growing inside of me. I don't want him to know what is going on until he is in my office.

'Hello' his raspy voice spoke through the phone as if he had just woken up.

'Maxwell, I want you in my office. I have a few things to discuss about the pictures you printed out'

'Sir, I will be there right away give me less than ten minutes' Maxwell exclaimed and by the sound of the noise in the background it seemed he was just getting out of bed.

'Alright Maxwell see you here at my office in ten minutes' I ended the call not waiting to hear his response.

I had a feeling he was involved in this in some way or another, but I didn't think finding a possible trace would be this easy.

He had carelessly left evidence for me to suspect he has a hand in all of this. I hired him for a chance like this one and now I have it.

I rearranged the pictures to hide the one of Ava. I want him to think we are going to discuss our business arrangements further.

After a few minutes had gone by, I heard a knock on the door. Knowing exactly who it was I instructed the person to come in.

As soon as I gave that said person permission the door opened to reveal an excited and joyful Maxwell.

He closed the door immediately and hurried to the table in which I was sat at.

'Mr. Morgan, I got here as soon as I could. I didn't want you to wait any longer'

'Maxwell, nice of you to come. Please have a seat'

Once he was fully seated and had placed his portfolio beside him, I started 'Maxwell, I inspected a few pictures but not all. I want you to be here while I look through them then we can discuss further'

'Alright sir, sounds great. I will be able to see your first impressions' Maxwell spoke having no clue of what I'm about to show him.

I picked the pile of pictures up 'Maxwell from my first impressions they look rather nice. I love how the products are captured'

I spoke while I looked at each individual photo, unbeknownst to Maxwell that this was my second time.

'I'm glad you think so sir' Maxwell eyes rapidly looked between myself and the pictures which I held in my hands.

'What is this? Is this a picture of Ava? What is a picture of Ava doing in your possession?' I asked increasing my voice as a result to get a reaction from him. I wanted fear, the type of fear that would drive him to confess what he knew or was involved in.

'S..si..sir I don't know how that got in there' he exclaimed in a panicked manner.

'Maxwell how did a picture of Ava get into your possession?' I asked again this time with my voice raised a bit higher.

'Sir.. I don't know I don't have a clue. I am being truthful to you sir'

I could see the fear in his eyes as if he had been caught or is about to get caught. He was desperately trying to come out of this but I'm afraid for him that wouldn't be so easy.

'I think I've seen these pictures before'

I took out the magazines that were kept in the drawer beside me.

I placed multiple magazines on the table and opened various pages until I could find the one, I was looking for.

I looked up at Maxwell to see he was about ready to sprint. I could see the thin layer of sweat coating his skin.

'Is this not the same picture... Maxwell' I pointed at the identical photos in front of me 'Now Maxwell explain to me why you have this picture in your possession? This looks like an original copy and trust me I know plenty about original copies working in the business that I am in. There must be something you're not telling me, and I simply don't believe in coincidences Maxwell' I voiced out in an eerie tone.

Maxwell cowardly gets up from his chair and makes his way towards the door. He opened the door only to see security blocking his way.

He thought he could pull a fast one on me. Dealing with situations similar to this often times you have to be a couple steps ahead and besides what made him think he could get away I know where he lives and many more information about him with and without his knowledge.

'Sit down Maxwell, there is nowhere for you to run to' I said as he looked around perhaps looking for another escape route.

To his disadvantage there isn't any or at least there isn't any to those that did not know the room as well as I did.

'I said sit down' I shouted with nothing but authority.

'He hesitantly made his way to his previous seat'

'Maxwell, there is no use running away because you simply can't hide. Confess to what you know. Start by explaining why an original copy of Ava are in your possession. I will not tolerate any fabricated information' I spoke remaining calm when I was truly nothing but.

He was about to open his mouth but stopped. I gave him a stern look which frightened him to start again.

'I took the pictures... I was the one that took those pictures, but I didn't take all of them that appeared on the magazines. I was paid by Susan to do so. She offered me deals I could not simply refuse'

'Maxwell, I don't have all day. It's either you confess, or you face greater punishments'

'She was paying me to follow Ava and you to take the pictures of the both of you. I would sometimes meet her in locations she knew you two were going to be in and she would instruct me to take the pictures'

He took a deep breath. Fear filled him as he tried to speak, I noticed he was shaking uncontrollably but I did not have the slightest bit of sympathy for him. If I did, I will never find out the truth.

I looked at him straight in the eye insinuating for him to continue.

'Susan and I are not dating, and we never were. We thought making it look as if we were dating would make our involvement less suspicious. In fact, I am gay' I heard his voice crack as if he was about to cry or was it the fact that he had no saliva left.

He struggled to look me in the eyes but still continued 'Susan was desperate to appear as if she had a boyfriend because she had mentioned it to Ava a few things previously, she was suspecting that Ava was starting to distance herself from her and was hesitate to believe she had a boyfriend. Hence why the double date was organized. It was also a chance for me to meet you, part of the deal was for me to get a chance to be introduced to you and perhaps get a job as I've always wanted to work for you'

'Mr. Morgan, I didn't mean for any of this to happen. I was desperate for money and an opportunity to establish my business. Currently my business is not doing well at all. It has not been doing well for years now but I refused to give up hope. I saw working with Susan as an opportunity to eventually get my business to where I've always envisioned it'

I listened attentively not saying a word just looking at him and silently insinuating he continues once more.

'I didn't want to case, harm in the slightest. All I wanted was my business to flourish and a chance to work with a great mind like yourself'

'Susan's offer was too tempting for me to refuse. She knew my situation and how I was struggling on a daily basis to make ends meet'

At this rate he was shaking uncontrollably even more than previously. He did not know what was going to be come of him as he had confessed to too many things.

His confession had given me more of an insight to who is involved and what next needs to be done.

'You mentioned you took some of the pictures. Who took the rest?'

'Susan did sir, when I wasn't in a certain location in time, she would take it. Sometimes she would happen to be in the same place as Ava or the both of you' Maxwell explained probably thinking if he was to confess to what he knows about Susan and her antics perhaps he would be off the hook.

'Is Susan the inside source one of the magazines mentioned?'

'Y.....yes, sir she is. She is the one. From my knowledge she gave them the pictures. She might have gave it to someone else to give various magazines but I'm unclear'

Without a word and knowing Maxwell has confessed to everything he knew or was involved in I picked up my phone and rang the receptionist desk.

Within two rings Susan picked the phone.

'Hello' I voiced called out.

'Susan, I need you in my office right now' I ordered not giving much away.

'I will be there shortly' she exclaimed as I dropped the phone back to its original position.

The room fell silently. I sat on my desk looking at Maxwell straight in the eye while waiting for Susan to come.

To say he looked uncomfortable was an understatement. He looked like he was either about to pee himself or jump out of the window.

The door was opened by one of the security guards that stood outside my office.

Susan walked in looking incredibly confused 'Sir May I ask why there are guards in front of the office?' She looked over to Maxwell who was visibly sweating and said 'Maxwell did you do something wrong? Did you steal?'

'Mr. Morgan, I know we are dating but I don't have anything to do with his fraudulent behaviour' Susan desperately tried to disassociate herself from Maxwell who looked so defeated he couldn't defend himself.

'Susan shut up this instant. You have a lot of explaining to do and trust me when I say you won't want to lie to me'

Her eyes lit up in fear as she looked from Maxwell to me.

'Sir whatever he said or did I am not involved. I simply don't know what is going on'

'How about you start with how you two are not actually in a relationship and perhaps I dare to say the two of you are in a business agreement. Huh Susan... how about you start with that' I stated in a calmly manner but my eyes on her said otherwise.

'Sir please, I can explain. Let me explain my side of the story' Susan looked to be on the verge of tears as she so desperately spoke does words.

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Hello, everyone!! I hope you are all well. I just wanted to start by saying thank you to everyone that has read, voted, commented, shared, followed and supported in any way that they can. I truly appreciate it; I appreciate every single one of you. What do you think of the revelations? Do you still think Susan is innocent in all of this? Did Susan use Maxwell knowing the state that he was in or do you think Maxwell is lying to clear his name? What do you think Mr. Morgan is going to do next? Do you believe these two are the only ones or do you think there is another?