Mona told the cab driver to pull up and stared from afar while taking note of the address. With the phone in her handbag ringing, she pulled it out of her bag for a look. It was Ben calling. Mona took the call, and the voice on the other end of the line sounded anxious. “Where are you now, Mona? We couldn’t get in touch with you for the last few days. You got us worried sick.” “I had a little situation. What happened?” “It’s the opening of our studio today, but we have people coming here and calling our flagship designs rip-offs. They are threatening to report us to the Federal Trade Commission for unfair business practices.” “Are you talking about my two designs?” “Yeah. The two hit designs.” “Don’t sweat it. Those are my original works, so it’s ridiculous to say the designs are rip-offs. They can take us to court all they want, but they won’t get anything out of it. We can sue them for slander.” “Mona, things are not as simple as you think. They came here with the d
The leader of the group – a tall and burly man – took a step forward and blocked the entrance. He said to Mona, “Well, you’ll be wasting your time. The owner across the street is on vacation in the Maldives. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have sent me in the first place.” Furious, Mona lifted her chin and looked the man in the eye. She angrily uttered, “That doesn’t give you the right to come in my place and cause havoc. You’re breaking the law by starting trouble here. I’m going to call the cops.” Mona was incensed as these people had to ruin the opening of her business. They acted righteously as if they had a leg to stand on. They would only push her and her team around further if she did not show them who was boss. “Call the cops? Go on. I can tell you that my uncle is the chief of this precinct. We are not scared of a copycat like you.” The man looked at Mona and Ben in disdain. The way he saw it, these people were young and easy marks. He was only paid to do a job, so he would m
The police officer frowned. “Couldn’t you have settled this on your own?” “I tried to talk to them, but as you can see, they refuse to leave. They threatened us to move our business elsewhere or his uncle, apparently the police chief, will put me behind bars. I want to know if I’ve broken any laws that called for jail time.” Mona made it sound serious as there was an ongoing investigation into the integrity of government officials. For someone to throw their weight around in the name of their uncle who was the chief of police, the uncle would probably take a lot of heat if it made headlines. The burly man freaked out. “Nobody said anything about putting you behind bars. Don’t be ridiculous.” “Quit the racket and shut up.” With a stern look, the police officer gave the burly man a glare and then turned his attention to Mona. “You two should come with me to the station, so I can get your statement. I’ll sort this out for you.” “Thank you, officer.” Mona expressed her gratitud
Thaddeus glanced at the woman by his side, assured that she was doing well. He then pulled a long face and stared at the man who went after Mona. He questioned, “What did you chase after her for?” The man took stock of Thaddeus’ expensive taste in clothes. Intimidated by his commanding presence, the man backed down a little in confronting Mona. “She hit me. Half of my face is swollen,” the man whined as if Thaddeus was the father of the offending daughter while he tattled to the father as the victim of bullying. “Did you hit him?” Thaddeus lowered her head and asked Mona in a soft voice, not putting the blame on her at all. “I can’t believe he’s the one complaining. He started it, so he deserves a beating.” Mona stared daggers at the man. Thaddeus furrowed his brows and reached out to hold Mona’s hands to rub between his palms. “Your hands must be hurting. I’m only a phone away. Just leave this to me the next time.” Mona was dumbstruck, and so was the man standing in the
Surprised, the man lost his manners for a moment and cried out. Mona had an idea who the man was after Thaddeus addressed him as Mr. Foster. The man was likely the richest man in the neighboring city and Sherry’s father. “Yeah. We have two children together.” Getting a grip on himself, James looked at Mona a different way. The stunner must have a couple of tricks up her sleeve to have Thaddeus wrapped around her little finger. “Thaddeus, you’ve got game. You have two children before you’re even married.” James sneered. It was common for men to fool around with women and have children out of wedlock in the business circle. Thaddeus was the first to have the decency and the gall to admit to it. “You’ve got the wrong idea, James. We were married, and our marriage was legal in the eyes of the law. Sorry to let you down, but I’m not that kind of guy.” Upset, James pointed at Mona and questioned Thaddeus, “So, you’re saying that you caused a ruckus and even tried to throw my d
“Are you saying that Bobby has a crush in preschool?” Mona cut Thaddeus off mid-sentence and eagerly asked in the restaurant.Thaddeus pulled out a napkin and reached out to wipe the bits of food on the corner of Mona’s lips. He patiently explained, “You always get ahead of yourself whenever it comes to the kids. Just let me finish.” Putting down her cutlery, Mona quietly looked Thaddeus in the eye and gave her full attention. Once Thaddeus gave an account of what he had seen at the preschool, she let out a sigh of relief. “It sounds like Bobby cares a lot about his classmate. I feel bad for the girl, Megan. Why don’t we invite her to the house for dinner? My heart goes out to her.” Mona was sympathetic to Megan’s situation at home as it invoked her feelings as a mother. She wanted to give Megan some help the best she could. “Sure. I’m sure our son will be happy if you’re glad to do that. You have no idea how much he likes the girl.” Thaddeus made the decision for his son. “
Folding his arms, Thaddeus idly sank into the back of the chair and flashed his bad-boy smirk. “Thank me? How do you plan on thanking me?” Mona curled her lips, stood up, and nonchalantly said, “You get a free meal from me, and that’s it. Take it or leave it.” Thaddeus grinned and watched her from behind as she advanced to the counter to settle the bill. The woman sure had an attitude. After the brief lunch, the pair exited the restaurant and went their own ways. None of them said a word as they simply went on with their business. It was close to two o’clock in the afternoon by the time Mona returned to the jewelry design studio. Ben sat in the lounge area and buried his head in his packed lunch, gulping down the food. Standing at the door, Mona looked around the empty studio. There was not a customer in sight. She turned her attention back to Ben, feeling a catch in her throat. It was just pathetic. She went over and filled a disposable cup with water before placing
Ben took note of Mona’s plan and immediately looked alive. Snapping his fingers, he said, “Alright. Let’s go with your plan. I’ll get ready to go in the next two days.” Mona balled up her fist and made an encouraging gesture. “Cheer up! I believe everything will get better.” “Yes. What about the issue from across the street?” “Leave it to me. They can sue me all they like. How can they twist the story after stealing my stuff? Surely, justice will prevail.” Ben echoed her sentiment, “I know, right? You must let me know if those people give you hell again. I’ll stand up for you.” “Sure. I’ll tell you if anything happens. Go on and finish your lunch.” Rising to her feet, Mona circled around the studio and went to the second floor. This was the space for the designers. Ben had jokingly said that Mona was the lead designer and that they could hire a few people to help her out on the second floor. He even poked fun that the second floor was reserved for Mona’s harem. Past the b