A chill ran down Willem’s spine as she spoke those words.

That was just the beginning? What else was she bringing up? Surely this was bad enough. His mind began to spin as various memories rose to the fore, each one scaring him in a unique way.

This was not what he had anticipated at all. This was supposed to be a calm evening, with an extra hour of work before heading home to spend time with Eugenia. Not an evening where he had his dirty laundry shoved in his face.

He shook his head, his voice weak and almost breaking as he murmured, “What is this, Asibi, what is this?”

Her tone remained unsettlingly calm, almost playful. “Oh, Mr. Willem Doku, don’t be so melodramatic. There’s no need to cry or something. You’re a strong man, aren’t you? Strong and masculine. The outstanding example of manhood to many millennials. Act like it, now. We’ve got a long way to go.”

Willem squeezed his eyes shut and gritted his teeth. Oh, how he wanted to end this call and have her dealt with! The absolute nerve of her to carry out this devious plan! The absolute nerve!

Yet, he knew the repercussions wouldn’t be pretty.

He sighed, sounding defeated. “What else is there?”

“Okay! We’re on course now. Let’s see…”

She paused, drawing out the silence like a predator savoring its prey.

“Hmmmmmm… okay, how about your little visits to La Chambre Rouge? Or should I call it by its more accurate name—‘that underground strip club on the east side.’”

Willem felt his chest constrict as if the air had been sucked out of the room.

She was not joking. She really did know all about him. Because virtually nobody knew he had visited that strip club before. He had gone there a few times, just to get aroused by the sensual dances of the workers there. And he made his movements so discreet, virtually the owners had no idea he came around.

 “I… I…”

“Oh, let me finish, let me finish,” she cut in with a laugh. “Don’t worry, I know you don’t do anything too scandalous there. At least you’ve had the good sense not to get romantically involved with any of the strippers and pole dancers. I’ll give you that much credit. I know you just wanna see them drop it low with their steamy little dances. I mean, I understand why you won’t seek that from Rosemary. She’s got the dancing skills of an empty Nido tin. Trust me, I know that for sure.

“But really, Willem, frequenting a strip club? A respected CEO of a multimillion-dollar company? Very reckless for someone in your position. Imagine if Eugenia ever found out… well, let’s just say she’d be a little bit pissed.”

She really was being deliberate with the understatements about Eugenia’s reaction to all these secrets. Eugenia really treasured her marriage to Willem and often reveled in the fact that their union had stood the test of time and not been bothered by little foxes of infidelity and sexual indiscipline. Discovering that her husband was in fact no different from many other unfaithful men would set off an unstoppable tsunami.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk,” Asibi rebuked, her tone shifting back to mocking. “Honestly, I expected more from you, big man. I mean, strip clubs? That’s so… pedestrian, you know. But, well, I suppose even titans of industry have their weaknesses. I mean, even David in the Bible had his weakness. The man saw a naked woman on his roof and decided to fold her up, so hey, you’re in good company.”

“Stop,” Willem whispered. The psychological torment was getting worse with each sardonic syllable that rolled off her tongue. “Please, stop…”

“Anyways, moving on,” she continued, totally airing his plea. “There’s so much I have to lay before you, but you know what? I’m a reasonable woman. I don’t wanna give you a heart attack. So I’ll give you one more, and we’re done. So… let’s talk about that little deal with Zenith Solutions, shall we?”

Willem froze. His blood turned to ice as his grip on the phone tightened, Asibi’s words bringing back memories he’d tried so hard to forget.

He was undoubtedly a successful businessman with a great company, but that didn’t mean everything had been smooth. A couple of deals in the past had gone awry, but the worst of them all was this one.

The deal with Zenith Solutions had been a nightmare: procurement breaches, unverified vendors, and a trail of shady transactions. Willem hadn’t authorized any of it, but when the whistleblower came forward, he had done everything in his power to silence them and protect the company. The fallout would have been catastrophic. Lawsuits, criminal investigations, the collapse of TransGlobal Dynamics—it would have destroyed everything he had built. So, he made sure it disappeared.

“I-I-I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Willem responded quickly, his words almost tripping over themselves.

Even before Asibi’s scornful laugh, he knew that attempt to deny this was as feeble as a whisper in a crowded room.

“Oh, come on, now, Willem. After coming this far, you now want to insult my intelligence? I know you may not have signed off on the breaches yourself, but you fought tooth and nail to keep the truth buried. If I recall correctly, your exact words in that email to your lawyers were, ‘If this gets out, we’re finished.’ Yep. I have everything in connection to the deal. Emails, contracts, even that lovely little conversation you had with your legal team about making it all go away.”

Willem’s mind raced.

Yeah, that video of him screwing Rosemary was terrible enough, but this one… this was just horrific. If she truly had those documents and she leaked them, the implications would be staggering. His reputation, his company, his entire career—all of it would be buried.

“You don’t understand,” he pleaded. “I didn’t—”

“Oh, I understand perfectly,” Asibi cut in. “Don’t worry, I know the truth. You didn’t break the law, you just covered it up. Because that makes it so much better, right?”

Willem was silent, his mind a whirlwind of fear and regret. God, I can’t believe this! None of this was supposed to be out there! How did this happen? How the hell did this happen? How did she get access to my stuff? Howwwww? What kind of hacking is this?

“Well, anyways, I’ve got to hand it to you: you’ve been such a good listener. Well done! Stuck to the script just as I asked you to. Such a good boy!”

He couldn’t have hated her tone any more than he did at that moment; she congratulated him like some obedient little puppy.

“Now, I think it’s time for you to ask the one question we both know you’re dying to ask. Here’s your chance. Go ahead.”

He swallowed hard. “What do you want, Asibi?”

“Aha! There we go!” she laughed, like she’d been waiting all evening for this moment. “The golden question. Go ahead, Willem. Offer me something.”

“I’ll pay you,” he answered quickly, the desperation virtually soaking his words. “Name your price. Whatever you want. I’ll transfer it to you to your bank account tonight. I won’t waste time. Please, just… just stop this. I beg you.”

As he ended, he breathed in and out, hoping for a reasonable amount. Sure, he might have said he’d give her whatever she wanted, but hopefully she wouldn’t consider bankrupting him.

A second or two of silence followed.

Then Asibi laughed, a cold and sharp sound that made Willem flinch.

“Oh, Mr. Willem Doku,” she said slowly, her tone dripping with mockery. “Do you really think this is about money? I mean, sure, I know you’re loaded. Not just financially, if you know what I mean. But nope, that’s not what I want.”

“Then what?” Willem demanded, his voice rising in frustration. “What do you want?”

Another moment of silence.

Then her voice, tone turned icy, resounded on the other side of the line.

“I want my old job back. I want my position back at TransGlobal. My old desk, my old projects. Everything.”

Oh, interesting! Was she unfairly sacked or something? Is this just revenge at work?