Chapter 4

Four Years Later.

45

“Come on, Mommy. It’s time to wake up.” Hailey heard that familiar voice, followed by a tiny pair of hands, pulling her right hand.

“I’ve got my alarm. It will beep when it’s time to wake up.” She said with a sleepy voice, her eyes still closed.

“But the alarm beeped already and you didn’t wake up.”

“It did?” Hailey said, finally opening her eyes. She took a glance at the alarm clock on her bedside and saw that it was 15 minutes past her wake up time.

She mentally facepalmed, slowly pulling herself up into a sitting position.

“Good morning mama,” The little boy threw himself at his mommy the moment she was well seated.

“Good morning, my love.” She pulled him into a warm long hug, placing a deep kiss on the crown of his head.

“Are you tired, Mommy?” Hailey smiled, seeing the concern on her Son’s face.

“Yes, just a little bit but I will be fine. I was awake past my bedtime. That’s why.”

“Ohhhhh.”

“Don’t do that again, mommy. That’s not good for you.”

Hailey chuckled. If only her little boy understood that she had a lot on her plate and that included giving her kids the beautiful future she never had.

“Your brother is still asleep?” Hailey asked her first son. The little boy shook his head. “Enzo is watching cartoons.”

Hailey nodded.

“Let’s get you both ready for school.” She got down from the bed, helped her son down, and with their hands intertwined, they exited the room to the kids‘ room.

It was big, beautifully decorated with the best pieces of furniture, and two double beds, each belonging to the boys.

And just like Oliver said, Enzo was still on his bed, watching some morning cartoons. He had no idea when his mommy and twin brother walked into the room.

“Did he sleep well through the night?”

“Yes, mommy,” Oliver answered, nodding. He loved it so much whenever he was given a task to do.

“Thank you, my love.” She crouched to Oliver’s height, hugged and kissed him on the cheek after which she made her way to where Enzo was.

“Hi Mommy,” He smiled, moving towards his mother and she pulled him into a long hug.

“How do you feel now?”

“I’m fine, mommy. Is it time to get ready for school?”

“Yes, baby. I’m late for work already but that’s fine. I am still going to drop you all at school.”

“Cool, mommy, I’m going to introduce you to Aubrey.“Oliver voiced out.

“Okay,” Hailey mumbled, a smile crept to her lips as she stared from Oliver to Enzo who was blushing, and then back to Oliver.

“What did I miss? Who is Aubrey?” Hailey asked, giving all her attention to her boys. At this point, She didn’t care that she could be extremely late to work. She cherished every time spent with her bundles of joy.

“Aubrey is the new girl in class. She said she likes Enzo.”

“I don’t like her.” Enzo defended, smiling.

“You share your snacks with her,” Oliver said as a matter of fact.

“You do?” Hailey asked Enzo, staring at him with so much amusement. Unlike his twin brother, Enzo was the

more reserved and shy one.

“She likes my snack so I shared it with her.”

“You shared?” Hailey couldn’t believe her ears. It wasn’t as though Enzo was a stingy kid. He was just used to being alone.”

“He likes her.” Oliver giggled.

“We are gonna be late for school.” Enzo groaned, not in for any form of teasing this morning.

“Oh cool, that’s not a problem. We will continue this conversation later.” Hailey said after which she led her boys to their adjoined bathroom and helped them clean up.

Once done, they dried their bodies and Hailey supervised them as they got into their outfit for the day.

It was second to none that the twin boys were at a point in their lives where they just wanted to do everything themselves. Hailey lets them sometimes. While other times, she just sits and supervises.

Once they were done dressing up for school, She led her boys to the dining room. Elma, the maid, was done preparing breakfast so Hailey served Enzo and Oliver some food after which she went to her room to get ready

for work.

She was back in about Twenty minutes, She had coffee and eggs, then exited the house with her sons.

The ride to their school was mostly quiet. The boys were at the back, occupied with their iPads while Hailey focused on the road and a little bit of her thoughts.

After what felt like forever, Hailey pulled you into the parents‘ parking lot, she got down from her car and went over to help the boys out.

“Be good.” She kissed them both on the foreheads, after which they shared some hugs.

Their class teacher came by, and Hailey spoke to her a bit, after which she took the boys in.

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Hailey stood and watched with smiles on her face as her twin boys made their way in. They turned back for a second to wave. She waved back and Hailes was about to enter the car when she saw a girl hug Enzo. She was the same height as him. She smiled, knowing that could be Aubrey.

In about thirty minutes, Hailey got to the office. Her secretary, Melinda, met her at the ground floor entrance.

“Morning, Ma’am.” She took Hailey’s handbag from her and handed her a cup of coffee.

“Thank you.” Hailey brought the cup to her lips and took a sip.

“You have a visitor”

“Who?” She mumbled, making her way towards the elevator.

“He said his name is Julz.”

Hailey stopped in her tracks, turning her attention to Melinda, frowning. “Julz Carton?”

“Exactly ma.”

“What the hell is he doing here?

“He said he has very important information for you.”

“You all got to be kidding me!” Hailey shoved the remaining cup of coffee in Melinda’s hand and stormed towards the elevator.

Melinda went after her, trying to keep up, wondering how someone could be this fast on heels.

Coming out of the elevator, Hailey saw Julz seated on the couch at the reception. She went to where he was.

“Hailey?” Julz said in disbelief the moment he sighted her. He stared at her from head to toe and couldn’t believe this was her. He couldn’t help himself so he rose to his feet.

“How can I help you?” Hailey said with a stern voice, as though she had no idea of who he was.

“You

rme, right? Julz, your father’s frie…..” He hiccupe

“You’ve changed so much, Where have you been all these years?”

“Please see yourself out.” She said and started to make her way towards her office.

“No, wait up. There is something important. That is why I’m here.” He said, walking so fast after her.

Hailey stopped in front of the door of her office and turned around to face him. Before She could say anything, Julz’s voice came through. “How come you disappeared off the face of the earth? Th…… this is your company? You have changed so much.”

“Sorry about my reaction. This is just….so hard to take in.”

Hailey glared at the old man who was almost in his fifties once more.

“Yes, this is my company and I am going to ask you for the last time or else I won’t hesitate to slam the door on your face.”

“What do you want?” Hailes stated her point politely and even from the way she was staring at him, Julz knew that she was damn serious.

“Okay, I will go straight to the point. Julz mumbled, wondering how he was going to start the conversation.

“You may remember me as your Father’s friend but I am also your Grandfather’s lawyer.”

“What does this have to do with me?”

“Your father has reached his retirement age. It is time for you to take over the company.”

“What company?” Hailey said with confusion written all over her face.

“Your family company.”

“What family?”

“It was in your Grandfather’s will that his first Granddaughter should take over the company once Eric is retired.”

“Coming here was definitely a mistake for you and a waste of our time. You definitely didn’t discuss this with Eric because if you did, I am sure you wouldn’t be here.”

“Those people you mentioned are people of the past. I’ve got nothing to do with them anymore. I’ve got my hands full with my company.

“Yeah, I know all that I am saying right now doesn’t make sense to you but the truth is that your family company is on the verge of winding up due to bankruptcy. They tried merging with Cole’s company but nothing good

came of it.”

“I don’t know how but you have done so well for yourself. If not for the proof the personal Investigator sent me, I wouldn’t believe that you run this company.”

“Your father’s company needs you, Hailey.”

“I don’t have a father and there is no way I am going to have anything to do with any member of that family. They can all go to hell with their bankruptcy. I don’t give two fucks about them.” Hailey said, and with fast steps, she made her way into her office.

Julz was about to follow her in when he felt someone grab his arm. He glanced at the owner of the arm and it turned out to be two hefty security men that were behind him. He could swear that they weren’t there earlier. That made him wonder so much about how they suddenly got to where he was.

“Let go of me.” He mumbled, frowning at the security that held him.

“You can’t go in, Sir.”

“Thank you for being rude and polite at the same time.” Julz glared at them.

“You either help yourself out or we are going to force you out.” The other security guard said sternly.

“Please tell your boss to think of all that I have said. I know her family hurt her so badly and I am deeply sorry about it. But She is the only one that can actually save the company. Her father may be an asshole but the company was started by her grandfather. She wouldn’t want to see her Grandfather’s sweat go down the drain right?” Julz said to Hailey’s assistant, Melinda who was about to make her way into Hailey’s office.

“It is time for you to leave.” The security guard reminded and Julz started to make his way towards the elevator.

Melinda made her way into Hailey’s office. She saw Hailey’s eyes glued to the iPad situated on her desk so she knew she didn’t have to say anything anymore. The iPad was connected to the CCTV right outside her office so Hailey could see and hear all that was going on.

“Do you have any idea If any company reached out to us for any collaborations?”

“We receive offers for collaborations almost every day. HR is the one that uses his discretion to decide which one is worth it and which one isn’t.”

“But the truth is that we can’t jump on all collaborations,” Melinda answered after placing Hailey’s bag on her desk.

“Tell HR to see….” Hardly was Hailey done with her statement when a knock came through on her door. She peeped at the tab that controlled the CCTV and saw that it was the person they were literally talking about.

“Oh perfect!” She mumbled.

“Come in,” She answered to the knock and almost immediately, Titus, the H. R of ENOL Enterprises strolled into Hailey’s luxurious office.

“Good Morning, Ma’am. I want to know if you would be available later this afternoon for a meeting with some new clients.” He said as he approached her desk, coming to a halt not far from where Melinda stood.

“It depends. What do you know about Summer Incorporations and if possible Cole Matthis Enterprises too.” Hailey asked.

“Just like a few others, they are both at the edge of bankruptcy. They literally need us to save them. Myself and Haggi looked over the proposal and decided that it wasn’t going to be a good collaboration. Rather, they would be pulling us back. And we can’t afford that, since this company is top two in the country”

“Crazy!!!!” Hailey mumbled,

But again, She suddenly remembered all the pain they made her feel and decided that this was the best time to overthrow them and have her revenge.

“You know what? Reach out to both companies. Let us know if they would be available for a meeting with us. tomorrow.”

“Are you sure about that, Ma’am?”

“Yes,”

“Okay, I’ll do as you’ve said.”

An hour later.

Hailey was almost done reviewing a file when a knock came through on her door. She looked up and saw her assistant walk in with a big bouquet of red roses.

“From Mr Tyler.” Melinda mumbled, placing the roses on the table.

“And almost immediately, her phone buzzed on the table beside her. The name ‘Ty,‘ flashed across the screen.

“Thank you,” Hailey said after which Melinda took her leave.

“Hi Baby,” The sweet voice came through the moment Hailey answered the call.

“Hi,” She responded, casually.

“You don’t sound cheerful. Anything the matter?”

“I am good.”

“Come on, Hailes. I know you too well. You really don’t have to keep things away from me.”

Hailey sighed deeply. “I’m the heir to the company started by my Grandfather and they want me to take over the company as soon as possible which leaves me at the risk of running into my ex– husband. He doesn’t know about the twins and I’ll be seeing them all tomorrow.”