The secrets of my enemy

Magnus

“This has to be a joke, are they suing me?”

“For embezzlement and fraud, sir.”

I pace back and forth, frustrated. When did my life, my career, and my company start to crumble? It has to be a misunderstanding. I’m Magnus Anderson, I don’t lose, I don’t get sued, I’m the one who does it.

And this time I won’t sit idly by.

“Patrick,” I try to gather patience. “I’m not in the best moment of my life and you know it. I just ended a years-long relationship, my father died, and now you come to tell me that I’m being sued. I’d like to know who has the courage to sue me for something I haven’t done.”

“Richard Walker, sir.”

I let out a laugh so loud that it caused my bodyguard to look confused. Nowadays people don’t know what things to invent.

“How funny, Patrick. Now please tell me who filed the lawsuit.”

“It was Richard Walker,” he insists.

“Impossible. Richard is my trusted partner, my best friend, he’s practically like a brother to me. I understand that he’s just starting his career as an entrepreneur, but he wouldn’t do this to me,”

Patrick’s concern only makes me more nervous.

“Did he really do it?”

“I’m afraid so, sir.”

“But no accusation is true, they have no evidence against me.”

“In fact, Mr. Walker personally took the evidence to the police station to file the complaint. He told everyone that he has been losing a lot of money because of you.”

“He blames me for my company being better than his?”

“That seems to be the case.”

The only thing I can think of right now is that something bad must be happening to Richard if he was the one who betrayed me. They must be threatening him with death, maybe someone in his family is kidnapped and needs help.

It wouldn’t make sense for him to do this to me after everything we’ve been through together.

“Patrick, tell my secretary to cancel all my meetings. This can’t be left like this. I have to go and talk to Richard.”

I wish I could keep calm, but it seems impossible. If this turns out to be true… no, better not think about it. I remember Richard telling me yesterday morning that he would have to come to my company to pick up some papers. I’m sure I can find him in the meeting room.

When I open the door, a woman is coming out and bumps into me.

“Hey! Could you be more careful?”

As soon as I look at her, I feel speechless. She’s beautiful. How come I haven’t seen her before? Did they hire her? Why wasn’t I informed?

I thought she would apologize, but it was quite the opposite.

“Careful?” she asks, annoyed. “You’re the one who opened the door suddenly. Could you at least pay attention to what you’re doing?”

She bends down to pick up the papers and before I can help her, she stops me.

“I don’t need your help. I can do it alone. If you want to support me, stay still and don’t step on the documents.”

I think someone is in a bad mood, but still, I try to put on a good face and stretch out my hand to introduce myself, but she doesn’t accept it.

“I’m Magnus…”

“Anderson,” she says as if it were obvious. “I know. Everyone is talking about you now.”

“Is it because I’m the most recognized magnate in all of New York?”

“It’s because you’re a fraud,” she declares.

And with that, she makes her way through. She hasn’t even let me explain what’s really going on. She has decided to believe everything people say and I’m sick of it. To make matters worse, I see Richard approaching and looking at the girl passing by with total fascination.

“I see you’ve already met Miranda Reynolds, a beautiful woman, don’t you think?”

“And where do you know her from?”

"I hired her a little over six months ago, she’s working with a few of my lawyers, she’s my girlfriend.

“Girlfriend? Since when?”

“Since I hired her, you two would have a lot in common, neither of you likes commitment.”

I wouldn’t stay to discuss my love life at this moment, I deserved explanations and was willing to get them.

“I heard you sued me,” I decided to get straight to the point. “Is it true?”

“News travels fast.”

“Did you or didn’t you, Richard?”

“I did.”

The audacity with which he said it made it clear that he didn’t feel even a little bit of remorse.

“What the hell is wrong with you? How could you sue me?”

“It’s very interesting that you ask, they say that only one magnate can exist, that has to be me, friend.”

“Are you doing all this because you want to be better than me?” I laughed a little with that. “Please, you don’t even come close.”

“Soon the whole world will realize what kind of person you are, Magnus. I’ll end your life and your career. I know your dirty secret and still don’t have any evidence of it, but I’ll make you fall.”

“Listen to me,” I grabbed him by the shoulders and threw him against the wall. He ended up hitting the wall. “If I fall, you fall with me, do you understand? There are many things that you have also done and I have remained silent out of respect for our friendship.” I exerted more pressure on his shoulders; I’m sure I’ll leave a mark. “Now that you’ve thrown that friendship out the window, it’s better that you go carefully. One does not threaten Magnus Anderson and live to tell the tale.”

It was for a brief fraction of a second that I understood everything; he was enjoying this. There was nothing but anger and contempt in his eyes. I don’t know what I did to earn all that hatred, but neither am I a fortune teller. He wanted to fix things on his own. Well then, I’ll fix mine on my own and he won’t like the measures I take.

" You ended my sister’s life."

“What the hell are you talking about?” I step back, confused. “I don’t even know your sister.”

“I’ll make you remember her name. Be sure that your life from now on will be a hell, Magnus.”

“Be careful, Richard. You don’t want me as your enemy.”

“Don’t tell me.”

“I don’t lose, keep that in mind.”

With a snap of his fingers, security approached and forcibly removed Richard. Once he sets foot outside this company, he will cease to exist for me.

Now I have a reputation to recover and no matter what it takes, I have to prevent a trial from taking place. That would only damage my reputation further.

I admit that a stab in the back would have hurt less. He was my best friend. How could he do something like this to me? I return to the office with Patrick, who is finishing up a call. He must have contacted someone from the media to take care of deleting all the false news that must be coming out right now on the internet about me.

“Any news, Patrick?”

“They’re already removing all the news from the internet. It will take them some work, but they’ll do it as soon as possible.”

“Anyone would recognize me. Just one person seeing the news is enough to start spreading it. Being such a recognized figure makes it difficult to keep a low profile, you know?”

“I’m taking care of it, sir.”

“I know you are. Now what worries me is the issue of the lawsuit. Can’t you just find a lawyer who can get me out of this problem?”

“I wish it were that simple, but Mr. Walker made this problem serious. You’ll need a good defense.”

I sit down and pour myself some whiskey. The burning in my throat is noticeable as soon as I take the first sip. I’ll need an entire bottle if I want to keep from losing control right now.

Any lawyer would be willing to work on my case, I don’t see why I should worry.

“Okay, call someone and have them fix this. We have hundreds of lawyers in the building, don’t we? Choose one and that’s it.”

“The thing is, I’ve been reviewing the requirements. You know that things have changed over time and now there are new things and…”

“To the point, Patrick.”

“None of the lawyers working for you can defend you in court. I’ve made a few calls, but the rest of the lawyers believe that your case is a lost cause. They don’t even want to try.”

“I’ll pay well.”

“They’re not interested in that right now.”

I run my hands over my face, frustrated. This is the last thing I needed, that now no one wants to be my defense in court. But this can’t be left like this; there has to be something else.

“Do you have any proposals?”

“There’s a very well-known lawyer who is making her way among prestigious lawyers and has been recommended.”

“And who is she?”

“Miranda Reynolds.”

I make a great effort not to laugh out loud. I think my dear Patrick has lost his mind.

“Don’t take offense, but what makes you think Miranda will help me if she works for Richard? Don’t you think that would be betrayal?”

“I’ve been investigating. The cases she participates in are where justice is always done. She takes care of defending the right person and now, with the prestige she’s gaining, she can choose the cases she wants.”

“What do you mean?”

“That if we present evidence that you’re innocent, she’ll accept being your lawyer without any problem.”

“Do you have her phone number?”

He nods and dictates the number to me, I make the call and thank him for answering.

“Miranda Reynolds, who’s speaking?”

“Hello, I’d like to hire your services.”

“Okay, name?” I stay silent. “I suppose it’s irrelevant. What’s the case?”

“I’m accused of fraud, theft, embezzlement.”

“And are you really guilty?”

“Of course not!”

“I’ll determine that. Where do you want to meet to discuss the case?”

“At a café, I’ll send you the address.”

When I end the call, I indicate where the café is. Patrick doesn’t understand why I’ve arranged to meet her in a different place than the office, but if I tell her to come here, she’ll realize that I’m Magnus and with the little incident we had earlier, she’ll reject me immediately.

At least in a café, she won’t be able to make any scandal and will have no choice but to listen to me.

I head there more nervous than I’d like to admit. I don’t know why I feel this way. If she doesn’t accept the case, it doesn’t matter; I can always find more capable people. I’m the first to arrive and take a seat at one of the farthest tables. I’m surprised when I see her; she looks so beautiful in that dress. It’s a shame her attitude isn’t the best.

She looks upset as soon as she arrives at my table.

“This has to be a joke. No, I won’t do this.”

I stop her by the wrist before she leaves.

“Wait, let me explain first.”

I start to worry that she’ll leave, but when her expression relaxes, I know I have a chance.

“Five minutes,” she says. “Not a minute more.”

“I promise to be brief.”

It’s time to prepare the best explanation for this, even though I don’t even have it.