Is this destiny?

Bradley was sitting on a metal chair, with his legs chained to the floor and his arms chained to the metal table in the middle of the room, allowing him limited movements.

He glanced around the room and noticed that orange brick walls are almost color-matching his orange jumpsuit. Other than the metallic table and two chairs, the room is empty. Bradley lifted his gaze and spotted a flat-screen TV mounted high on the wall, showing a live video feed from this same room. Bradley tilted his head and at the same time, Bradley on the television moved as well. Only then Bradley noticed a camera above the TV. It is recording him, and the security guards can see it what is shown on this TV as well, probably.

Bradley sighed. Shouldn\'t someone come in already? His parents? No, there is only one chair opposite from him, so it will be one visitor. His father? Considering how much his mother cried last time she visited, he would not be surprised if she is still weeping at home. Is it Marcus? Or maybe his lawyer? The guards who chained him didn\'t say anything when he asked them who came to visit him.

The guards don\'t speak much. It seems that they are trained not to talk with the inmates in order not to provoke them by accident. You never know what might trigger someone. Honestly, Bradley finds their silence irritating.

The door opened, and Bradley\'s eyes widened in disbelief.

"Jeff…", he said under his breath.

Did Jeff come to help him out? Other than his parents and his lawyer, Jeff is the only one who came to visit him. Bradley was moved by this gesture of friendship.

Bradley noticed that Jeff\'s finely pressed dark gray business suit is such a stark contrast from his shabby orange jumpsuit. Did Jeff always dress so well? Probably… but because Bradley was dressed up also at that time, he didn\'t notice. Ah, how you miss the little things when you lose them. Like soft underwear and cotton shirts which fit well.

Jeff took a seat on the metallic chair opposite from Bradley, with the table in-between them.

Bradley observed that even in this sorry room, on a simple metallic chair, Jeff looks like a king. Must be the aura he is projecting. Royal. Commanding. Demanding respect. That is how Bradley would describe Jeffrey White.

Bradley wondered, what possessed him to think that Marcus is better than Jeff?

"Hello, Bradley. How are you doing?", Jeff broke the silence.

Bradley was not sure how to answer. How is he doing? Bored, anxious, regretful, scared, angry…

"Lonely.", Bradley said after a lengthy deliberation.

Jeff responded with a small nod. "Are they treating you well?"

Bradley shrugged. "As good as anyone else. Uhm… Why are you here?"

"I feel… responsible for you ending up in this place. If I didn\'t show you those photos and videos…"

"If you didn\'t, I would not know what a cheating bitch mooched off from me for years!", Bradley hissed irritably. "I am glad that you showed me the truth, no matter how ugly it was."

"Is that what you think?"

Bradley confirmed. "If I find that your wife is cheating on you, as a friend, I would tell you right away."

"A friend…" Jeff mused. "A friend would not try to sell me out so that he and his girlfriend can come out in the open."

Bradley\'s eyes widened in shock. Jeff knows! But, who cares? He is already in prison, and with all the evidence against him, he has nothing to lose. The police has the gun, Cooper is alive, and even the handprints from Paige\'s neck match Bradley\'s palms. Can it get any worse? What can Jeff do? Nothing! This is the freedom when you lose everything, you are not afraid because there is nothing else left protecting.

Bradley chuckled. "Don\'t try to act all high and mighty. My parents didn\'t approve of Paige no matter what I did. I was desperate, so I had to do something out of the box."

"Out of the box? That is an interesting way to say that you backstabbed your friend. When you say that you were desperate, did you stop and think what you did to get your parents to accept Paige? Was there nothing else you could do? You told them that you have a girlfriend, your parents didn\'t approve and… what did you do? You kept Paige as your mistress and took other, more acceptable women, as your dates to the functions that are important. How is that fighting for the woman you love?"

Bradley narrowed his eyes at Jeff. "Don\'t try to talk like you understand. Your parents accepted Anna!"

"But I do understand. Did you forget that when I met Anna my parents had me matched to another woman? Did you forget how I never entertained any woman other than Anna and I had to prove to my parents that she is a good partner for me? Other than Anna I never accepted any other woman who might be a better match in status or background or whatever else society thinks it\'s important."

Bradley snorted. "I\'m sure you are not here to give me a lesson on how to be a better man."

"That is correct. I came to tell you that I am aware of your deal with Marcus and that all this is a punishment for you and a warning to anyone else who dares to think of going against me in the future."

Bradley paused. "What do you mean?"

Jeff did a slight movement with his fingers in the air (while selecting options on Eve-vision) and pointed to the television screen which showed an excited news anchor delivering latest business news: "... \'Hanks industries\', known for their three-generations long ruling in the area of metals and precious gems, which is suffering from financial backlash due to recent scandals, was saved by the White corp. Just when all the employees thought that it\'s over, White corp. acquired them, and they all got a new lease on life under the White corp. umbrella. This is another of many recent acquisitions done by the White corp. and the time will tell how profitable these acquisitions are. Regardless of the profits, the employees are showing faith in the young CEO White…"

The news went off and the screen showed Jeff and Bradley sitting in the visitation room.

Jeff looked at Bradley whose eyes darted aimlessly while he processed this new information.

Jeff smirked. "Just in case you are wondering why your parents are not visiting: they are busy packing because they lost… everything."

Bradley inhaled a choppy breath. "You did this…"

"What did I do? Took away everything from your family because you dared to betray me? Yes, I did."

Bradley\'s mind was spinning. Just what is this? His father told him that they had some issues, but this… they were in such a bad state that Jeff ended up acquiring them?

"You are ruthless! Do you need to go that far? I was not the only one to work with Marcus!"

Jeff chuckled. "Oh, I know that… But it seems that you are out of the loop with latest news. Let me enlighten you…"

Bradley\'s attention got drawn to the television again.

A news anchor was delivering news in a solemn tone: "…a memorial service was held today for Christopher Fredrickson, the young man known as the heir of \'Fresh foods Inc.\'. The service was private with only closest family and friends attending. They were all still visibly shaken by the suicide for which they all say no one saw coming. Our camera captured some of Mr. Fredrickson\'s friends of many years, who are rising stars in business and politics, as they exited the chapel where the service was held: Jasper Kiani, CEO of K Industries; Russel Harper who is leading Harper Investments in their latest expansion in Europe; Vincent Price who is the rising star in politics with record approval rating which goes beyond party lines and Jeffrey White, CEO of White corp. While on the topic of great approval ratings, White corp. is responsible for saving thousands of jobs with the acquisition of \'Fresh foods Inc.\' who filed for bankruptcy last week. \'Fresh foods Inc.\' was a business owned by the Fredrickson family and the evidence suggests that deceased Mr. Fredrickson committed suicide because of the financial hardships his family found themselves in…"

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