The battle line

Chapter 70 The battle line I tried Jayden's line again for the tenth time that morning but it didn't connect. Hissing at the current predicament I was in, I dropped my phone on the table. Since Percy's visit to the house,I seldom go home because Britney wouldn't stop asking about why I looked frightened that day. How do I explain to her that the company I ran wasn't mine from the start and that Percy used to be my friend but I betrayed him. As if that was not enough, Carl threatened to tell the whole world what I did. Things are going in the exact opposite way I envisaged it and I have a strange feeling that more with go the same way. The only way of preventing such is if my drug business continues the way it has been but unfortunately, I don't think it will because Jayden had disappeared from the surface of the earth. The knock in my door disrupted my thoughts as my assistant rushed in and stammered about the legal team from Crest Oils in the building. 'Why would they be here when I have nothing of such in my calendar? Do you forget to add it to my schedule?" I asked but he nodded negatively. I told him to let them in and he bowed before exiting the office. Minutes later,they entered. I had left my desk and sat in the meeting space in the room, at the top of the table. My experiences has shown me that no meetings with a company's legal team ends well. Therefore I couldn't help but worry why they were sitting right in my office, looking stoic in their three piece suit. They had the logo that carried Crest Oils' emblem that presented them as individual with authority. 'Please accept our apologies for showing up here without any prior notice but it was something that needed to be done. I'm Lucas Bolt, the head of the legal team at Crest Oils," he said, extending his hands to me. 'This better be important because I have a meeting slated for this time, " I said as I took his hand and shook it firmly. 'Recently,we conducted internal audits as usual at Crest Oils and unfortunately,we have reasons to believe that the materials used for the contract awarded to you were substandard." He said, 'You have to be kidding me. I'm Robben Royce, I don't do cheap things. Are you sure the audit was done by a reputable individual?" I queried. 'It would be unprofessional of you to assume that Crest Oils would make the mistake of not employing a company with a reputable background to carry out its task. However,we do have evidence to back up our accusations," he said. The man next to him, which I didn't quite get his name took his suitcase and brought out a big file, pushing it on the table but I paid no attention to it. I simply had no reasons to do that. 'Not only that," Bolt continued. 'It has also come to our notice that you got the contract using unethical ways which are prohibited under the law. At the mention of this," I finally understood that everything was planned. 'This is preposterous!" I blurted out in shock. 'No it's not, our records showed that you weren't granted the contract at your first trial but within a few days, the status changed and you got the contract, which rarely happens in the history of the company," he replied. 'Your company reached out to me so,tell me how I got it unethically like you said. It's not like I have super powers." 'Which leads us to believe that you used dubious means, probably bribery to get that done." He said with confidence. 'That's enough!" I said, hitting the arms of the chair I sat on. 'I won't sit here and listen to your trash. And where is this coming from when I'm almost through with the project. You didn't detect this at the beginning and you are just finding out now" I asked 'This is no joke Mr. Robben. Please note that as of today, your contract at Crest Oils has been terminated, you'll stop all work at the site and refund the initial payment made to your company as it's stated in the signed agreement." The third person amongst them, a young woman who had been quiet all through, slid another bulky document on the table. I yanked it away from her and scanned through the printed jargon that I found difficult to comprehend. Towards the end of the document, my eyes caught a part where I supposedly sent money to an unknown account. At this point, I became assured that everything was fabricated because my application to Crest Oils had been done with no attachment. Boycotting rules had always been my thing but I had made sure to steer clear of that while applying. I have no memories of transferring money into a foreign account. 'I didn't do that,so I'm going to assume that this meeting never took place. I won't halt the project and I won't be refunding any payments made to me," I said stubbornly. 'I will assume then that you want this to end with court proceedings?" Bolt asked with a smirk ‘Court proceedings? You really think threatening me like that'll work on me?" I asked, 'This is not a threat but if you see it as one? Then, so be it. You have seven days, Robben, or we'll meet at the court." With that,they stood up, ready to leave. 'The audacity," I muttered under my breath. How did this happen? I thought. I wanted Crest Oils to take me into the international waters and now it was dragging me down and doing the exact opposite of what I envisioned. 'Who came up with his idea?" I asked just as the last of them was about to leave my office. 'Excuse you? I have no idea about what you are trying to say but I already mentioned that Crest Oils has strong moral principles and we won't take anything below our standards, thus, the reason behind all of this" 'That's a fat lie. Someone put you up to this," I stated with confidence. 'Believe whatever you want to. One week, that's what you have to act in accordance with the agreement,else we'll have a friendly chat at the court," he said and got out, slamming the door behind him. I took the files on the table and threw it towards the door, the process left the room scattered with papers. ‘The battle line has been drawn,' I suddenly remembered Percy's words and froze. 'The battle line had indeed been drawn," said and took out my phone.