Estranged Wife

“WHY do you want to write about that winery in Ilocos?” Rico, the chief editor of All-Eye Online News, asked Mihara in a knotted forehead. “That company have maintained their excellent reputation since they started up to now.”

Mihara crossed her arms on her chest and turned to their floor-to-ceiling glass window in the office. “I know, Chief. The Villaruiz Winery is also admired by the public with their consistent charity works on calamities and disasters in our country.”

“That’s right,” Chief Rico agreed. “So what makes them the target of your Scandalous Category in AE online news?”

“I’m just interested in their back story,” she replied casually. “The perfection of their performance got me curious.” She turned around and faced her chief. “Every successful company has a dark and nasty past before they reached success. We all know that, right?”

Mihara Tanza is one of the elite content writers of All-Eye Online News. She started working at the News company when she got fired from her previous work four years ago. Because of that misfortune, Mihara decided to change her career and entered online news writing that focused on scandalous stories of well-known artists, businessmen, politicians, and other famous personalities.

Mihara maintained her low profile on Scandal News since she started. Her network, the AE News, only streams online, supported her privacy choice, and hid her identity from the day she was hired. Her chief editor understood that her news categories were always sensitive that it might cause her life if she is exposed to those public.

“Are you sure about your plan, Mihara?” Max asked, he’s her editor, and by the look that he’s giving her, Mihara was sure that he doubts her choice of prospect again. “I heard the CEO’s wife of Villaruiz Winery is a—”

“Monster,” she said and smirked. “That’s kinda intriguing, right? I believed that behind a successful man is a supportive wife, so how could a business tycoon like the CEO reached success with the kind of wife he has?”

“Wait a second, Mihara.” Chief Rico stood and propped his hand on his waist. His forehead is knotted, and Mihara doesn’t like what he’s going to say. “Are you saying that you’re going to target the wife of the CEO? I thought it’s the CEO that you wanted to expose?”

“I wanted to expose their life behind the multiple charities that they’re using as a front,” she said. “I know there’s something in them that the public doesn’t know. Especially the wife.” She took the printouts to her desk. “Well, I can also peek on the CEO's secrets.”

“If he has some,” Max commented skeptically. “Their public image is shining like a diamond. And, here you are, planning to put a scratch on it. Tell me, do you have a grudge in that family?”

Mihara laughed. “Max, I’m on scandal news. What do you expect me to look for? Inspiring stories? My job description is to expose scandals and flaws of bigger personalities. This is what I’m paid for—”

“But, why Villaruiz?” Chief Rico asked, still not convinced.

Chelsea, one of the junior editors, cleared her throat and raised her hand. “Ahm, chief, my friend’s father is a former sommelier in one of their bars here in Manila, and she told me that her father was fired from his job for no reason. Her father worked for them for fifteen years."

“Do you consider that a scoop?” Chief Rico asked the young editor sarcastically. “If I knew that you have the low critical thinking, I wouldn’t hire you.”

Max snorted. “You hired her because you thought that she could be the face of our network,” he said, then winked at Chelsea, who just blushed. “Sea, does your friend know that you work in AE? And, that we’re paying dollars for civilian scoopers?”

Chelsea hesitated to answer. “Ah, I told her—”

“That’s it!” Chief Rico blurted angrily. “Your friend is just making stories for money.” He shook his head. “And, how many times do I have to tell you that disclosing information about our network is strictly prohibited? Did you even read the contract before you sign it? I bet you didn’t see the confidentiality clause 4.5?”

“Chief, calm down…” Mihara tapped the chief’s shoulders. “Chelsea’s just trying to help, and besides, what she said is true. The Villaruiz Winery has started the forced retirement for their old employees—which is unusual for a company that promotes equality, right?”

“And, Chief, I didn’t tell my friend that I work here. I just told her that I read in one of our posts that we’re looking for civilian scoopers—”

“We didn’t post such job hunt!” Chief Rico shouted. “Looking for civilian scooper is like looking for neighborhood gossipers. And, their information is as good as trash. They’re the ones that you often see grouping in the streets and talking about other people’s lives instead of cleaning their houses!”

Mihara tried to control her laughter, but she failed. Max also burst out laughing. “Chief, it looks like that you’ve been a victim of those gossipers once in your life.”

Chief Rico shrugged off her hand on his shoulder. “I’m still their favorite subject,” he said with a gritted teeth. “They’re good at making implausible stories. They should replace your position.”

“Hey, my contents are all plausible,” she defended. “That’s why I wanted to write a series for that winery.”

Max's thick brows furrowed. “How are you going to do that? They’re untouchable.”

Mihara smiled wickedly. She went behind her desk and took a piece of paper inside her drawer. “I’ll follow the family’s luxurious getaway,” she said and dropped the plane ticket going to Maldives. “I’m sure they’re up to something. They don’t have branches in the Maldives—”

“Maybe it’s just a business meeting, and they’re planning to launch their first-ever branch in the Maldives?” Chief Rico countered.

Mihara shook her head. “I doubt it. They’re with their child—”

“Then, maybe it’s just a family vacation,” Max said with a raised eyebrow. “Did we hire you for that low critical thinking?”

Mihara glared at him. “Their trip to a country surrounded by oceans is fishy,” she said and looked closely at the ticket. “The CEO is Thalassaphobic.”

***