Begin Again novel Chapter 123

Dazedly, Eden drifted in front of the screen and watched the news anchor report live from the N1, where three of Anderson Logistics freight trucks, en route to shipping depots in different parts of the country, were engulfed in flames, in what the police had termed a highly sophisticated attack.

The reasons for the ambush, though, were still unclear.

Within seconds, Liam's office door shot open. Matthew, Julian, and the other senior executives stormed in, along with their PAs, and they all held an impromptu meeting.

The room was in stunning chaos for three hours as everyone lost their heads trying to do damage control.

Julian was close to tears as they all watched Anderson Logistics' share prices tank on the markets.

Matthew had a PR nightmare on his hands. Speculations and rumours about the attack, which was eerily similar to those that had befallen other logistics companies in recent days, were already spreading like wildfire. Every man and his dog suspected it was linked to the Ivanov twins and Rock Castle's underworld.

Liam had the daunting task of breaking the horrendous news no one should ever have to deliver to the families of his deceased drivers.

He also had the difficult job of facing the press.

The PR team had to draft a stellar press release and arrange a press conference that would normally take a good couple of days to plan in under an hour.

Eden lingered in the room for a while. But she may as well not have been there because not a single person asked her for help. Not that she'd know what to do anyway if they did.

Tired of being a useless wallflower, she kept herself busy by arranging refreshments and snacks and all the files needed as everyone worked well into the night.

Sometime after 8:00 PM, during a quick body break and a leg stretch, Eden called Brenda to let her know she won't be home for a while due to a work crisis.

Her nanny was a superstar as always and assured her she and Aiden were okay.

"Give him a kiss for me," she said before she hung up.

When she returned to Liam's office, he was freshly showered and all suited up, his face grim. Gibby and a makeup artist fussed over him as they got him camera ready while speech writers shoved tons of papers in his face and walked him through the press briefing.

Clara had called in sick, so she missed all the craziness. But she was constantly texting Eden for a status update.

Eden muted her phone after a few back and forths and ignored the rest of her texts. She saw no point in stressing her friend out when she was so sick and couldn't exactly help.

At 9:00 PM, everyone raced down to the auditorium on the first floor, where a hoard of press agents was waiting, ready to devour Liam.

She knew the board didn't like him. It was an open secret at the company. But she never thought they could try to remove him because she always thought the CEO's seat was his birthright, and no one could take it away from him.

She stared at her feet now, painfully aware she's way out of touch when it comes to office politics, and she felt oddly embarrassed at her lack of awareness—

"When I leave a week from now, Ms McBride, this will be your job," Gibby drawled, interrupting her thoughts. "To hold him up when he falters, to keep him in line when he goes astray, to push him when he wants to give up, to fight alongside him when he goes into battle."

"But Matthew—"

Before Eden could remind her she reports to Matthew now, Liam's security detail hurried to the stage to whisk him away just as the crowd of reporters rushed to mob him.

The nightmare of a press briefing was finally over.

She followed Liam's assistant out of the auditorium, and they parted ways at the elevators. Gibby's job wasn't over yet. She had to arrange interviews with morning news shows.

Eden left the building, barely pausing to chat to Ted and Jim, who were both engaged in a heated discussion—the attack was no doubt the hot topic of the day—with a few other guards as she blindly made her way to her car.

She was about to pull out of the parking lot when she realised she left her phone in Liam's office.