The Varkas Brothers And Their Princess novel Chapter 157

Chapter 157

Chapter 157

It has been three weeks.

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Three weeks since everything went to hell, and I could barely remember how I’d made it through them. Work has swallowed me whole, meetings, reports, numbers, faces that I didn’t care to remember. All of that just blurred into one huge stretch of nothingness.

I hadn’t thought of him much. Or at least that’s what I try to tell myself.

But there would be silence between tasks, those rare moments where I could take a break, and my thoughts would wander and stray. I would find myself glancing at the clock, wondering what he was doing, if he had eaten, if he was getting enough sleep, if he still hated me, if the wounds I had inflicted on him were still fresh, if he regretted showing me that look of hurt that day.

And every time I thought of him, the gap in my chest would widen and I would grow more hollow.

I have lost him, and I have also lost Gianna. Just when I had her as my friend, I lost her. She took what happened that day personally, and it made me wonder, “Has she gone through something like that?”

But I couldn’t bring myself to ask her when she wouldn’t even look at me.

Lucia said keeping busy would help. Maybe she was right. I was still standing, wasn’t I? I was still breathing, still showing up. Even though… even though lately, doing those felt like a chore.

I thought I had hit rock bottom before; I thought wrong.

This… this hell I was in right now was rock, rock bottom.

I couldn’t go any lower than this.

***

I was wrong.

Around noon that afternoon, Gianna barged into my office, breathless, sweating, looking nothing like the calm and composed person I knew, bent over, her hands on her knees as she tried to catch her breath.

I shot up to my feet, my eyes wide, fear making my heart race. “Gianna? What’s it?”

“The ship… ment…” she stammered, struggling to talk.

I picked up a glass of water, moving to her and handing it over. “Catch your breath first.”

She downed the water, inhaling deeply. She straightened, dropping the bomb on me, “The shipment’s

gone.”

I staggered back, a ringing suddenly sounding in my ears as my eyes went wide. “W–what do you mean gone?”

I expected everything but this. Not this. God, not this.

16:04 Fri, Oct 10

Chapter 157

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“The military liaison is here. They’re saying the shipment didn’t arrive at their base.”

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I shook my head, taking a step back until my ass hit my desk and I rested on it, suddenly dizzy. “That’s impossible. How could the shipment be gone? We sent it out!”

“The trucks,” Gianna continued, looking blue. “The entire batch. Gone. No one can reach the drivers. The trackers were disabled halfway through the route.”

Since this company stood on its two feet, we’ve always used trackers when sending out shipments like this. Because we could never be too careful. And it was for reasons like this that we have trackers. Shipments sometimes get lost, but with the trackers, we can trace where they were. But how could all of them be disabled?

God, how?

This has never happened before.

“Was there an accident?” I managed to ask, my voice shaking.

“No.” She paused, and her hesitation made my stomach twist into knots. “There’s something else.”

“Spill it before I go crazy!” I snapped, my voice high.

“The authorized papers… they have your signature.”

I felt the world still, like it was holding its breath. It felt like I was no longer in my body and was just watching this nightmare from the side. “My… what?”

Gianna looked like she was going to be sick. “Your approval for an early release. Time–stamped at 23:45 three nights ago.”

“I was at the office that time,” I whispered, the gravity of the situation slapping me across the face.

Gianna nodded too quickly. “That’s what makes this whole thing really hard. The liaison’s already asking questions, Belladonna. They think you greenlit the shipment.”

“That’s impossible!” I screamed, my vision going red. “What would I stand to gain from doing that?”

“Millions of dollars,” Gianna answered, her eyes bright with pity. “They’re saying you sold it on the black market.”

“Words have already spread?” I asked in a whisper, my voice breaking.

She nodded. “It’s a mess out there.”

I looked away from her, my mouth open. How could this happen? No, why was this happening? Was this some sort of punishment? But wasn’t I suffering enough already?

“The record room,” I managed. I couldn’t afford to break down now. The world wouldn’t give me time to break down, so I had to act. “Lock it. No one touches anything until I get there.”

16:05 Fri, Oct 10

Chapter 157

“Already done. But…”

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I turned to her when she trailed off. “What?”

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