Raymond called for his assistant immediately he got to work, anybody who saw him knew that he was angry and so no one tried to get in his way. A knock on the door startled him before he composed himself "come in."
The door was pushed open and a young man entered, he has a sandy blonde hair and light blue eyes, he was carrying stack of documents and snappily walked to Raymond's desk and dropped them "you...you...you sent for me sir?" He asked nervously.Raymond stared at him coldly "Morris, why did it take you five minutes to get here?""Em...sir, I was still on my way to the office when I received your call, so I hurried up to meet you. I'm sorry if I kept you waiting.""Kept me waiting? Which assistant stays at home until his boss arrives at the officer before him?" Raymond bellowed."I'm so sorry sir but the company resumes by eight hundred, it's still seven fifty five sir. I didn't know you will be here early" Morris tried to defend himself.Raymond eyelashes lowered and he stared at Morris coldly "so now you tell me when my company resumes work?""No..no...no..no...sir, I was just" he paused and took a deep sigh "I'm sorry sir, it won't happen again."After receiving his apology, Raymond looked away from him "a new uprising arose in my grandparents home this morning" he paused and pinched the bridge of his nose "they are giving me condition.""What condition sir?" Morris asked."I am to be the sole owner of the Baldwin Empire only after one year of my marriage.""What!" Morris exclaimed."Yes" Raymond stood up from his desk and walked to the floor to ceiling window, his hands in his pant pockets "now this is a really big problem. I don't see myself getting married soon and even I am to be, one year is way to long. I must be the CEO of the Baldwin, I must."Morris was silent as his thoughts run wild "hmm, as far as I know old boss Desmond, he will do as he say.""Exactly" Raymond turned to look at him "why do you think I'm worked up about this? He even said he will put it like that in his will" he walked to his desk, his hands on his chair with his brows creased, he was thinking really hard "something has to been done. I must own it before the anniversary next year because of that membership to the World Club, I can only be accepted if I own the Baldwin since they only accepts Legendary companies. I can't join with any of my own, it's not be long I set them up. The Baldwin has been around for a hundred years, I can only get Raymond Corp and the rest into the World with the Baldwin as their umbrella. So you see, I have to get married this year" he looked at Morris."So what are you going to now?" Morris asked before a new idea struck him "wait a minute, how about you fake a marriage?"Raymond looked at him with confusion evident in his eyes "fake a marriage? Is that possible?""Of course. You just need to find a girl, tell her about your plans, offer her some money which she can't refuse and you get yourself a wife.""Hmm" Raymond considered the idea until a sweet smile graced his lips "offer her money, ladies can't refuse money. I just need to hire a priest, fake the certificate and get a contract with the girl, once grandpa makes me the owner of the Baldwin, we will claim to have issue and request for a divorce. Grandpa and grandma will remain in the dark, I will pay the lady and she goes, life goes on for me" he laughed."This is why you are still by my side Morris, your brain is really why you are here" Raymond smiled and sat down on his chair.Morris don't know whether to accept his comment as a compliment or an insult but he still said "thank you sir.""Now, the problem now is to find a suitable bride" Raymond said."You have had a lot of flings sir, can't you choose one from your exes?" Morris suggested."No, no, all of them wants to marry me. None of them will agree to be Mrs. Baldwin for a year and let go, they might expose me to grandpa because they will like to remain my wife for good. I need to find a new girl, an innocent one who is only after money and not fame" Raymond looked thoughtful and a move at his office door knob caught his attention. He stood up and quietly walked to the door.Morris stared at him confusingly "what..." He wanted to ask when Raymond placed a finger on his lips.Raymond opened the door abruptly and an older woman fell into his arms. The woman stood uprightly immediately."I'm so sorry sir, it's... Its...it's not what you think" the woman apologized immediately.Raymond stared at her "what brings you to my office Mrs. McCarthy?""Em...em, this letter arrived and I just wanted to pass it to you" she fumbled with her cloth and passed an envelope to him nervously.Raymond took the envelope from her "okay.""I will return to my desk now sir" Katherine turned to walk away.Raymond stared at her leaving figure with his eyelashes lowered "I think she heard everything sir" he heard Morris whispered behind him and he nodded "I know" he replied."What should I do sir? Do you think she can keep her lips sealed?" Morris asked."I don't know. Even if she will, I don't trust her" Raymond answered "doesn't she has a niece?"Morris thought about it "yes she does. The daughter of her late brother, she has been taking care of her since she was little.""Hmm. I'm I not in need of a bride at the moment Morris?" He looked at him with a sly smile.Getting his hidden meaning, Morris smiled "yes you are sir."Raymond smiled "you can leave now, tell McCarthy to come to my office during her break period.""Yes sir" Morris nodded and left the office while Raymond shut the door and walked back to his desk, a sly smile playing on his lips.Eight months later, Felicity and Raymond were on a date, she had finally given into his persuasion three months ago and they have been dating for three months now. Although she was more matured and poised now but sometimes she still shows him her childish behavior which led him to believe that he now has three children.He has gotten a lot closer to his children and everyone found out that miraculously, Darryl was a daddy's boy. He always wants his dad around him and sometimes he claims to be sick just to miss school and then he will bug his grandaunt later to take her to work with him so that he will see his dad and will stay in Raymond's office the whole day till he brings him home. Of course he won't go to Felicity who was now working in the ICT department of The Baldwin's Empire, because he knows she will end up dropping him in the school.How did he know that?Because it has happened once to him.Although Felicity may be cute, but she didn't want to spoil her kids,
Three months later, Raymond pulled over in the driveway, he got down just as the door was opened and two children ran out shouting, "daddy!"He squatted and opened his arms for them and they slammed into him, he kissed both their cheeks, "how are you?""I'm fine" they both said excitedly."So, are you ready for a fun day?" He asked and they nodded vigorously. He smiled and kissed their head each. He looked up at the lady who was watching them, at his gaze, she turned and shut the door before approaching them."Now that we are set, let's give some rules, one, no running off, stay close where I can see you, two, no rough play and three, don't lose each other. If you obey these rules, then I will consider us going for another fun day" she said to the kids.The kids readily agreed to the rules and ran to Raymond's car while their parents followed after them. "Thank you" he said to Felicity but she ignored him.Raymond smiled, it's one step at a time, at least she
Getting to their destination, they all got down from the car and Hana looked at Raymond, "are you sure you should have come with us? I don't want little Lee rejecting us because of you.""If she doesn't want to see him, he would just stand outside and wait for us" Desmond said as they walked to the patio.Raymond said nothing but just walked silently behind them. Desmond rang the bell and the door was answered by Mercy.She was surprised to see them and she doesn't know if she should let them in or not, but at the end, she smiled and shifted aside for them to enter, "please come in."They walked in to first hear the voice of a little girl whining, "you said you will give me your cake.""You eat too much, very soon you will become fat" a little boy's voice reprimanded her."Alright hush you two, you mustn't fight all the time" a lady's voice was heard, they had made their way to the living room then to see the kids surrounding a woman who was placing two plates of c
Darryl tossed and turned on his bed, he couldn't get himself to sleep. He kept thinking of the gray eyes he saw today, the gray eyes that looked so much like his own. He has never been attracted to all those men that wants to see his mom like he was to the one he saw today. He wants to see him again. And after hearing his mom and aunt fight, he knew his instinct is right, that man is his father. Even though neither his aunt nor his nanny wanted to admit it, but he knew.He climbed out of his bed and approached his sister own, he gently climbed into it and gazed at her sleeping face, after what felt like minutes passed, he gently tapped her shoulder, "Sofie, wake up Sofie.""Mm, leave me alone" she pushed his hand away and flipped on the bed."Come on Sofie wake up, I need to tell you something.""Tell me tomorrow" she mumbled.Darryl pouted, "if you wake up, I will give you my cake in the morning."Sofia's eyes snapped open immediately, "you will give me your cake?
Katherine entered the house to see Felicity standing beside the sofa with her arms crossed on her chest, she sighed and knew she would be getting some questioning, "little Lee.""Don't call me that!" Felicity warned.Katherine heaved a sigh, "Felicity, I understand you are angry but, this is expected. You can't hide them forever.""I don't want him to know about them. For goodness sake aunt Katy, I don't want to have anything to do with him in my life again.""But you know that's not possible. No matter how bad you want to take him out of your life, you can't. As long as you still have the children, he is tied to you with them.""Not if he doesn't know about them. I want him out of my life and out of theirs. He doesn't deserve to be with them, he doesn't deserve to have them!""That's like saying it's not his blood that runs in their veins.""If I say it's not, its not."Katherine sighed, "Felicity...""Aunty Katy please" she raised her hand to stop her, "
Felicity and Katherine looked at each other before looking at him again, "why would you say that?" Katherine asked."Because I want to see my daddy. All my friends in school use to talk about how their daddy thought them how to throw ball and builds snowmen with them. I want my daddy to teach me too and build snowmen with me" as if that wasn't enough, he looked at his little sister, "don't you want to meet daddy Sofie?"The little glutton sitting on her Mommy's lap immediately nodded continuously, "yes, I want to meet daddy. Daddy will take me to amusement park and buy me ice cream and cake."Darryl rolled his eyes, "glutton, all you think about is food.""Mom, Darryl called me glutton again" she whined."Darryl, don't call your sister glutton again" Felicity looked at her daughter "but mommy use to take you to amusement park and buy you cake and ice cream.""Yes but daddy will carry me on his shoulder and spin. Then he will kiss my head and call me his princess" s