Mark felt stupid and small as he sat on Ian’s couch with four people sitting opposite him and judging him. He wouldn’t have resorted to ever coming to Ian but his pride was nothing when all his hard work was stolen. He knew he should have never listened to his mother. The woman always wanted what was best for herself, she never really cared about his devices unless they could actively help her. She wasn’t like Hillary.He was always so jealous of Ian and Rita, they had it all. They were the legitimate grandchildren of Alexander and their mother was Hillary. He was stuck with Morgana, who would sooner sell him to the devil than stand against his father, and he hated it. Rita sat on the edge of the couch, looking down at him with poorly hidden disgust in her eyes. She eyed him like he wasn’t human, merely a pig that shouldn’t have had the audacity to sit on her brother’s pristine couch. She looked at him like they didn’t share a single drop of blood. Ian’s wife, still in a fucking mas
It was a very strange day for Mark. He had spent hours in the morning trying to psych himself up for the inevitable way he would be publicly humiliated by Ian. He hadn’t started the day expecting to get accused, beaten up and strangled by his brother. He also most definitely didn’t start the day expecting to sit in Ian’s study with Yu Zhen and Ian talking to HIM about business, expecting him to actually contribute. It was a most surreal day.He had an ice pack to the side of his face because it felt like it was swollen, honestly Ian should have been reabsorbed into the military, he would be so beneficial to the country on the battlefield.He was still suspicious, they had no reason to trust him and yet they were seemingly letting him listen in to – frankly genius – strategies. He felt like he had a severe hole in his brain with the speed and efficiency Ian was using to discuss business matters. Could he ever reach this level? No. He was okay with it, not everyone was born as a genius.
Mark stood to the side with Rita as he sipped from a citrus juice box, inwardly thanking his stars that he wasn’t the one being pummeled. Yu Zhen and Ian were a fast and efficient team, one would think Ian would let Yu Zhen do his job, but since it involved the professor lady, Ian refused to sit it out.This juicebox was really good. “What’s in this?”, he asked Rita. The girl grinned proudly at him and Mark felt a surge of joy and protectiveness for his little sister, even though the only thing that truly tied them together was Reid. He wished he was from Hillary’s side of the family.He wondered how they grew up. Ian had always disappeared from the room when he walked in and Rita followed immediately after, so he couldn’t say he really participated in their childhood, he had been born a plague and he would forever remain a plague.“I don’t know either, but Ashley gets it from wherever she gets it and it’s always so good!”, Rita exclaimed, picking another one from the box of juice bo
Yu Zhen bounded over to Ian as he already managed to remove Leon from him. Ian wondered why he even thought of doing that. It was a rather stupid impulsive decision considering that Yu Zhen was standing not more than twelve feet away from them, he had to know he couldn’t win.The little pest had gone straight for his face. He was smelling something annoyingly sweet and he tried to rub it off with the back of his hand. It persisted. He would wash his face when he left this place.“You little fucker!”, Yu Zhen growled, shoving Leon to the ground and pointing a gun at his head. He had been so worried when he had seen the pest jumping at Ian. Leon started to cackle and Yu Zhen began to believe the rumor about him being crazy. There was no other reason for him to laugh in the face of likely death.“Fucking kill him!”, Rita yelled and Yu Zhen looked to see Mark holding her back with all his might. The man was actually struggling as his veins popped out and his face was red with strain. Rita
Ian could only hear beeping. It was considerably annoying. His body felt like it was being pulled in several directions, just like his mind. He had too much to do. His fiancee was thankfully proficient with managing the affairs of their coming nuptials and it was the best he could hope for.He had a pounding headache too, but for some reason he couldn’t massage his temples. He was terribly frustrated. Was he suspended in a dream? Was he actually sleeping? He had better things to do, the proposal to get more shares from his grandfather wouldn’t write itself up. He also had Mark to worry about. With ninety five percent of the shares still in the air with his grandfather, Mark still had a fair shot. Beep Beep. He shouldn’t be sleeping, he should be working.He felt like he had lost track of time and space completely, and each attempt to grasp at something tangible was dissipated. It was like trying to catch smoke. He needed to get hold of something to ground him.Was this his transition
Ashley nearly flinched. This wasn’t even the side of Ian that tried to irritate her to get back her memories. This was the pure unadulterated version of Ian that she remembered clearly, the one that hated her for no reason. She had been told that Ian had been exposed to the same gas she had, and she had come along with Chloe from where they were practicing their daily memory strengthening routines. Immediately she got into the room, Ian had grabbed her tightly and kissed her before telling her to stay away from him. She had been confused at first but now she understood. The bastard was back and she wasn’t sure she had enough patience to make him a normal human being all over again. She wondered how she had done it the first time and chalked it up to some kind of superhuman characteristic that she clearly lacked now.However, she wasn’t a professor for nothing. She had faced down tigers – literally, some of their field trips were the wildest – and men like Ian’s grandfather. She could
The drive home was tense. Ian wasn’t doing what he was ordered – by himself – to do. He had barked at her to stay far away from him immediately she sat in the car and when she sat down he shifted to the window. They were going to his favorite house, he needed his library to calm down, he didn’t know why the pest had to go with him. There was a whole SUV with Yu Zhen and Rita but no, she preferred to sit in the car with him. Maybe it was the fact that it was a Maybach, proper food for gold diggers like her.“How long is it?”, he asked the chauffeur as he lowered the divide.“Plenty of time sir, three hours”, the chauffeur said with a smile and raised the divide again himself. Ian closed his eyes in exasperation. Why the fuck was the man smiling? Three hours in a space with her was torture.“I can prove we’re-”“Your voice irritates me”, he sneered, refusing to glance at her, instead choosing to look outside the window. Rita had taken his laptop away the moment he created a new password
Ian's eyes opened at once to a world that seemed to have warmer tones than when he last saw it. The scent of fine leather and something else that tickled his heart nicely was present abundantly in the air. The gentle hum of the engine outside was a distant source of brown noise, making it seem as though he had woken up in a fantasy.The window with the privacy tint, offered glimpses of the world outside that framed like a moving painting. Something stirred on him and he looked down to see Ashley nestled comfortably with her head in the crook of his neck and her body lying against him. He was likened to a waterbed for the short woman.It was so undeniably peaceful, and Ian felt the beginning tendrils of happiness forming in his heart. As usual, like all things with him went, a little voice crept into his head and whispered things about how he was being exactly like Reid by cheating on his intended with another wife. He didn't know how this one did it, but he was adamant to never wal