Chapter four

Kai 

Today was a shitty day. 

And as I walked out of Equinox at the end of the horrible meeting and stepped into my car, I realized it was going to turn into an even shittier day. 

“Home, sir?” Paul, the driver, asked. 

I dipped my phone back into my pocket with a sigh. “My parent's house.” 

If it was up to me, I would rather drive to my house and get some work done or at least get some rest, but my mum made me promise I was going to come over after my meeting with Fletcher today. 

I was sure another reason was because my father wanted to learn how my meeting went today but he was too proud to call me himself. My father wasn't in support of me acquiring Equinox despite Fletcher being his friend. He claimed the company was a complete waste of time and on the verge of bankruptcy. 

Aside from the lack of profit, there were plenty of lawsuits dragging the company down. Lawsuits that were my business now. But I had such a huge faith in it. 

Besides, I wanted something for myself that didn't have the Russo surname on it. Especially now that my father is giving me useless conditions to meet if I want to be in his will. He had seemed to forget that I had run the company for years. 

But it doesn't matter what I did, the Russo group belonged to him. Not me. 

“Should we pick up Miss Walker on the way, sir?” Paul asked. 

I thought about it for a while. I could show up to my parents house without Jen hanging off my arms, but that would only create more questions. Jen was my fiancé, and for appearance sake we're supposed to always be around each other. 

If there was one thing the Russo family cared about, it was appearances. They needed to feed into the story they had sold to the media. 

The story that Jen and I were childhood best friends who had fallen in love in high school and moved abroad together ten years ago. And we decided to get engaged because we couldn't bear to be apart from each other anymore. 

That's what everyone in the country thinks anyway. No one aside the Russo and Walker family ones that our engagement was decided upon over a cup of coffee a few months back. And I had only gone through with it because I wanted to keep my father's eyes off my side quests.  

Everyone, including Fletcher, thought I had bought the company on a whim during vacation, they didn't know the skiing of research and negotiations I had done before deciding Equinox was what I wanted. 

My father didn't exactly feel anything towards Jen. I know he didn't care who I married as long as the marriage benefitted him. And that was exactly what my engagement to Jennifer Walker did. 

If I didn't show up with Jen to tell lunch, it would cause his disapproval. And maybe that's a good thing. He would be too focused on his feelings and he won't question me about Equinox. 

“Sir?” Paul called again. 

“Go directly to my parents house.” I responded. 

I leaned back into my seat and tried to go through the minutes of the meeting on my tablet. But my mind kept going back to a particular lawyer. 

My mind kept flickering between the last time I saw Nicole ten years ago when she told me she was pregnant. 

Correction: when she lied about being pregnant and demanded money from my sister to keep her mouth shut about her relationship.

Nicole and I had dated in secret for almost a year and she had given that all up for a hundred thousand dollars. Typical. 

Sometimes when I thought about her in the past years, I wondered what she was doing or what she had done with the money that my sister gave her. 

Sometimes I wondered if it was worth it. 

I knew no amount of money would have been worth losing her over. I would never have given her up as quickly as she did to me. 

But that was ten years ago. I was just out of high school, young, and I had mistook infatuation for love. 

I was different now. And it seems she was different as well judging from what I saw today. I wondered how I've never heard of her before if she was as good of a lawyer and Fletcher claimed she was. 

It didn't matter anyway. I wasn't going to let my grudges over what happened when we were young affect my current business. My goal is simple, acquire Equinox and multiple other companies. Build an empire as close to Russo group and then royally fuck my father over. 

If only it was that simple. 

“We have arrived, sir.” I jolted out of my thoughts at Paul's voice. 

I had been so lost in thoughts I didn't realise the car had stopped. I unbuckled my seat belt and stepped out of the car. 

The sprawling mansion of the Russo family spans in front of me but I didn't spare one look. I hated this place growing up and I still do. 

Jen was the first person I saw stepping into the house. I cursed under my breath, realizing my plan to avoid my father had flown out of the window. 

“Hi, my love.” She smiled as she approached me and planted a kiss on my cheek. 

“Did you think you were going to abandon me?” She whispered into my ears. 

“Yes.” I muttered back.

I saw the hurt flash in her eyes and my chest tightened in guilt. 

“My meeting ran late.” I added. 

It was slightly true. But it was also because that look in her eyes killed me. I didn't love her and she didn't love me. She was forced into this arrangement just like I was and I knew she hated it. She didn't deserve it. 

I had made a promise to her that I was going to free her from this arrangement the second I got enough resources to do so. She would be free to find the love she deserved. She thanked me with tears in her eyes. 

It was almost time to fulfil that promise. 

“Your parents are waiting in the dining room. And your sister is there with a nightmare of a boyfriend.” She scoffed. 

A long time ago Jen and my sister, Evelyn, were actually friends. But they had gradually drifted apart as they grew. Just like I had drifted apart from my family. 

Jen and I walked to the dining area and everyone was there. My mother stood up and hugged me, showering me with kisses and her perfume. 

My sister gave me a tight nod while my father barely looked at me. I didn't expect him to. I had disappointed him. And my father didn't forgive disappointment.

But after we sat down, he did something that surprised me. 

“How did your meeting today at Equinox go?” 

I didn't respond immediately. I studied his features first. “It went well.” 

“Really?” He said, suddenly looking bright. “Because I think Fletcher has a different opinion.” 

I was about to ask what he meant by that when I heard footsteps approaching the dining area. 

I looked up and it was Fletcher walking towards us with a wide smile on his face. 

My father had invited my new business partner to lunch.