After leaving the house, I didn't go to the small apartment Dad had arranged for me.Instead, I called Erika and asked her to find me a place.In the following days, I focused on taking care of all the company affairs at hand before signing a contract with Erika to transfer my shares.Once I was done signing the contract, I picked up my bag, ready to leave the company. However, Beverly unexpectedly stopped me.Looking at me with a complicated expression, she asked how I'd been lately.I glanced at my watch—the plane was about to take off. Hence, I casually replied that I was alright without even lifting my head and got ready to leave.Beverly stubbornly blocked my way with a furrowed brow. "Raymond, you seem to have changed.""Is that so? I didn't notice. Anyway, I have to leave now. I still have things to do."When she heard I was leaving, her face instantly filled with panic. She grabbed my wrist tightly, claiming, "You have changed. You never used to treat me like this!"Be
Once I was home, I began packing my things to prepare to leave.I had only gotten halfway through when I was interrupted.Timothy's parents, who were also supposed to be my parents, suddenly showed up at the apartment.Chances were, whatever happened that day had rattled Timothy, so he deliberately sent Mom and Dad my way.The two of them walked in with cold expressions, and the first thing Dad said was, "Is there no limit to your shamelessness, Raymond? Your brother is already married to Beverly, yet you're still living in her house? As Timothy's brother, shouldn't you move out already?"With a sneer, I shot back, "Am I the shameless one, or is it Timothy? Firstly, Beverly was my girlfriend—he stole her from me! So, now even my girlfriend isn't off-limits to him?"My mom screamed over me, cutting me off as she began to blame me."What do you mean by steal? It's your own fault for being incompetent! Good thing our Timothy is smart. Otherwise, we would've lost such a good daughte
After leaving the conference room, I asked Erika to meet me at a cafe just outside the company.After seeing my message, she had eagerly arrived earlier and was already waiting for me inside.She stared straight at me for a long time before saying, "So, have you finally made up your mind? Let's elope."I couldn't help rolling my eyes at her. "Don't talk nonsense. I came to talk to you about the company shares."I showed her the share transfer agreement I had just signed with Beverly."With this additional five percent, I now hold a total of 15%. Think you can handle all of that, Ms. Hayes?"Truthfully speaking, I had my own motives for seeking Erika out this time.I knew she had a strong interest in this company. If that weren't the case, she wouldn't have invested all that money when the company needed funds the most.Now that the company was steadily growing, this was basically a money-making opportunity. She had no reason to say no.What I didn't expect was that Erika's gaz
Once all the shareholders and employees had arrived, the company held a staff-wide meeting. The main purpose of the meeting was to lay out work plans and targets for the second half of the year.In just two short hours, Beverly had paused the meeting five separate times, either because Timothy wasn't feeling well or wanted to eat something.Just as the meeting could continue again, her phone started ringing nonstop after barely ten minutes."Ms. Galvan, if you're that busy, maybe you should wrap up your personal matters before continuing the meeting," I said flatly.Beverly's face contorted instantly.At the end of the day, I was still one of the founding members of the company and also a shareholder.I had never spoken to her like this before. Even when urgent matters came up, I would always take care of them for her, but that was never going to happen again."This is a company-wide meeting. Ms. Galvan, even if you are a major shareholder, it's still not right to waste everyone
I had to admit, in that moment, Timothy stirred up every emotion I had kept buried. Even if I no longer cared about the bracelet, he just had to bring up our childhood.Ever since we were children, he bullied me, stole everything from me, and now he was even stealing my woman!Right then, my emotions erupted like a volcano.I had just raised my hand and had not even touched Timothy when he suddenly let out a shrill scream. He collapsed, clutching his stomach in agony.Beverly rushed over, shoved me to the ground, and gently helped Timothy up. "Raymond, are you insane? You already know that Timothy's unwell, yet you still pushed him!"I hit the floor, scraping the skin off my palm, creating a bloody open wound. However, even this pain was nothing compared to the pain I felt from hearing her harsh words."You're absolutely heartless! How could you do this to your own brother? A man like you doesn't deserve to be my boyfriend!""Don't say that, Beverly. It's my fault for upsetting
Sure enough, Beverly's focus shifted upon hearing what I said.She furrowed her brows, her gaze instantly turning cold."I've already explained myself many times. I don't want to discuss such a pointless topic with you anymore."With that, she turned and walked into the bedroom. Moments later, she came out with a change of clothes."You clearly need some time to calm down. Once you're calmer, I'll come back and talk things over with you."Just before she left, through the gap in the closing door, she added with disappointment, "Raymond, I'm disgusted by how petty you are now."With a bang, the door slammed shut.At that moment, my mind started to buzz all of a sudden.Pointless topic? Petty?I never thought she'd come to be this disgusted with me.As I felt the familiar sting in my eyes again, the chill returned to my barely warmed fingers. I sat blankly on the couch, not knowing how much time had passed.What Beverly didn't know was that the current me was the calmest I had