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Crimson vows - Chapter 4



Chapter 4

Carl stayed there for more minutes. "I love this place...being inside you is my ultimate level of reaching supreme ecstasy." He kissed her and slid besides bringing her to his chest as if he could not part from her even for a single moment.

 

"Carl, there is something I want to give you on this splendid occasion." Stephanie said softly.

 

"Yes my love I'm all ears for you." Carl's voice was rough much masculine with the aftermath of their sex. He pulled her closer to him, landing his chin on top of her head.

 

Stephanie pushed herself a little apart and took his large hand in her soft one and placed it to her belly.

 

Carl was speechless by her action. He looked to her and her belly alternatively. "You are…you are…" His pupils were dilated, like he had never seen her before.

 

Stephanie and Carl had been friends since college days. He was three years senior to her, her friend's older brother. When she kept visiting Sejal, their friendship grew which escalated to a relationship. They had dated for three years and then got married. Since that day Carlhad never disappointed her. He is a loving and caring husband, always surprising her with gifts and the first person to wish her on her birthdays and marriage anniversaries.  

 

Stephanie was drop dead, nervous about Carl's reaction regarding the baby. She thought she would stop breathing. Her heart is pounding like a million trillion beats a minute as she scoot closer to him. Stephanie raised her head up and pressed her lips against his, and she felt his jolt of surprise as if he had woken up from a dream. And then he was kissing her back, open-mouthed and soft-lipped.  

 

He puts his hand on the back of her head, and he strokes her hair in a reassuring way. And then his lips slowly stretch to a smile gazing down at her middle.

 

"What happened to Carl Campbell, the most powerful billionaire businessman, who cracks millions in just a minute is out of words today?" Stephanie tried to pull his leg.

 

Carl ignored her words and ran his hand softly on her belly. "You're pregnant." He whispered to himself but this time more strongly in confirmation.

 

Stephanie nodded and the happiness was unmatched on Carl's face. "Oh my God love, you have no idea how happy I am today. You have indisputably made me the happiest man on earth."

 

Stephanie hugged Carl and he pulled her face up. Without warning, his mouth was on hers. He kissed her roughly and completely unyielding. His hands are on the back of her head, holding her in place. And for a long, suspended moment, she was frozen in his arms of impeccable endearment. All at once, heat spreads through her, and she thaws to kiss him back for another round of earth-shattering love making like something they had never experienced before.

 

That night both of them visited Carl's parents' home and shared with them the gleeful news. The happiness of Graham and Elizabeth was unsurpassed. 

 

Elizabeth was over the moon. She baked a pineapple cake, Stephanie's favorite, within minutes as a mark of celebration and fed her with her own hands.

 

Carl and Stephanie reached home late in the night. After the change of clothes he heard a shuffling behind the curtain. 

 

Getting a little suspicious he walked to it but before he could reach the man behind the drapes there was a gunshot heard followed by a deafening squeal.

 

"Stephanie," Carl shouted, rushing to her when the left side of her chest began to bleed from the small hole.

 

Carl held his wife before she collapsed to the floor. "Security", he roared thunderously and the men in uniform encompassed the place and took into custody the culprit but before they could extract information from him, the man shot himself and fell dead on the spot.

 

"Stephanie, baby open your eyes." Carl shook her head holding it between his thumb and forefingers. 

 

Stephanie was trying her best to look at him.  "You're good. We are good, the baby is good. I'm going to take you to the hospital. You will be alright, my love."

 

Carl was about to lift her in his arms. But Stephanie shook, stopping him. "I do not have so much time, Carl. Let me spend my last moments with you peacefully."

 

Her voice was very weak, only enough that he could hear. Carl's eyes were glistening. "No you cannot leave me so soon Stephanie. We have a long way to go. Remember you took the vows with me in the church during our wedding and that you will stand beside me in my thick and thin times. You cannot deceive me now."

 

Stephanie shook her head and slowly reached his cheeks. "My man is stronger than that. You are my hero, my strength and my power, Carl. I'm a part of you. I will be living here with you smiling as long as you live." She patted his chest.

 

"You are born in this world for a reason. You need to continue your fight for justice. Let your thoughts not go unwavered in reaching your goal. You are the badassery which makes the wicked tremble. I do not want you to cry for my death but to make the enemy bleed for his sin. You and I both know why and who did this. Promise me today, you will finish everyone without a trace of the flagitious. I will be watching you from heaven, Silicon Mills should go bankrupt." Stephanie took a staggered breath.

 

"Will you fulfill my last wish, Carl?" Carl brushed the hairs away from her face. "What is it, my love?"

 

"I want to donate all my body organs to the needy and poor and you will bear the cost of transplant." Carl could not speak. He only nodded. Stephanie told him, he was the man born in the world to reimplant humanity but going humane is something everyone will learn from her.

 

"Hold me to you Carl, I want to feel you as close to me as possible, feel the beat of your heart with mine." Carlcried and hugged her as tight as possible as if his hold could stop her leaving him. 

 

Stephanie weakly extended her arms behind him. A minute later, he found the slightest moment from her as if in a choke and then her arms fell down.

 

"Stephanie" Carl yelled stentoriously with veins popping out of his throat. But, there was no movement.  







Chapter 5



Carl collapsed to the ground while continuing to hold his wife to his chest. Stephanie had left him, but his heart didn't want to accept it. Minutes later, he wiped his tears away. "Luke", he called the chief of security.


 


The man who was already waiting for his boss's orders in the visitor's hall, at once reached him. "I'm sorry for ma'am's loss, sir."


 


Carl ignored his condolence and asked sternly. "Who is the culprit?"


 


Luke looked down. "Sir, it is Devon, the new recruiter. You appointed him a week ago when he said he needed urgent employment because his wife was sick and suffering from cancer. He had allowed this killer inside the mansion, and he is actually Grover's man."


 


A cluck sound rebelled in the throat of Carl. He held the palm of Stephanie in his and squeezed it. "I expect, you already took care of the bastard." He spat the word with unbridled wrath.


 


Luke nodded. "He was dead before ma'am passed away."


 


"Do not call her 'passed away.' She is alive, my Stephanie is much alive. Look, she is sleeping in my arms." Carl strongly admonished.


 


Luke only nodded and did not say anything. He knew his boss was in shock, he loved his wife very much.


 


"Get my complete security on an alert. We are shortly going to vandalize everything in Grover." Carl got up with Stephanie in his arms and placed her on the bed gingerly. "Baby, I will come back shortly to take care of you. Sleep till then."


 


In a jet speed the vehicles reached the premises of Grover's house. One by one the security guards of Carltook their positions and killed each one of Grover's men without a notice in a blink of an eye like lions hunting in ferality.


 


One of the men took down the revolver in Carl's hand. The latter pummeled his fist into his belly and the man fell to the floor crying in pain.


 


Like a man possessed by a spirit, Carl barged inside Grover's house. Pulling out the sword attached to a wall in the scabbard; he strode inside the rooms in a wild fury. He cracked somebody's jaw, punched into the belly of someone and stroked the shit out of every minion who came across him. 


 


Carl was now hosting his most uncontrollable beastly state. He kept killing everyone with the sword, thwacking the head out of the body in the cruellest way.


 


"Please do not kill me. I'm sorry. I made a mistake by killing your wife." Grover fell at his feet asking for mercy.


 


"Mistake? You made a mistake? You killed my wife and you call it just a mistake? You touch mine, I touch yours. You kill one of my men, I kill ten of yours." Carl kicked Grover with his leg like he was a piece of trash.


 


He then punched him on his nose. "This is from my wife. Stephanie, are you seeing this? See your killer is weeping here, pleading mercy by falling at my feet. Should I allow him to live? Yes, I know your answer." Carl looked towards the sky and then stared back at Grover who had fallen to the floor and was crying holding his shoes.


 


He whacked his face with his shoe clad leg like he was playing football. Grover spewed blood from his mouth with the intensity of the stroke.


 


Carl took the sword and slammed it into his chest repeatedly. His wife was hiding behind the curtains restraining her sobs by clipping her hand to her lips.


 


Carl pulled the curtain aside and looked at her, his eyes softening. "Don't fear. I'm not unscrupulous like your husband, I don't attack women and children." 


 


Making the path he walked to a burial filled with bleeding bodies, Carl went to the entrance sitting on a huge round shaped rock in the middle of the garden. He looked ahead at the house which now looks no better than sepulture. The sword in his hand was covered in blood with red drops falling on the grass perpetually. 


 


Carl Campbell - People address him as a seraph for he looks at their problems without asking, like a mother towards her infant. When evil triumphs the good, the ethical entrepreneur loses his patience and becomes a mafia don. He is the devil who could even shake Hades by his changed form. Nobody should mistake his compassion for cowardice. He is good to everyone because he is humane but when someone goes cannibal, benevolence is not what the person is going to remember about him. 


 


He would start the farming to remove the weeds which are in the disguise of gentlemen. When wickedness expels Goodness, he is born as a numen to win over knavery. God cannot be everywhere, so he created an Angel to fight for his people and build a society with selflessness. Carl Campbell is not a man to be meddled. He possesses the heart of a flower but when evil strikes, he is a predator, a proponent of justice ready to rip the carnivore out of his bones.


 


Read Feared - a macabros odyssey of a mogul to establish equity in the society.


 






Chapter 6



Carl got everything cleared by his men regarding Grover's death and then took Stephanie to the hospital. It was her last wish…. to donate her organs to the less privileged. Just like she wanted Stephanie's, organs were received by the needy and Carl took care of all the medical expenses for the recipients.


 


In a way it was a kind of satisfaction for him too. Though she died Stephanie was still living, his Stephanie was still living in eleven different people by giving away her organs. The donees saw God in him by her benevolent act.


 


"Sir, I have got the whole premises of Grover's mansion inspected by our special surveillance team. We have left no clue to the cops that we were the one who killed Grover and his men." Carl put down his glass on the bar counter and listened to Luke


 


"What about his wife and children?" Carl took a big gulp of the Amber liquid and waited for Luke's reply. Since the time he came back home after discharging Stephanie's last wish the whole house felt like a ghost's bunglow. The jingling of her bangles was heard everywhere. Earlier his abode was only a mixture of bricks and cement. But Stephanie transformed it into a beautiful home. Today, when she is gone it turns back into a huge piece of concrete.


 


That sweet smile which greeted him home after the day's tense filled work relaxed him. But it will no longer be visible to him now. Her brown locks that fell on her crimson red cheeks was a sight to see. There is nobody born or will be in future to replace that sight in his life. Those innocuous green eyes shone bright whenever he looked at them. He could dive into them and spend an age. Large drops of tears settled in his eyes and he blinked them continuously not to show his weakness to his employee.


 


"Sir, we have warned this woman to never open her mouth and if she does her life and her children will be at risk. To what I could note is, the lady is completely shaken from the massacre. As long as she doesn't go insane she would keep her lips sealed for the well being of her own family." Carl nodded, filling up another glass.


 


Luke wasn't happy with the present state of his boss. Carl was drinking beyond control and was mourning for his mistress. He understands, his boss was trying to numb his pain but no amount of drinking would help. 


 


Luke had been working for Carl for the last four years and he knew how much his boss loved his wife. They were the ideal wife and husband which many of his business partners envied and added to it Stephanie was very kind hearted and benevolent. The wives of CEOs and heads from other groups were jealous of her. Carlos and Stephanie complimented each other on everything, they were the perfect pair.


 


"Sir, I have bought flight tickets to Switzerland and arranged a man to look after the accommodation and needs of the lady until she settles there. I have also called Elliot who investigated the whole place along with his team for any chance of second clues and we have confirmed none. Even the best investigator or lawyer will not be able to collect a single piece of evidence against us." Luke held his head high with pride. 


 


Carl felt his eyes dropping down with the excessive consumption of alcohol but still reached the bottle. However this time Luke stopped him gathering all his courage to counter his boss.


 


"Sir, I think you had enough to drink today. You should go to bed now." Carl pulled his hand away from Luke's grip.


 


"Who is the boss here, is it you or me? I give the orders and you listen. It is not the other way around. Understand?" He admonished authoritatively and was about to reach the whiskey bottle again. 


 


There was no use arguing with a drunken man. Luke did not say anything. But took the bottle away from the reach of Carl. 


 


Carl gave a deathly glare to Luke, tried to walk but faltered on his steps. He was about to fall but the chief bodyguard held him on time and helped him to the bedroom.


 


******


 


Present:


 


Dressed in a black blazer with white shirt underneath, polished black shoes echoed on the clean sparkling cream colored tiles. Sapphire Taylor is in her sixth year of pursuing her career as a junior officer in NSA. 


 


So far in her service Ms Taylor had eleven postings in the most challenging places which said a transfer in almost every six months because she was the role model of honesty and sincerity.


 


Though she had not many years of experience she could make the most senior officers jealous of her exemplary skills in handling the duties. 


 


Sapphire had won many accolades and had been appreciated by her bosses in each and everyone of her postings. The rewards stuck to the left side of her coat just below the emblem of NSA and ranks on her shoulder, mark her undivided dedication to work in serving her nation.


 


With her head held high in pride and confidence she reached the room of the Chief of Staff giving a firm salute sticking her hat at her armpit. "Good morning sir."


 


"Good morning Sapphire. Please take a seat." The gray haired chief showed a seat across the table to her.


 


"I have always rejoiced in your achievements. NSA had been proud and happy for your sincere services towards it and the nation. That is why you always get challenging postings even compared to the officers who are much senior to you." Sapphire nodded with a smile after taking one of the two chairs placed across the work desk.


 


"Sir, what will be my next assignment?" The senior officer nodded and placed the file before her. Sapphirestarted reading the details of her next case. As she processed the information, her curiosity pricked to read more. Her emotions went intensely as she turned the pages in the file. 


 


The chief had a knowing smile on his brims as he leaned back on his chair resting his hands on the hand rest before knotting his fingers and studying her. "Sapphire, this case is much more serious and very dangerous, nowhere comparable to the cases you have dealt with before. You sign a separate legal document to the NSA that you will not take any of the evidence, people or places personally."


 


His eyes suddenly turned serious. "In your previous assignment you lost your balance getting carried away by the circumstances. It was the apt opportunity for your competitors to poke a finger at you. With a lot of effort using my experience and my power I got you acquitted from the charges. I cannot save you all the time. Do you get it?" 


 


The senior officer flattened his palms on the glass work desk and leaned forward commanding the attention of Sapphire.


She was still in a trance reading the document. The case proved to her daring as well as dangerous and she simply loved such sorts of cases. Sapphire forced her eyes ahead. "I am sorry for what happened previously sir, I will hold myself this time."


 


Her eyes brightened with a voice that echoed to her own ears in excitement. "Investigation on Carl Campbell, the most powerful and wealthiest billionaire of the United States?"  


 






Chapter 7 




Ten days later Sapphire already was halfway through her research. She was gathering personal information about Carl, the things which no investigation authority will search to know completely about him that includes information about his nature, his way of dealing things, his likes and his dislikes. 


 


On Monday as soon as she went to her work, she got a call from the chief. "How is your research work going on Sapphire?"


 


When Sapphire replied positively, he began to supply to her more information about Carl. "Ten days ago, the complete house of Mr Grover, the managing director of Silicon Mills was burnt after the massacre leaving no clue to us. His wife is absconding and we are not able to reach her. There were around hundred bodies of his men including him brutally murdered. The accident spot seemed to give us a clue of someone with untamable revenge and our first suspect is Carl Campbell. Because both of them have had friction since a while."


 


He sighed and continued. "Grover wanted Carl to fund a fertilizer factory near the forest in the outskirts of the city where there is a river and a few tribes are living. He wanted to dump the factory wastes in the river which is truly against Eco-friendly hubs. Also, it would affect the health of the locals. Carl did not finance Grover and also got his license written off by the state. We have got evidence that Grover killed Carl's wife as a discharge of revenge and Carl as a reply killed him and his complete gang of men though no clue is traceable to us." 


 


Sapphire took out the file from the cabinet which had more details of Campbell. "This was a job which needed urgent investigation and I could only trust the most efficient officers. Obviously, your name was in the top list. That is how you urgently got transferred from Los Angeles to New York." The chief concluded, giving her the vital information. 


 


"Sir, I am already into the project. As and when I got your mail and transfer order, I was on my role play. I had already made my first appearance in the field by acting as a weak displaced girl who needed his help." The chief played with his eyebrows curiously and Sapphirecontinued. 


 


"With my study on the target I could make two conclusions. The first is that we cannot conquer Carl Campbell using the state power or authority. He is mighty and powerful. He knows the ins and outs of law and I'm sorry to say not all of our officers are sincere and honest. So going by rule could backfire us. The only way we could vanquish him is by beating him emotionally. The game with heart is what I am going to play with him adapting to the role of a weak displaced girl."


 


"What you are going to start is very dangerous Sapphire. If he comes to know the truth, Carl Campbell can even kill you. Think before making your decision." The chief cautioned.


 


"I like taking challenges sir." Sapphire spoke firmly and saluted him. 


 


*****


 


Claire was the poverty-stricken girl who was serving her sick father, a stepmother and drug addict brother who waited for a chance to abuse her. 


 


It wasn't a role play she was doing. She had to actually imbibe herself in the character to make it sound real. She cannot take chances with the dangerous mafia leader. Sapphire, along with her teammates, were serving their fake identities for the last three months to avoid all the risks.


 






Chapter 8



Three months later…


 


"Sapphire, how have you been proceeding with your work?" The chief asked when she was about to leave her room to grab a cup of coffee.


 


Sapphire who got up from her seat asked the chief to sit and occupied her place. "Sir everything is going on fine. I have even lost more than 6 kilograms, ready to kick in and look younger."


 


Making an adventure and coming out of it unscratched is not an easy thing to do. Sapphire Taylor was an indomitable NIA officer. She studies the case to the minutest details before she steps into the field. Actors who are ready to play dummy roles, face masks and make-up which can change the complete identity of a person without the requirement of a plastic surgery are some of the things she had excelled to do in her six years of indomitable career as a NIA officer.


 


The chief nodded, eyeing her top to toe. "You have done a great job in losing your weight and justifying your character in this new assignment.”


 


“Everything is taken care of. Even with laser research nobody will come to know any information about you other than the one you supply. But be careful, I warn you again." The old man looked at her from the top of his glasses which were falling to his nose.


 


"Come here now." The chief extended his arms to her standing across the table.


 


"But da…we are still at work." The chief chuckled. "It is okay. I am the chief and I can do whatever I please." Sapphire happily walked into his arms enjoying his warmth and protection.


 


Two hours later she gets a call from her mother. "Good afternoon sweetheart, how is work going on? You came to New York from Los Angeles almost four months ago but still did not visit our home after the first dinner, on the day you arrived here."


 


Zelda, Sapphire's mom, started complaining like usual. Sapphire simply rolled her eyes. "I heard you are taking over a new assignment now, which is very risky." Before she could start responding, her mom started complaining to her dad in her routine way.


 


"She is our one and only daughter. I hate your patriotism, Stanley. You have made both your kids just like you. Now they think exactly in your lines - do or die for the nation. You sent Xavier into the army and Sapphire into NIA. What…." Before she could speak further Sapphire stopped her mother.


 


"Mom, stop it. Dad did not force any of us to choose the professions we are in, we did it on our own. And unlike you, he had always respected and supported our decision. You should be proud of us that we are serving the nation instead of ranting." Sapphire never liked her mother talking harshly to her dad regarding her employment.


 


"Oh, this is what I get to hear, when I'm the one who is always worried about you unlike your dad." Sapphire released a sigh and whispered to herself, "she started it again."


 


"Mama, dad knows much more about NIA than you. He loves me as much as you do. You have no idea how many times he cautioned me regarding this project. I can back down even now, if I want to and I know he will not say a word against my decision. I'm stepping into this willingly, completely knowing the dangers involved in it. You are underestimating the capability of your daughter. I am going to tame that billionaire and wrap him around my little finger." Sapphire tried to joke and lighten the mood of her mother.


 


"Little finger is okay. Do not wrap him in your ring finger. I read his interviews in magazines and newspapers. He is very handsome." Zelda's words cut a chord of Sapphire.


 


"Mama, I do not mix my profession with my personal life. You don't have to worry about it."


 


"Your dad is right beside me. You can talk to him now but don't forget the weekend dinner here because I know I won't even get to see my daughter after she takes over her next project." Sapphire released a sigh in relief. She could finally get her mother back to normalcy.


 


Nevertheless, her happiness was short-lived. There was a visitor at her door and gazing at the person, her breath clogged in her throat.


 

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