Hello everyone! I am back, and it's finally what you've all been waiting for! The conclusion of Emily, Yumi, and Sissi Debacle! Will Ulrich find out the truth? Will he forgive Sissi? Will he leave Emily? And most importantly, will he fire Yumi? Well, let's find out. It's finally here!
Chapter 9: The Aftermath
Ulrich looked at the three girls before him. Sissi seemed scared out of her mind yet confidant. Emily was shocked and little curious as to why Ulrich was here. Yumi simply stared back at Ulrich. She didn't seem scared, just uncertain as to what she should do.
"I asked a question." Ulrich said.
"Ulrich," Sissi began. "There's something that you need to know."
"What is it?" Ulrich asked.
Sissi glanced at the two girls on her left. She stared Ulrich straight in the eyes, took a deep breath, and said, "Emily's cheating on you, and I can prove it."
Emily was quick to fall into her "innocent" routine. "What? Not this again. She's trying to trick you all over again." She said.
"Emily, let Sissi continue." Ulrich said. He wasn't looking at Emily at all. He was glaring at Sissi intently. "If what she says is false, her proof will show it."
Sissi smirked. "It's the recording device in your hands. Play it."
Ulrich slowly placed the device on the table. He stared at it. He was obviously bracing himself for the possibility of Emily cheating on him. He pressed the play button.
"Hello, Stern Co. This is Yumi speaking." Ulrich looked at Yumi questioningly, wondering what she had to do with Emily cheating.
"Yes, this Mr. Howards speaking. I'm the representative from Warthing's Gaming Company. I'm calling to set up our meeting with Ulrich Stern, your boss."
Ulrich pressed the stop button. He looked at Sissi. "This has absolutely nothing to do with Emily."
"Wait, start it from the beginning!" Sissi yelled urgently.
"I did, Sissi, this is the first message." Ulrich said.
"You couldn't have. Before there was a message of . . . sh-she and William were—,"
"Why do you always say I'm with William?" Emily said, outraged. "I would and have never cheated on Ulrich! Why can't you just leave us alone!"
"Shut up!" Sissi roared. "You must have pressed the delete button and deleted the message! Ulrich, I'm telling you the truth—there was a message of Emily and William talking about their secret relationship. You have to believe me!" Sissi began tearing up. She couldn't believe it was happening again.
"Sissi," Ulrich mumbled, "why do you keep lying to me?" Ulrich sound hurt and betrayed. He looked at the woman pitifully as he shook his head. "What happened to you, Elizabeth?" Sissi flinched at the sound of her real name. Ulrich wasn't even referring to the nickname he gave her. He was finally cutting off the last tie to their friendship. "Sissi, you're fired."
"No!" Sissi screamed. She ran and grabbed him by the shirt and she shook him. "Please! Don't fire me, Ulrich, I'm telling the truth!" Ulrich forcefully pulled her away from her and dragged her out the door. Three security guards had finally made their way to the office and were shocked to see Sissi wailing as she tried to bypass Ulrich and get to Emily.
Ulrich looked at the guards and said, "Close this door, and make sure Ms. Delmas stays here until I come out and say otherwise. I still have some more business to attend to."
With the door closed, the three remaining adults could hear the muffled screams and sobs of Sissi. Emily was delighted. Yumi was disgusted.
Ulrich looked at the Japanese woman. "Yumi, why are you here?" Yumi swallowed. She opened her mouth, but no sound came forth.
"She came here with me." Emily spoke up. Yumi looked at her in amazement. Just what was she getting at?
"Yumi came here with me to stop Sissi. That's why she was fighting with the machine."
"Then why did she try to take it from you when you grabbed it the second time?" Ulrich asked.
"Um-well-that's because halfway through, she actually thought that Sissi was telling the truth. You see, Sissi was convincing her that I was lying. Yumi just wanted to secure the device so she could make sure wasn't tampered with. She was doing the right thing, Ulrich. I'm actually glad she did that." Emily smiled at Yumi. "You were being loyal to Ulrich. I know that he can count on you for anything."
"Is this true, Yumi?" Ulrich asked. He didn't look angry anymore. In fact, he looked rather anxious. She could tell that he desperately wanted her to say yes in order to end all of this betrayal.
"Ulrich . . ." Yumi uttered.
"Yes?"
"I, I . . ." Yumi closed her eyes and stepped away from the other two. She could feel their stares burning into her. "I'm sorry." She weakly uttered.
"Sorry? Sorry about what?" Ulrich asked. "Yumi, what are you sorry about? Tell me!"
"Emily really is cheating on you!" Yumi yelled. "I don't have any proof, but I can't just let you marry this woman when she's been cheating on you since she met you!"
"Yumi, what are saying?" Ulrich asked.
"I know you may not believe, but you must, Ulrich."
"Shut it, Yumi! You're ruining your own life!" Emily threatened.
"You have to believe me, Ulrich. She's been cheating on you with William. She threatened to have you fire me, but I don't care anymore. I can't work in this place! Everyone's always lying and scheming!"
"Yumi, don't speak—," Ulrich pleaded.
"You need to hear this. William blackmailed her into it. She was cheating on you and my best friend, Theo. And she only dump him because you have money. She was even going to divorce you just to get your money, and she even wanted ownership of your business."
"No! You're lying." Ulrich screamed.
"I'm not!" Yumi screamed. "Why would I lie about this, when the only thing I'll get out of this is you firing me. So why would I lie knowing that? I'll even tell you that I lied to you too. I kept it secret because I was so selfish; I wanted to keep my job instead of telling you the truth. I manipulated you into not firing William, and I took advantage of your trust. So fire me, but if you do, fire me because of that."
Ulrich was shaking. He glared at Yumi and then glared at Emily. "I won't hear anymore." He mumbled. "Just stop it. You lied to me. You manipulated me. But there's just one thing, I have to know. The one thing that really throws me for a loop. It's this." Ulrich threw something onto the desk for the two girls to observe.
Upon closer inspection, it was a small plastic stick. The fatter end was white, while the silver end was gray. On the white part was a small screen that displayed a green smiley face: a pregnancy test.
"Who does this belong to?" Ulrich demanded. Yumi and Emily stared at it.
"Well it's not mine." Emily said as she folded her arms and looked at Ulrich as she were daring him to say it was hers. Ulrich looked at Yumi, awaiting her answer.
"Hey, I'm a virgin." Yumi said as she held up her hands as a disclaimer.
"Well somebody's lying."
"Not necessarily." Emily said. "It could be Sissi's. It's probably the reason why she was so desperate to get us broken up. That and our marriage. She just couldn't handle it."
"And what stupid sense does that make?" Ulrich snapped. Emily was taken aback. She couldn't believe that he yelled at her.
"It's not hers. She should know better than even you that I don't care for those who don't hold their virginity as being special. My family is a moral, Christian family, and I would not have respected her if she told me this. Besides, when would she have a chance to put this in the trash can in this office? She's always on the first floor—she doesn't even go onto the second floor! This belongs to one of you two." Emily and Yumi remained silent. "Let me tell you what I think." Ulrich said as he paced back and forth in front of the girls. "William was cheating on Yumi. When she found out, she was devastated. She became even angrier when she found out that she was impregnated with his child." Yumi's eyes grew bigger. "I saw the loathing on your face when Emily mentioned his name earlier today. You were livid. Tell me, Yumi, is this thing yours?"
"No!" Yumi objected. "I told you, I've never had sex with anyone. I would have never let him near me, even if he hadn't have cheated on me."
"So you really expect me to believe that it's Emily's?" Ulrich asked.
"It's not mine, and you said it wasn't Sissi's. She's been sleeping with William, so it's possible."
"Stop lying!" Emily protested. "It's not mine. I was saving myself for you, Ulrich. I would never cheat on you."
Ulrich glanced at Emily and then turned his gaze to Yumi. "You lied to me. You've been lying to me, and you've been taking advantage of my trust."
"Ulrich, please," Yumi started.
"I really thought I could trust you, but I don't know if I could ever believe you anymore." Ulrich was in front of Yumi staring down on her. She felt so small and weak before the tall, raging man. "You better be glad you stopped lying to me, because if you continued, I would've fired you."
"Huh?" Yumi said.
"I know that what you're saying is the truth. I know, but I can't believe it. I wish to God you were lying to me." Ulrich said.
"Ulrich, you can't believe her!" Emily said defiantly.
"Why not, Emily? Why shouldn't I?"
"She's lying."
"Emily, just how dumb do you think I am?" Ulrich asked. "Do you really think I'm so stupid that I would just take you for your word without so much as a thought of it being true? Emily I know you're pregnant. Because there's just one other scenario. We went out today, and you wouldn't eat fish—you live for fish! I know that you might want a change every now and then, but you were sick that morning. When you came in the afternoon, you seemed very well. Morning sickness. But you want to know the number one thing that made you stand out? You've been trying to get me to sleep with you for the past month. I would you do that when you've never done it before? We both agreed to wait until after we were married, but you just keep urging me to sleep with you."
"Ulrich, I just really wanted to be with you."
"No you don't. You want to be with my money. You want to be with the rich and powerful. I was just a means to an end. Sissi was telling the truth, and so is Yumi. You've been cheating on me since we went out. I thought these two years were the best years of my life. I loved you. But you never loved me. You never cared about me. You were just using me. What's worst you made me abandon my best friend and turned me against her. I want to hear you say it. Tell me, Emily, are you preganant."
"Ulrich, I'm n—,"
"Emily." Ulrich said her name, his voice seeping with venom. "I will not hesitate to make you take a pregnancy test. I will even find out who DNA is on that stick. I'll make you take a virginity test, and even if you say you had sex before you even met me, I'll still leave. I'll make you take a polygraph test. I'll ask you every single question about everything you ever told me. And if I find one lie, I'll leave you. So I'm asking you, Emily. This is your chance to finally tell me the truth. I know it'll be hard. You've been lying to me sine you met me. But this time, you will tell me the truth. And if you don't, and if you make me go through all of that testing, that baby's life will the last thing you have to worry about." Ulrich growled. "Are you pregnant?"
Emily broke down in tears. She was on the floor, crying her eyes out. It was over. It was all over. She didn't even look at Ulrich as she mumbled a weak, "Yes."
Ulrich turned away from her as he began pulling at his hair. Even though he knew this would happen, it still pierced his heart. Ulrich grabbed the desk and turned it over in a furious rage. He kicked down the chairs and then turned over the sofa. He began destroying the office, anything he could lay his hands on. Then he took the picture of him and Emily and threw at the wall. Then walked over to Emily who crouched in terror. She and Yumi thought that Ulrich was going to do the worst, but he only took the ring from off of Emily's hand. He looked at it and then threw it out the window. Ulrich then grabbed a fallen chair and set it upright and sat in it.
"Get out, Emily."
"Ulrich,"
"I said get out. I don't want to see you right now."
"Please, don't leave me!"
"How dare you beg me to stay when you were planning to divorce me!" Ulrich said. He opened the door brought one of the guards into the room. "Take this whore and get her out of this building!" Ulrich ordered. The guard tried to pull her out but Emily was kicking scratching like a little kid. He then hoisted her on his shoulder and carried her out. "Sissi, come in and close the door."
Sissi was scared to see the room in such disarray. She stood next to Yumi who could not believe what she just saw.
"You know, Yumi, I really should fire you, and I have every right to. But I won't. You wanna know why?" Ulrich asked. He seemed to have calmed down over the initial shock of being cheated on.
Yumi slowly said, "Why?"
"Because if I did fire you, I would only be left to fill your place with someone who would be more dishonest and disloyal than you have been. You're the most honest person I could have hired. Yep, the only one. But it's not just fair. I mean Sissi never lied to me, but she was subjected to insults and a job that was way below her standards. You were cheated out of the job you should have gotten. So I'll have to rectify this. Sissi I am hiring you as my personal lawyer and the lawyer to this company. You will handle all legal allegations that I or this company may deal with. You start tomorrow. I know this won't make up for it, but it's the best I can do."
"Thank you, Ulrich." Sissi said.
"Ulrich," Yumi started.
"I know what you're going to say. You're sorry. I know you are, but sorry not enough. You're getting off scot-free for lying to me. Well so far you are, but I can't let this go unpunished." Ulrich said nonchalantly. "Nope. Sissi remained truthful, but you didn't. So what I'm going to do is take away your nice, lucrative paycheck. Say goodbye to that half a mil a year you were making and say hello to the 25,000 a year you're now making." Yumi's stomach flopped. Ulrich scrunched his face as if he were in pain. "I know, that really hurts doesn't it? But you know who got paid that much when they should have gotten your paycheck? Sissi!" Ulrich laughed. "How ironic, right? I'm giving you Sissi's previous payment plan. But that's not all, I'm giving you the benefits she had. Sissi, why don't you tell her what those benefits are?" Ulrich said as he closed his eyes and walked around in what seemed to be happy bliss.
"Um, well, I had no benefits." Sissi said.
"That's right! You didn't." Ulrich said. "And that means you don't either, Yumi. No health plan; no insurance for anything. When we go on business lunches, you have to pay for your meal. You don't even get a company cell phone. Yeah, I'm stripping you of everything you once had. So tell me, Yumi, how do you feel now?"
Yumi sighed. "I deserve it. I appreciate the fact that you won't fire me."
Ulrich frowned. "Wait, that's it? You're not going to protest?" Yumi shook her head. "You're not at least going to try and get some the benefits or money back at all?" Yumi shook her head again. "That's it? Aww, come on! At least frown. Stop smiling! I can't believe, the feisty Yumi was submitting to me! This was boring. I was expecting at least a little resilience. How weak." Ulrich rambled. He was really pushing it.
"I might hurt you if you don't stop." Yumi said through gritted teeth.
"So do have some fight in you! Good, I thought you'd be boring. After all, I told you I'd never fire you as long as you amuse me. And I'll be looking forward to you tormenting the new Front Desk Clerk."
"Who's that going to be?" Yumi asked.
"Emily." Ulrich beamed. "I mean she's going to have to find some way to take care of the baby, right? And she won't be counting on William. Not after I fire his sorry carcass tomorrow and drag his name through the mud. He ain't gettin' that job he was trying to get at that lame rival company. Didn't one of our janitors retire last week?" Sissi and Yumi nodded yes. "Well he can have his job. I'm sure William will feel right at home too. He should be used to handling trash, I mean he's been whoring with Emily for the past two years, so it shouldn't be anything new to him. Hey, security guard, you got that whore out of here, right?" Ulrich asked as the security guard returned.
"Yes sir."
"She didn't hurt you did she?" Ulrich asked.
"Just a scratch really."
"She injured you? Oh, you have to take the rest of the week off to get healed."
"It's Friday." The security guarded replied.
"Well then you get Saturday off."
"I don't work on Saturdays."
"Well just leave before I fire you!" Ulrich yelled. The security guard glared at him as he left.
"Are you okay, Ulrich?" Sissi asked. Ulrich stared at her.
"Am I okay? Of course I'm okay! There is absolutely nothing wrong with me. So what if Emily has been cheating on me? I won't have to marry her now. I'm single again! I'm free! Yes! I can make out and flirt and look at all the girls I want. I don't have to worry about taking care of a wife or having her nag at me. I won't have to take care of any dumb kids, or anything like that. Nope, I'll be alone. I'll be all alone. By myself. No one to be with me." Ulrich said as he broke down. Tears began to fall from his face. "I bought a Grand Caravan and a giant house, you know. I was going to fill it up with a big family. But I don't have to worry about that now. I can trade in that pile of junk for a motorcycle or a sports car now. I make that giant mansion I bought and make it my bachelor pad." Ulrich was now talking through his sobs. "I'll have that big empty house all to myself. No loud, noisy kids; no wife cooking dinner; no kids breaking or dirtying things; no wife next to me in my bed. I can just talk to myself and hear the echoes. And when I become so insane from loneliness I can talk back to the echoes. I have nothing. And I'm all alone. Just me." Ulrich leaned against the wall as he sobbed. He then picked up the pregnancy test and stared at it.
"Emily's pregnant. You know, I had numerous dreams about that sentence. I was crying just like I am now. But those were tears of joy. Because I was a father. I was going to take care a child. I would snake my arms around her from behind and hold her and the baby inside of her." Ulrich slid down onto the floor. "But I'm not the father. I'm not. I was the fool that almost took care of a kid that's not mine. I'm the fool that almost married someone who was intending to divorce me later just for money.
"You still have this business." Yumi said.
"Oh that's great! A multi-billion dollar business! That's all I need, right! I have so much money! I almost married a tramp because of this business. I've gone through several gold-digging girlfriends because I was rich. I had so many fake friends because they wanted to hang out at my parents' mansion. I had people sneering at me in jealousy because they only thought of me as a spoilt rich kid. I had people think that I was a stupid heir who knew nothing about how to run a business because I was handed this business because I did was be born from the "right family." This business has stripped me from the chance to make real friends. To have a real love. And to have real respect from people. The only thing this stupid business did was make me have nothing but this stupid business." Ulrich was a complete wreck now. "I'm sad that Emily cheated on me. Devastated even. But nothing compares to the pain I feel from the fact that I know the only reason she ever talked to me was because of this stupid business!" Ulrich stood up and shuffled towards Sissi. "You don't have a car, do you?" she shook her head. "Then take my keys. I'll walk."
"Ulrich, I can't take these." Sissi said.
"Yes, you can. I'm not taking that car. I just want to walk. Alone. I need to get used to it. I need to get used to the idea of being alone." Ulrich reached the door, but before he left he turned around. "There's just one thing. Life is very fair. Don't believe anyone who says it isn't. People seem to think that rich people have it all, but we don't. We have to worry about whose lying to us. Who's stealing from us. Who's betraying us. We become so paranoid we never get enjoy our riches. And I can't trust anybody. I'll become so paranoid, I won't even trust myself! I'll just be alone. Forever." Ulrich said as he finally left. It was a scene that bothered both Yumi and Sissi. They had never seen anybody so distraught. Ulrich was right. Someone was going to leave in tears. And they now understood that he wasn't talking about Emily. He was talking about himself.
