Stand by me

58. Exposed?

A long chapter after a late update😃

Lex wanted to confront Irene right away but he kept his rationale and chose to deal with the pending issue first. He arrived at A20 and stormed into Gina's office. To his relief, Safiyya was there with the woman showing her the job she just finished.

"What's going on here?" he asked, anger visible on his face. Safiyya wasn't surprised to see Lex but she didn't know how to answer.

"I am accessing my worker Mr. Lex. What's the problem?" Gina inquired fearfully.

Lex looked at the slide of the projector and scoffed. "I know what type of work is assigned to the accountants in A20. Why is she doing this?"

Gina was agape because due to the abrupt disruption, she forgot the slide on the screen. Lex knew something was wrong and turned to Safiyya.

"Tell me the truth Sofiyya. No one will do anything," he assured her.

"I am doing her work for her," She replied not hiding anything. Gina gasped but had no word to deny it because it was true.

Lex clenched his fists and glared at Gina. "So in my department, under my nose, something like this is happening. It's in the rules of Hill Corp that every employee's file should be checked thoroughly before they are given a job. Not only did you not check her recommendation to see where she deserves to work, you left her here and after seeing her worth, you didn't care to promote her but made her do your job. Do you have anything to say for yourself!" he ranted.

"I'm sorry. I was asked to do it," Gina apologized with shaking clasped palms.

"Save your apology for something else because this matter reached the CEO's office. Your greediness will take you nowhere," Lex noted and her eyes widened.

Safiyya was also stunned. How did this escalate to that? And how did Lex find out?

"Come with me now Sofiyya," He said and walked out. Safiyya gave Gina a look before following him. The accountants were given another shock because when Lex passed in a hurry, they were still debating if he was the one but now they got a clear view. Ana was speechless and stared at Mrs. Gina's office door. She wondered what just happened in there.

Safiyya paced behind Lex and found herself in A5 again. He only stooped when they were in his office.

"Sit down first," he told her quietly and she complied while he made a phone call to the others. The four people who came to her earlier arrived again and she was bewildered by Sara's red eyes. Was she crying? What happened?

"Give her the flash drive," Lex ordered and Kate handed it to Safiyya. She looked at Lex quizzically and he gave a wry smile.
"First of all, I am sorry Sofiyya. I had no idea that you were promoted to this department. If not, I wouldn't have let you work in A20 and be used like that," he said apologetically and she felt awkward and guilty. It wasn't entirely his fault.

"We will deal with that later but now you have an important assignment," she perked her ears and he continued, "This team of your friends was given a very important project and had to ask for your help. They didn't care to tell me about it and at the general meeting just now, they fumbled before the higher-ups of Hill Corp,"

Safiyya was stunned and sneaked a glance at her friends who had their heads lowered.

"You know what this project is about right?" Lex asked her and she nodded.

"Mr. Hill asked for another presentation in one hour and you have to do since you compiled the slides yourself. You have to convince them or your team will hardly be given anything important again," he explained.