The Dark Side of Success

by V B Huf

  ''You mean he came there to talk to Cornwell about Daniels?''. Johnson asked his wife over the phone.

  ''Yes,'' she replied. He ended the call and smashed his phone against the wall.

  ''Lilian!!!'' he shouted, and his secretary walked inside.

  ''That day when Scott visited me, and I asked you to drug his coffee,'' he turned around to face her, ''didn't you tell me you did?'' he squinted his eyeballs.

  ''Yes, I did, sir. I even remember Charles helping me to carry the cups back to my desk to bring to you,'' she responded.

  He slammed his hand against the table angrily.

  ''Yes sir, I'm very sure I did,'' she explained again, and Johnson frowned.

  ''You are fired! Now get out of my office!'' he gestured towards the door, and Lilian walked out in tears.

  Behind the closed door, Johnson’s breath was ragged. He knew. Cornwell had been looking forward to that day when someone would come and ask him about Daniels. He suspected Jonathan was behind Adams’ death because Cornwell had seen him that very evening when he talked about it to his wife. But he pretended he didn't hear or notice anything. Johnson didn't want to kill Cornwell, not because he was worried about life on his head, but just that there was already enough dead that it might start to attract attention. But now, he was regretting that he spared Cornwell’s life.

  ''I should have killed him!! Argh!'' he screamed. And after it, there was a quiet knock on the door.

  ''Yes, please come in,'' he adjusted his suit and tie and put on his usual everyday look. Charles walked inside.

  ''Oh, Logan,'' he smiled. ''What brings you here?'' he asked him.

  ''Ms. Garbi asked me to bring this here,'' he stretched a file towards him sheepishly.

  ''Oh, thank you,'' he said before collecting it from him, ''Oh, Charles, I need you to do something for me. Can you?'' his face broke into a scowl as he waited for Charles' reply.

  ''Yes, I can,'' he answered, and Johnson nodded. He was ready to do whatever he could to make sure his reputation remained positive.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  ​With all the events of the day – the interview, the question, the note - Ella was having a lot of trouble keeping both eyes closed. And whenever she did sleep, she'd have nightmares of that day in the courtroom. She was thirsty for success, yes, she was. She did what she should never have done. She knew Daniels was not guilty, but because of her drive, she let him go to jail by lying about him, suborning false witness testimony. And now that she can no longer sleep, the awareness occupied the greater parts of her mind, and she couldn't believe that she did such a terrible thing. She destroyed a family with a lie. She was a good person before that day, but after that day she couldn't answer to “good and honest” because she was not that anymore.

  ​Chad Daniels was a good man. Hardworking and loyal. That night when the fire outbreak happened, he was sitting at home, as usual, telling funny stories to his family, everyone enjoying his company. Then, when the call came in that was about the fire at Jones and James, he met his fellow firefighting crew members there and told them the situation. They were hard-working men and loyal too. Within thirty minutes, they were at the scene, trying to put out the fire. Daniels was standing outside when a lady rushed up to him and told him her daughter was upstairs in the building. It touched Daniels' heart. He radioed his crew members and told them to save the little girl upstairs, while he worked to contain the lower part of the fire. What he didn't know was that the fire was a setup, and someone had planted a bomb in the upper part of the building so that as they opened the door, it would explode.

  ​ When the four firemen forced the door open to save the poor young girl, the bomb exploded, and they all died. Daniels couldn't believe what happened. He looked around to search for the woman that told him about the girl, but she was no longer there. Going back into the building to see if anyone survived, he felt a sharp impact against the back of his head; he passed out. When he woke up, one of the crew had dragged him from the building, but he couldn't remember anything, and the only things he remembered were what they told him. But his family knew that he was not responsible for the death of his fellow crew members.

  ​After their death, the families of the dead men camped in front of Mrs. Daniels' home. They threw eggs at her whenever she walked out and called her the wife of a murderer. They asked her how she felt about her husband killing four of his fellow workers, but she knew her husband wasn't guilty. The decision to charge him with criminally negligent homicide came as a surprise to all of them. They paid for a lawyer, hiring Scott Kingsley, and explained everything to him. They checked Chad’s brain and neurology because of the memory loss and realized he had suffered a concussion. That explained the memory loss, but, as the evidence piled up against him, it was obvious someone was trying to frame him. Daniels and Kingsley sat side by side through the trial.

  Daniels would not allow his wife or son to attend; their pain and shame were more than he could bear to see. They framed him with that false evidence, and they convicted him and won the case. His wife could no longer walk in public; her face was all over the Internet as the wife of a murderer. She couldn't go to the market or anywhere freely, running into the hard stones of harsh words that were always directed at her. She hated her life, and one night at 2:00 am, she decided to end it. Her son woke up and found the corpse, and he couldn't believe his eyes. With nothing left for him in America, he fled, knowing that the man who destroyed his father might come for him next. He fled so he might later seek revenge, but after the trial, his goal was to escape.

  ​ Ella knew these things, yet she chose to support the lies against the poor man. She knew Johnson was behind the killing of the four men, but as he does, he blamed innocent people to cover up his sins. Daniels wasn't the target, but one of the four other men. Johnson killed him because he had his eyes on the man’s wife, and the man had threatened Johnson if he went near the woman again. So, Johnson decided to kill him, and now he's married to Tessa, the dead man's wife. Mr. Johnson was a man familiar with police operations, and he knew the police would dig into the case, so, he decided to point evidence to another person. So, he tied that rope around an innocent man's neck, Chad Daniels, and a whole family was destroyed.

  ​ Ella picked up the shreds of the letter she tore and read it aloud again. She sighed. She wondered who was behind the letter. At first, she thought it was Johnson, but she knew Johnson’s type; he wouldn’t beat around the bush with subtlety. If he wanted to end her career, he wouldn't do it under an anonymous identity. He would tell her to her face and end her career right before her eyes. So, she believed it was someone else; but who? She sighed again. She had had a persistent one-sided headache, and a part of her heart kept encouraging her to tell the world the dark side of her success before someone else spilled the news. She was sure the person behind the threat knew what she did, and even more afraid that they would announce it to the world. Any chance of further sleep was far away, and she picked up her phone.

  ''Shannon, I have a confession to make. Invite me to your show tomorrow,'' she told her.

  ''Oh, sure. Is everything okay?'' Shannon asked her from over the phone.

  ''No,'' she responded truthfully.

  She was not sure what triggered this remorse, but she knew she was tired of the voices in her head and the pain in her heart. She hated that she was the lawyer that used her position and desire for power to destroy a family. Maybe success was never meant for her. Success had never allowed her to close her eyes to sleep peacefully at night since that day when Daniels was pronounced guilty.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Kingsley had gathered enough evidence to prove Valerie's innocence and also take Johnson down. But he also had enough evidence defending Daniels, and yet, Johnson manipulated that case. He didn't know what he was up against this time, but he was not going to let any of that weigh him down. He was positive about winning the case. A lot of discussions had been going on across the Internet about the case. Some
people took sides with Valerie Adams, while some people did not. He wanted to see her smile again; he wanted to see her resume her usual post. He wanted the best for her. Since that first day she went to prison, he had stopped watching the news at five, because the truth was that she was the main reason why he loved watching it. Her face, her smile, and the search for truth that drove her. He loved it all, and he felt people like her should prosper on this planet.

  It was 9:00 am, and he had too much stuff in his head. He picked up the TV remote to watch for a bit to clear his head. When he turned on the TV, his face broke into a huge frown; his arch-enemy was on the ”Movers and Shakers” show.

  ''What lie is she going to tell this time?'' He knew her to be a liar. He folded his arms against his chest and watched her as she spoke. What she said on the show surprised him. She confessed to what really happened behind the Daniels conviction.

  ''Has she gone out of her mind?'' he stood up from where he was sitting.

  He knew that day would mark the end of her legal career in the city. He was glad that she spoke up at this time, not just to clear Chad Daniels but also to prevent Jonathan Johnson from manipulating the case he had in front of him now.

  ''Yes!!!'' he exclaimed happily. Finally, his dream was coming to pass.

  …

  ''Have you gone crazy?!''. Johnson yelled at Ella. ''How could you say such nonsense on that show? Huh?!'' he yelled at her.

  ''Why are you getting angry?'' she asked him slowly as she packed her stuff inside a box. ''I didn't mention your name, did I? So, why are you so scared?'' Ella raised an eyebrow at him.

  ''You selfish bitch!'' he was breathing heavily. He knew what Ella had done would trigger everyone's curiosity. He already saw a lot of posts on the Internet where curious netizens were asking her to reveal the name of the person she's hiding. He saw that she had deleted her Twitter and Instagram accounts.

  ''But what are you going to do about the reporters that are standing outside? Huh?!'' he turned around to face her sharply. ''Garbi, I swear if you mention my name to them…''

  ''What are you going to do?'' she sniped. ''Sign the resignation letter I submitted on your table, Johnson. Have a good day,'' she said before making a move to walk out. As she turned around, someone wrapped a handkerchief over her nose; she choked before fainting. The box she was carrying fell from her hand.

  ''Lock her up somewhere,'' Johnson ordered. He walked inside his office to dial Shannon. He was prepared to threaten her to make her do something about the show she held earlier that morning.

  ''Hello Shannon, you love your mother, don't you?'' he asked her.

  ''I d…oo, wh…o am I …speaking with?'' Shannon stammered.

  ''I am only going to say this once, you pay attention, listen, and do as I say. Failure to do so, your mother's corpse will be brought to your doorstep,'' Johnson threatened.

  That day, Shannon told the city that the story Ella told was merely acting, and she found her way to make most viewers believe that was the case. Although some people never believed it was merely acting, the more significant percentage of the masses did. She did it for her mother too, of course. She knew the man behind it was Jonathan Johnson, and she knew how evil he was. She had to comply for the sake of herself and her mother, and she wondered why Ella never contacted her to ask her why she told the world that Ella’s story was false. She feared Johnson might have hurt her as well, but there was nothing she could do.

  CHAPTER NINE

  October 12, 2019

  Valerie walked out of the court, acquitted and discharged. Excitement grew across her face as Kingsley wrapped his left arm around her, and they walked past the reporters together. The reporters questioned her, but she lacked the strength to reply to them. So, Kingsley replied on her behalf as he walked her to his car.

  ''Thank you, Scott.'' she thanked him, and he smiled.

  ''Thank you for believing in me, too,'' his smile broke into a grin.

  When they got to his house, he offered her dinner after she had a nice bath. He watched her as she ate. She looked more beautiful up-close than she did on TV. Valerie noticed that he was looking at her; she cleared her throat before looking up. When their eyes met, Scott felt something.

  ''You know, I didn't only help you because of my career,'' he started.

  ''So, why else?'' she questioned him before scooping a spoon of meatballs in her mouth.

  ''Well,'' Kingsley pulled a shy laugh, ''I like you, Valerie,'' he paused when she looked up, ''I really do, a lot,'' he concluded. Valerie placed her spoon on her plate gently before leaning forward to plant a small kiss on his lips.

  ''I like you too,'' she smiled at him, but Kingsley did not want it to end there. He had been lonely for so long, and his body craved affection and a woman's touch. He pulled Valerie closer to him and pulled her lips back in his mouth. She sat on his lap as they passionately tangled in affection. She had been lonely for so long too, and her body craved love and a man's touch as well. They both wanted each other more than anything else. Kingsley carried her bride-like to his room, and it was a romantic time between them. He had never felt more alive after winning a case. He was so glad that he was able to help her.

  …

  Kingsley's phone beeped; he stretched his hand gently to pick it up from the table because he didn't want to disturb Valerie, lying on his chest. He unlocked his phone, and it was a text message from the anonymous person. He smiled to himself before clicking on it.

  ''Congratulations, friend.''

  He laughed lightly. Most of what he did was through the help of this anonymous person. He was more than thankful to whoever it was.

  ''Can we meet? Please, don't snub me. Reply with a yes or a no. Thank you. I look forward to your response.'' sending, sent.

  He waited and prayed that he wouldn't decline. He wanted so badly to meet who it was. ''Pick a place and time.''

  He exclaimed happily when he read the message. Valerie slowly blinked her eyes open.

  ''I'm sorry I woke you.'' he apologized and pecked her on her forehead.

  ''It's fine, you seem so excited,'' she smiled and rubbed her palm across his face.

  ''Yes, I am.'' he chuckled lightly.

  …

  Scott was more than nervous about meeting the person that brought his come-back case to him, saved his professional life, and also helped him a lot with finding the evidence he needed. He wondered if the anonymous person was a man or a woman. The number never went through whenever he tried calling, so as to hear the person's voice. He steepled his hands together as he waited for the person to show up.

  ''Hello, Scott Kingsley,'' a male voice greeted him, and he looked up slowly. His eyes widened as he saw who was standing in front of him.

  ''You…'' he said as his mouth gaped.

  ''Hi, I'm Tyler Daniels, and it's nice to meet you.'' he stretched out his hand for a handshake, but Kingsley pulled him into a friendly hug instead.

  ''We meet again, old friend.'' He wrapped his body around his, and he accepted the embrace.

  EPILOGUE

  January 5, 2020

  Thomas Anderson was chosen to handle the defense in Johnson’s case. The case had been in headlines for months. Everyone in America knew about this case, charging Johnson with the murder of several people, the kidnapping of Ella Garbi, suborning perjury, and jury tampering. Across the front of the courtroom sat the prosecutor, assisted by Scott Kingsley, Thomas Anderson, now a defense attorney, and Jonathan Johnson, surly as ever. But there was one thing that they all knew, and it was that Mr. Johnson was guilty as charged. Ella was seated among the audience, a scarf tied around her head to hide her face because she didn't want people to know she was there. She wanted to see Johnson’s downfall.

  Kingsley, in an unusual arrangement, had been sworn in as a special assistant prosecutor. His knowledge of the Daniels and Adams cases would make him an invaluable ally to the prosecutor. Standing in front of the podium, he spoke to the judge. ''Your honor, I would lik
e to call another witness.''

  ''On what basis?'' the judge asked.

  ''He has a voice recording of where this man right here,'' he pointed at Johnson, ''confessed to having killed the four firefighters of the FFT1 station in 2015. Your honor, may I proceed?'' The judge gave him the go-ahead, and Tyler Daniels stepped forward. Everyone's eyes widened in surprise, including Ella. The witness was Charles Logan. He was also Tyler Daniels, Mr. Daniels’ son.

  ''You…'' Johnson's eyes widened. Anderson sat there and watched any hope of salvaging the case dissolve. They had been out-flanked.

  ''I am Tyler Daniels, the son of Chad Daniels, and I do solemnly swear that everything I'll say here today will be nothing but the truth.'' he took the oath.

  ''Mr. Daniels, can you please play the recordings of where Mr. Johnson confessed to having killed your father's crew members and also instructed you to take me down?'' Kingsley told him. Tyler dug his hand inside his pocket and brought out his phone. He placed it above a microphone, and the sound of Johnson's voice filled the courtroom. He recorded it that day when Mr. Johnson asked for a favor from him; the favor was killing Kingsley. Johnson related the story of the fire, how Kingsley was getting too close to the truth, and needed to be removed. Continued growth and pay raises within the firm would be Logan’s reward. After the tape, Tyler related how he had disappeared following his father’s trial, fearing for his life too. Staying overseas, he changed his appearance, gaining weight, building up his body, changing hair color, eventually looking like a new man. Since he had not attended the trial, Johnson and Garbi had little reason to connect the two identities.

  Ella could not believe that she fell for the son of the man whose family she destroyed some years ago. Tears rolled down her cheek as she watched the love of her life talk about the mistake she made. She couldn't believe it. She felt even more guilty to have ever done such a dark thing, just to improve her chance for success.