139 Margaret Raimi

Pin drop silence fell over the room as soon as Liz said these words, as everyone stared at her, wondering whether they were dreaming.

These were all senior managers and employees who had worked in the company for decades, and they had never been addressed in this way by anyone.

Hence, some of them stood up with anger, but they were made to sit down again by Liz.

"If you have complaints about the way I talk to you, you can send them to the CEO directly after I'm done. We do not have time. While we are talking, Sam Raimi is merrily working his way towards causing this company a loss of millions, or possibly billions of dollars. Will you dare to take responsibility for that if it happens?"

This made them shudder, as they all knew just how high the stakes were.

Liz knew that it was impossible to be liked and feared at the same time. At least, in the short span of time she had, it definitely was not possible.

However, they already had negative impressions of her due to her 'reputation'.

So, she no longer cared about being 'liked'. All she wanted was results, and for that, she would be as rude and ruthless as needed.

Glaring, she locked eyes with each and every one of the 20 individuals in the room.

Each of them matcher her gaze for a few seconds, before looking down.

There was only one exception: a bald man wearing a suit.

His ego was apparent on his face, and he looked like he was deciding whether to shout in response.

"You-get out. You're fired from this team. I'll recommend that you be fired from the company itself, but that's not my call. I don't know how capable someone can be if they don't know how to put aside their emotions and ego when needed."

Hearing this, the entire room gasped.

This man was the branch head of the Toronto office! He was their superior, and now, he was being made to leave?

Even the bald man, himself, couldn't believe it.

With shock on his face, he sputtered, "B-but, I'm the Branch Head!"

Clapping her hands, Liz replied in a cold tone.

"Great! But there's one problem with that: I don't care. OUT!"

With indignation on his face due to being shouted at by a woman at least 20 years younger than him, the branch head gathered his files and headed to the door, grumbling under his breath.

Just before leaving, he said, "I'll make sure the CEO hears-"

BANG.

Before he could finish his sentence, Liz walked to the door and banged it shut on his face.

As silence appeared in the room again, she looked at them and waited.

It took 2 seconds, but they understood.

As one, they started moving, making Liz nod and sit on the head of the table.

"I want everything. All the data we can pull about his life. If we want to figure out what he's doing, we need to know where he's been. You are authorized to use all resources: even those from the government."

….

3 hours later, Liz had a thick stack of documents in front of her.

With a crease in her forehead, she was going through them and trying to make sense of just what this man was up to.

The meeting room was empty, as the others were busy running around and trying to extract more data.

As a knock sounded on the door, Liz looked up to see one of those in the meeting from before poking their head in.

"Ma'am, she's here. She's waiting for you in conference room-2."

Nodding, Liz got up and followed the man.

A minute or so later, she was led into a room where a frail, old day wearing a cardigan was sitting and waiting for her.

"Miss. Raimi, thank you so much for coming in."

As Liz extended her hand, she frowned when she saw the old lady ignore it.

Yet, she noticed that there was extreme panic on the woman's face, as if she was very afraid of something.

Closing the door quickly, Liz sat down with a concerned expression in front of her and asked, "What's the matter, Ma'am?"

This was Sam Raimi's mother.

The first information she had gotten was that this woman, Margaret Raimi, was living in Toronto. It sounded like a coincidence, but it was surprising to see a police report filed online with this woman accusing her son of hitting her.

It had been quite shocking to see, and Liz had taken the chance to call her in by telling her that she wanted to talk about her son.

Sam hadn't been convicted, but it was written in the report that he had moved away.

By luck, the woman had agreed, but seeing her now, Liz wondered what her reason was.

Once again, she tried to coax her.

"Ma'am, whatever it is, I promise to try and help. I just want to find out more about your son, Sam. Is it Ok if I ask a few questions about him?"

It was the mention of that name which did the trick.

Looking up with fearful eyes, Margaret Raimi spoke in a shaking voice, startling Liz and making her take a step back.

"BE CAREFUL! HE'S CRAZY!"

This was something she had already gathered in her meeting with the man, but what had shocked her was the terror in this woman's tone.

What the hell had that man done to her?

"What happened between you two?"

Deciding to cut to the chase, Liz decided to ask this question.

In response, the woman took out an old newspaper clipping.

In it, a man's face could be seen which looked similar to Sam. It detailed how he had hung himself after writing a suicide letter blaming the Bradshaw family for taking away his business.

Liz had already read about this, so she stepped forward and said, "I know what happened to your husband, ma'am. Did finding out about it later traumatize Sam?"

When Margaret replied, Liz's eyes widened, making her sit down quickly and wonder whether she had heard right.

"H-He was made to watch when his father hung himself."