Chapter 2

The next day Derrick opened his eyes and saw himself on a white bed.

A small stream of tears flowed from his eyes uncontrollably and he became confused.

Why was he crying?

And why did he have a dull ache in his heart?

He sat up on the bed and looked around him.

" What am I doing in a hospital?". He wondered.

From nowhere, he could feel the ache in his heart get stronger and stronger with each passing second.

A large wave of sadness washed over him and the stream of tears turned turned into a raging torrent.

Suddenly, his memories of the events of the previous day flashed through his mind.

Immediately, the force of reality hit him hard in the face.

He now remembered. He had lost everything.

In the next instant, a large swarm of lingering memories sped through his mind like a rushing wave.

Sonia's loving smile and her hearty laughter.

His mother's tired but sweet smile coupled with her caring gaze.

His dear siblings and their mischievous smiles.

The happy smiles on the full family's faces as they took a group picture.

As the memories went through his mind, Derrick's severely cracked heart finally broke. His body shook feverishly and he could feel something being wrenched out of his mind and soul.

The pain clouded his senses and a mournful wail resounded in the hospital ward.

That day Derrick cried out without restraints.

The broken and bleeding pieces of his heart flowed out with every drop of tears.

The following days became blank for Derrick. Nothing interested him anymore and his eyes lost their luster and became emotionless.

What could interest him now that Sonia with her funny jokes was lying at the bottom of the ocean?

He had already lost his two little boys, Jake and Davis.

There was no way anything would interest him again.

From then on, Derrick's life became extremely gloomy.

He watched without expression as fake mixed with real sympathies came from people he could not recognize anymore.

After the funeral, Derrick's life became so moody it felt like he was living in a black-and-white TV show. All life had lost its meaning to him, and he felt there was nothing left in this world for him to live for.

But he decided to hold on. To live for his family watching him from beyond. He must live to preserve his memories of them.

So he just let life go on.

***

After Derrick had dressed up and had his breakfast. He got into his car and immediately drove to work.

It was going to be a normal day like always.

Derrick worked at a food company which was the branch of a major food distributor. As an accountant, he was one of their workers in the accounts department.

He got out of the car and entered the building. After climbing a few floors he finally got to his office.

" Good morning, Derrick How was your night?". A woman with white hair and bright red lipstick, who sat at one of the desks in the room greeted him. She had a bag of chips with her and was munching on them.

" Good morning Cynthia, my night was okay". He replied noncommittally.

" What of yours?". He asked

" It was extremely nice. My dog went to her chiropractor and could finally sleep without whining throughout the night. So it was extremely peaceful and quiet for me. Thanks for asking". She replied.

"Cool, good for her."

"It's a him."

"What?"

" My dog is male. I talk about him all the time."

" You said 'her' chiropractor?"

" That was a mistake, you were supposed to correct me."

" Whatever."

Derrick went to his desk which was just beside Cynthia's own and sat down. He breathed in deeply and thought.

" Let's get started".

He opened the computer at the top of the desk and went to the company's official website. He put in the password and tapped on ' log in '.

A red light flashed on the screen and it displayed.

" INCORRECT PASSWORD !!!".

He raised his eyebrows slightly and then tried again.

"INCORRECT PASSWORD !!!".

Immediately, he turned and looked at Cynthia.

" What's going on? The password is not working".

" Ugh..." Cynthia sounded hesitant.

" What is it?". He asked as a bad feeling rose in his heart.

She bent her head so she was looking into the bag of chips in her hands.

" What are you not telling me, Cynthia?". He pressed on impatiently.

" Well......". She tried to speak when suddenly.

RIIING! RIIING!.

The intercom on his table shook as it rang.

" Who is this?". Derrick sounded a little harsh from frustration as he picked it up.

" Mr Derrick Finnow, meet me in my office immediately!". A loud male voice commanded.

Derrick was surprised when he heard the head of the department's voice. He started to apologize for his tone just now, but he then realized that the call had been hung up.

He looked at Cynthia with a puzzled gaze. " What the f**k is going on?"

She immediately buried her head further into her chips and pretended she did not hear him.

At this point Derrick knew he would not get any relevant information from her so he left her alone.

He stood up from his desk and went to the HOD's office. He knocked on the door and entered the room.

The fat HOD sat behind his desk with oily lips and a big belly.

" Sit ". He said.

" Now Mr Derrick let's get to business". He continued.

The fat man adjusted his tie and started speaking

" Now Mr. Derrick the reason I called you is because of a recent incident that concerns you greatly ".

Derrick's mind was blank. He could not remember any incident relating to him. He always made sure to complete his job perfectly so that no one had a reason to call him out.

He kept quiet and allowed the man to continue anyway.

" Well you see, we know you are passing through rough times due to what happened to your family. But that's not an excuse for this kind of behavior. During the auditing of last month's accounts, we discovered a large gap in the amount submitted. Do you have any idea what happened?". The HOD asked.

" I don't understand what you're saying ". Derrick answered with furrowed brows.

" Mr. Finnow! The gap came from your submissions of accounts. Are you seriously telling me you don't understand?". The man's nose widened as he asked fiercely.

" I don't think so". Derrick shook his head. " It was not my submissions. Are you sure you checked well?".

The man looked at him mockingly" It was your submission young man".

" No, it can't be. I did everything perfectly". He then looked sharply at the man. " Is this why I couldn't log in to the website?". He asked.

" We don't care about what you have to say, but you will have to return the balance, or else the company will take the appropriate actions".

" Wait a minute, how much exactly is this so-called gap?".

" The total amount is fifty-seven million ".

"The f**k?"

Derrick's eyes widened immediately.

He now understood.

Someone was setting him up!

All this time he thought it might be a small mistake he might have missed, but now that he heard the amount they claimed was missing, he knew there was no way he could make that kind of mistake.

Someone was deliberately setting him up.

He saw the sly smile on the HOD's oily mouth and knew he was one of the co-conspirators if not the main one.

" Mr. Finnow, the company is giving you three days to return the balance. If not we will take legal action against you".

Derrick sat silently on his chair and did not reply. The HOD stood up from his chair and went to get a glass of wine from a cabinet at the side of his office.

After taking a sip he turned back to Gideon and said.

" By the way, Mr Finnow. The company cannot tolerate actions like this. Clear your desk on the way out. You are fired!".

Three days later, The sue letters arrived at his house and he was summoned to court. Before the trial, he went to get a lawyer. Derrick knew it was all futile but he did not want to just give up like that.

During the trial, everything went on just like he expected. The company had somehow found evidence of his involvement in the process of the money being removed. They accused him of theft and a surprising witness even went up to testify against him.

It was Cynthia. She gave a story that narrated how he was the possible culprit.

Derrick looked at this woman who for years seemed innocent and funny, even a little naive. He never expected that she would have such a scheming heart.

From her expression, he could tell she was not put under duress to participate in this conspiracy. From the evidence she brought, it seemed the plan had started a long time ago.

He shook his head and stopped listening.

In the end, his lawyer turned out to be surprisingly good and was able to turn the charge from theft to dereliction of duty in the workplace.

The court ordered him to pay fifty percent of the company's loss. And when he said he did not have that kind of money, the court ordered the confiscation of all his properties.

Derrick sat on the court chair, his hair in a mess and his clothes disheveled. His face was pale.

When his family died five years ago, all their property had fallen into his hands as the last surviving member of the family. Now he could not even protect their properties.

The judge stood up and someone shouted.

" Court stand!!!"