CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE;Who was it again?--ARC FOUR: Meetings and Continuations—It was a weekend morning but Tyler was already stressed out. His phone kept on ringing beside him and vibrating. He glanced at it and frowned when he read that it was her again. He slowed the speed of his car reached for it and immediately cut the call off. But it vibrated again."Fuck," he cursed and completely stopped on the sideway. It wasn't a big deal, it was morning and there were barely any cars running around. No one should maybe curse him for it.He briefly glanced at his wristwatch and confirmed that the time was 7:26, 5 minutes before the appointment time.He was eager and wanted to arrive before her but this thing is annoying the hell out of him. He should have turned his phone off, but he forgot to bring his other phone so his secretary could connect with him. He told her to make this day—at least the morning—empty, but his company is big and it's supporting many families. There's no way he
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO; Something She Forgot -- It's early in the morning, and Althea is embarrassed as fuck. So embarrassed that she just wanted to stand up and flee. She can't even look at the smiling yet not-smiling bastard sitting in front of her. She can feel his gaze penetrating her body. She wants to snap at him and tell him to cut it out, but she needs to deal with the embarrassing situation she made for herself. She needs to get out of the hellhole she stepped in. She said she was meeting an important person just to ditch him, but who could have thought that it was him in the first place?! Important person? Plain bull-!!! She calmed the raging flame inside her. Althea again counted backward from ten. After that, she is more or less calmed—just a little ripple on the sea. The silence between them was deafening. There were other people in the cafe, but the surroundings were oddly quiet. Not that people just go around shouting and stripping inside a cafe. It was like the w
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE; Purple -- Silence engulfed them. Both mother and son were observing Althea who was currently trying to recall the distant memories she still has about the information he gave her. And in the deepest part of her mind, there she found the lost memories. “Oh,” she muttered, glancing at them briefly before giving out a polite smile towards her spectators. “Yes, it seems like I heard rumors about that a long time ago.” Her eyes went to her drink as she tried to recall how many years it had been. “It’s been, I think… Nine years? Or was it ten?” “It’s twelve years,” Tyler interrupted her while leaning his arms on the table and slightly advancing in her direction. “Almost twelve years.” Althea raised her eyes silently and watched him, thinking of how—and why he remembered it. Is the number even precise? Who knows? Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. But she didn’t care, she wasn’t curious. Their eyes met. Althea opened her mouth to say, “It’s been that long. No wonder
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR;A Phone Call--Althea received a text from Melanie, one of her staff in their main branch. She said in the text message that there was a problem- one of the staff in a certain branch defrauded her customer and stole the earnings in her shop. After that, she left the shop without any of the other staff noticing. Since then, the staff has been on the run. The crime didn’t come to light until the customer raised a ruckus in the shop, saying she’ll sue whoever runs the business. Because of this, she had to drive back in a hurry. She doesn’t want to because it only delays the business deal with the Browns. Also, if they still have many unfinished discussions, surely, they have to meet again for it. Something she wants to avoid the most. There’s no way she wants to meet him again. It would be nice if it’s only his mother, Victoria, but she can choose not to meddle in it because she only offers the help of her son. Not her personally. She can choose to decline, yes,
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE; Surprise! -- "Hello, son!" His sophisticated mother entered his office, walking like she was on a red carpet whenever she received an award for being the richest woman on earth. "I came to mock you!" Tyler, who was disturbed by signing an important contract, glared at his mother with green eyes that were the same as hers. "Get out." Victoria ignored him and proceeded to sit down on the sofa near his table and crossed her legs with elegance then rested her left hand on top of her knees while her other hand removed her sunglasses, then he stared at her son with a mocking gaze and occasionally twitched lips in laughter. "So, did my dear Althea respond to your message?" Tyler didn't respond and tried his best to act as if he wasn't there, and Victoria was only delusional and talking to the wind. His head was bowed as he read the same paragraph, again and again, not a single word entering his mind. Victoria snorted and threw her expensive eyeglasses toward him.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX; A coincidence -- Althea was busy the whole week and the next thing she knew, it was already the day before her birthday. During this short period, many things happened, recruiting new part-time workers in the shop where the scammer was in, observing them work, and briefly teaching them things she knew. Because of that, she had to go back and forth from the city to that province. It was exhausting and mentally draining, but at least she didn't have to carry the burden of managing two shops. One was the main branch and the other was in the province—because Melanie was there. She's indeed efficient, just like what Emily told her. She carried half the burden Althea was about to carry. She also took the initiative to look after their somehow airhead cleaner. Also, during these times, Victoria visited her shop with a grin of something she failed to understand. She will just smile back and briefly glance at her back, then look away and drag her eyes back toward
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN; A Question -- Althea decided to have a small celebration on her birthday. With just her, the shop's staff, Charlotte and Kai. It will be a closed-door celebration so she wasn't that pressured about having many guests. It was 6 in the morning when she decided to cook the food. Normally, you would celebrate birthday parties in the evening, but Althea wants the night free. She wants to spend time with her kid. It's been a long time since they last met, a months-long or so time. "Here," a voice said from behind. Althea looked over her shoulder and saw Melanie putting the tray of sliced fruits on the table. "What should I do next? Should I help you with the food?" Althea dragged her attention back to the spaghetti sauce she was stirring and shook her head. "Nothing, for now, I can do it myself. I'm thankful enough that you woke up early to help me." "It's okay, but if you say so... Okay." She nodded before sitting down on one of the chairs. Althea hums in res
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT;Birthday—ARC FIVE:Shrouded in Mysteries—The sound of the broken glasses invited silence in all of them. Victoria widens her eyes in shock while Jack and Melanie share glances. Tyler, on the other hand, has his brows furrowed as he watched Althea pale from the shock of his mother's question.The question, too, shocked all of them, especially Jack and Melanie. They never thought that their boss's parents were already dead. What's more, it's both of them.It might not be shocking, because she's not the only one who lost all of her parents after all. But the two of them always thought that her parents were alive. No wonder Althea never talked about them before.Tyler was also shocked, but he didn't say anything. With his eyes, he just observed her every movement.Victoria was also wondering, she's wondering why Althea reacted like this to the mere mention of her parents' death, but she can ask again bluntly. She, more or less, caused this (but really, she's the