Francis had been standing in front of his boss’ office for seven minutes convincing himself that he was doing the right thing. He must have read the name on the door a hundred times. ‘Engr.. Y. S. Julius, Branch Manager’ was boldly inscribed on the golden plaque hanging on the door in front of him. He knew that once he went in, there was no going back. He kept reminding himself that as a child of God, it was wrong for him to keep quiet when such an evil act was about to be committed against his colleague at work.

As he was about to knock the door the umpteenth time, doubt held back his hand.

“Holy Spirit, please help me. Give me the strength to do this.” He prayed under his breath and without any further hesitation, knocked on the door. 

“Come in,” the masculine voice from inside responded.

Francis entered the fairly large office and greeted, “Good morning, sir.” He had been in the office a couple of times but never had he been this nervous.

“Good morning, Mr Ajayi. How are you today?” Engr. Julius stopped what he was doing to give the young man his full attention.

“I’m fine thank you sir.” Francis said and stood speechless.

“How can I help you?”

“Ermm I…I ” he stuttered.

“Have your seat,” Engr. Julius pointed at the chair opposite his table. Perhaps that would make him more comfortable.

He sat at the edge of the chair. “I came to report what I believe to be a conspiracy sir.”

“Conspiracy?” Engr. Julius wasn’t expecting that. “Care to shed more light?” He wanted to understand what he was referring to. 

“Yesterday, I heard, Mr Kolade and Mr Godwin talking in the lunch room. After they heard that a financial scrutinizing would be done in the company, they decided to cover their tracks by framing Miss Helen. They plan to do this by transferring a certain amount of money to her account and accusing her of fraudulent activity.”

“Are you sure of what you are saying?”

“Yes sir. I didn’t want to seem like a snitch so I accosted them and told them what they were planning was wrong but they didn’t care. They told me to go to hell.” Francis felt relief after letting everything out.

“Mr Ajayi, if what you are saying is true, I’ll need to take it up with the MD.”

“That’s fine sir. I’m sure he will handle the matter appropriately.”

“Alright then, if that’s all, you may be excused. I’ll call him right away.”

Francis stood up, “thank you so much sir.” He took his leave but didn’t completely shut the door. He had taken a few steps before remembering that he wanted to add that Miss Helen had confided in him some weeks earlier that some members of staff had approached her to join in their fraudulent activity but she had turned them down and so that was probably the reason they wanted to frame her.

He was about to push the door open when he heard Engr. Julius oh the phone.

“He just left my office. He knows everything sir. I told him I will inform you. What should we do to him?… okay sir” Engr. Julius ended the call.

Francis couldn’t believe his ears. Both the branch manager and the MD were in on it. He felt helpless not just with regards to himself but also his colleague, Helen.

He didn’t know who to trust anymore. He thought he was doing the right thing by speaking up but right before him, it backfired.

“Holy Spirit, what should I do?” He prayed as he turned around and left before Engr. Julius found out he overheard his conversation. He felt confused and directionless.

As he walked back to his office, his phone rang. He looked at the caller’s ID. It was the MD.

He hoped he wasn’t in trouble.

“Hello sir,” he picked up, almost holding his breath.

“Mr Ajayi, it has been brought to my attention that you have exposed a conspiracy that involves certain members of staff. Is that true?”

“Yes sir, I felt I needed to speak up so that Miss Helen doesn’t get framed for something she knows nothing about.” He explained.

“Now I don’t want you to mention a word of this to Miss Helen. Since you have refused to be a part of it, the least you can do is keep your mouth shut and look the other way. Am I well understood?” His tone was harsh

“But sir,” Francis wasn’t buying it.

“No buts!” He exclaimed. “Failure to do this means forfeiting your job here and I’ll personally make sure you remain jobless.” He ended the call before Francis could utter another word.

Francis was having a hard time processing what was going on. He immediately remembered Pastor Gbolagade, one of his colleagues that was let go the previous week. He had always wondered why he was fired but now he was able to put two and two together. He must have stood his ground and maintained his stance for integrity.

“Dear Lord, what am I supposed to do? I need your guidance,” he prayed as he walked back to his office with his head downcast.

He got no response to his prayer. But a scripture dropped in his heart.

‘The LORD says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you Psalm 32:8’

He ruminated on the call he just received and despite the threat of losing his job, he felt a leading to go ahead and inform Helen about all that was going on.

“God is the One I live for not anyone. I’ll rather lose my job than disobey God and lose my peace. God that helped pastor Gbolagade stand through this test will certainly see me through, whatever the outcome will be” he concluded.

He placed a call to her. Her line was busy.  He ended the call.

His phone rang immediately, it was Helen.

“Hello Francis, sorry I missed your call. I was on another call,” she explained.

“No problem. Are you in the office?”

“Yes I am.”

“Alright, I’ll be there shortly. There something important I need to tell you.”

“Ok. I’ll be expecting you.” She ended the call.

On getting to Helen’s office, he met Mr Kolade.

“I didn’t know you had company.” Francis knew he couldn’t say what he had to say with anyone there especially Mr Kolade.

“I was just about leaving.” Mr Kolade stood up and gave Francis a stern look that said ‘you better not say a word’.

“Good morning, Francis, what was it you wanted to tell me?” She asked taking off her glasses to give him full attention.

Francis still had doubts as to if he should speak or hold his peace but he didn’t have peace keeping quiet while pending doom lurked around the innocent looking young lady.

He finally let the cat out of the bag, letting her know the conspiracy involved even the branch manager and the MD.

“What?” she exclaimed. “I cannot believe this.” Tears welled up in her eyes. “What am I going to do now? Who is going to believe I’m innocent?”

“There is still time. The money hasn’t been transferred to your account. How about you write an official letter to the Financial Crime Investigation Board explaining how you were asked to be a part of this fraudulence and you turned it down. Attach your bank statement to the letter and any other relevant document. That should be proof of your innocence and if there is any way I can come in, I’ll be willing to.” His suggestion sounded very apt.

“Okay, I will do that right away. Thank you very much.” She put on her glasses and began working on her laptop.

“I’ll be in my office if you need me. I’ll also pray along. God is in control.” He stood up to leave.

 “Thank you very much.” She said without lifting her gaze from her laptop.

In his office, Francis was meditating on all that was going on, He was still in shock as to Engr. Julius and the MD’s involvement. He placed his head on the table and began to intercede for Helen. Some minutes after, his phone beeped.

It was a text message from Helen. He opened it;

‘Engr. Julius, Francis just left my office. He said that you and the MD are involved in a conspiracy against me. What have I done to deserve this?‘

Francis froze in his seat. What has Helen done? Telling Engr. Julius that he knew about his involvement in the conspiracy is only making things worse for him.  

He rushed to her office to stop her from sending the message to him. On getting there, he met Mr Kolade, Mr Godwin and Engr. Julius.

“Ermm I…I’ll come back,” he stuttered.

Helen stood up and began to clap. The other three members of staff joined in the applause with smiles on their faces.

“What’s going on here?” Francis hadn’t been more confused. Was he being framed instead of Helen? He didn’t know what to think.

“Congratulations Mr Ajayi,” he heard a familiar voice from Engr. Julius’ phone. It was the MD on loud speaker.

“I don’t understand sir.” He replied.

“We have been looking for a member of staff with integrity. This so-called conspiracy was a test which we had tried on eight others before you and they all failed resulting in the termination of their employment.”

“Including Pastor Gbolagade?” Francis couldn’t believe it.

“Sadly, yes. You are the first and only person who has proved to be a man of integrity and for this reason you are being promoted to the position of the new company director Congratulations once again.”

“Oh my Jesus, thank You.” Francis fell on his knees. He was overwhelmed with joy. He didn’t have the words to express himself. He just remained on the floor. “Lord Jesus, I thank You.” He repeated. He was most grateful to God for everything. “Thank you so much sir, I’m grateful for this opportunity.” He told the MD who was still on the phone.

Engr. Julius and the others gave him a handshake and congratulated him.

THE END

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