For the past few months, the Dela Cruz groups have not been doing well lately because the three brothers who had forcefully been managing the company knew nothing about business but instead of employing an expert as a CEO, they blindly lead the company, squandering the little profits they managed to make from it.
The Dela Cruz groups was said to ranked top in market sales in States and even in the surrounding company but it has dropped below the least and now, the company and the other branches under it has been struggling financially, went bankrupt and at the edge of collapsing. The three brothers did not bother about the state of the groups cause all they were after was spending whatever money the groups manages to provide for them. Realizing how much they are going to lose if the companies finally collapse, they decided to sell it off, of course, at a price that is way lower than the groups worth; it was as though they sell it off as a scrap. Andy managed to convince his father that he have a competent buyer who would have the company for a good and reasonable price. No one bothered to ask him who the buyer was and how they met, everyone was only after the money to be made from the sale. The family's thought was that the groups were bought by maybe a mafia Don under a disguised name or by a politician's wife. The paid amount was beyond what they had bargained for, no one had thought it would be someone they had known for long. Whosoever the buyer maybe had called for a company wide meeting, hoping that the three greedy brothers would be present as part of the executives. Xavier wasn't the only one present as thought, he had managed to convince his brothers to come too. "—after all, this is our only chance to meet the dignitary who had honoured us." He cajoled and without a second thought, they gave in to his words. *** The long silence in the board room was interjected by the creak of the huge oak door as it open, afterward an smoothly dressed lady had walked in with a graceful steps, her heels was giving a clicking sound. Without a second thought, she proceeded towards the seat preserved for her at the other end of the long table. As the new chairwoman and the owner of the Dela Cruz groups, it only natural that the atmosphere in the room wasn't of that comfort. No one knows who she is and what she was capable of, which kept everyone on their edge. The woman, sensing the discomfort in the room, proceeded to address the meeting instead. She took off her eyeglasses, swerving her hair backward —her action was enough to stir reaction and it did as many of the executives gasped in shock. "Ms. Lisa Snow...?" The executives eyes widened with surprise and as well as relief. "L- Lisa...?" This was from her family. The looks on their faces were as though they had seen a ghost or even worst —well, no one had thought the same woman who they had thought was dead would be standing right before them! "Lisa...?" Xavier, who was the first to recover from the shock asked, still finding it hard to believe his eyes. "Is that really you?" The woman smirked, her lips curled up in a sly manner as she watched their reactions. "Yes, it's me. I'm not sure what the surprise is about, but I'm happy to see that you're all familiar with me." She uttered, her tone was laced with sarcasm. Murmurs were heard amongst the executives, still finding it hard to believe their eyes —they did not even bother to conceal their facial expressions before her; this was really the miracle they never thought existed. Xavier stood up, volunteering to say what he supposed was on the rest of the executives' mind. "There is no way the Lisa we all know is the one before us." He blurted out, paranoid. He felt as though the lady before them might be a doppelganger —dead people don't resurrect. "Lisa Snow died three years ago!" Lisa smirked again, she loves the doubt in their eyes. "Were you expecting someone else? Not me?" She uttered, her left brows raised. "You look as though you aren't happy to see me —that's too harsh, uncle Xavier." "What do you mean by not happy to see you? Why should we be happy to see a swindler who claimed to be our niece?" Xavier quickly fired, this woman is already getting on his nerves. "You should be happy because I would be saving this company from going bankrupt since you can't do anything with it." Lisa blurted out in a cold tone. "What would I gain by being a swindler? I'm rich enough to make my own name, I can't claim to be someone else!" Xavier scoffs, feeling as though the swindler was purposely poking his patience. "The only child bore by Snow is dead, whosoever you are, you aren't welcome here!" He barked, forgetting he'll be causing a scene. "Yes, the Lisa Snow you all knew did die." She replied, a slight edge to her voice. "I'm here to tell you that I'm not that Lisa. I'm the new Lisa Snow, the owner of the Dela Cruz groups, I'm here to lead this company into a new era." Xavier stared at her, his expression still skeptical. But after a moment, he nodded and sat back down to watch what's to unfold next. Even though he try acting natural, he just couldn't hide his discomfort; the eerie feeling he was having was disturbing. The rest of the two brothers could only watch the ongoing drama, it seems as though they were short of words. What were they going to say when Xavier had promised them that whosoever the buyer is, he would take care of everything his own way. "That being said..." Lisa uttered and snapped her fingers lightly. The other man beside Andy rushed towards her with a files in his hand, placing them gently before her. Lisa opened the files to the last page of it as she proceeded to read its contents aloud. "After the company is being sold to the new owner, The Cruz family would have no access to it any longer as they are expected to vacate their position in the company with immediate effect!" She read in a tone that's dead with no emotion. Xavier's eyes, as well as the other two brothers, widened in shock. "What...?" The three brothers blurted out in surprise, feeling like there ears were playing tricks on them. That moment they felt as though the weight of the world had collapsed on them.Xavier's eyes, as well as the other two brothers, widened in shock. "What...?" They blurted out in surprise, least expecting what they had just heard. They must have sell the groups but they never planned on evicting their seats in each companies."You heard me right, uncles!" She told them, looking each one of them directly in their eyeballs. "Did you guys signed the documents without reading what the content might be? Ah, that's too lame of you!"Xavier felt as though he was being hit on his gut. ‘Did this cockroach just try to fire me off my post as the executive director?’ He thought within himself, boiling with rage!"But that's too sudden, Lisa!" Xavier argued."It states; ‘with immediate effect’, did you not understand or do you want me to call the security on you?" Lisa sounded as though she was speaking with a hardened criminal, her gaze saying nothing less. "You shouldn't have signed the documents if you won't be abiding by it conditions.""We are family, remember?" Xavier u
Xavier, Fred and Niel got home later that day, with mixed reaction of anger, pain and defeat written on their face —it's obvious that the couldn't hide their emotions as it hit deeper than anyone would think. The type of humiliation they had face earlier, none of them had face it before. Xavier felt he was mostly humiliated, coupled with the fact he was the one doing the talking and his son had his back turned on him."What's wrong, dad...?" Ella, Lisa's youngest cousin, asked Fred immediately they walked in. She had wanted to ignore them and continue with the phone she was busy with but with their long faces, she couldn't help but interfere. The house belongs to Fred, being the only considerate one amongst the three greedy brothers, he bought a duplex to call his unlike the rest of the two who only squander theirs without thinking twice about it. Xavier, on the flip side, lived with son, Andy but since he's angry with his son, he decided to go with Fred and Neil being the younges
"That's ridiculous!" Xavier exclaimed, clearly offended by the accusation. "Andy would never do anything to hurt any of us, especially not his own father! He might be just as surprised as we are by Lisa's actions. Andy might not even know what's going on with her."Xavier might be angry with his son but he couldn't help but defend him; no parents would stand their child being ridiculously judged!Neil and Fred exchanged a look, still not sure what to believe. On the one hand, it seemed unlikely that Andy would be involved in something like this. But on the other hand, it was hard to explain Lisa's behavior any other way."You might not know this but Neil and I pleaded with Andy to help talked things out with Lisa but he turned us down instantly, Xavier!" Fred blurted out. "He stood there, watching Lisa's security officers dragged us out like criminals. Andy called those officers on us!"Xavier sighed in defeat as he recalled the scenario at the board room with Andy presence but he did
The meeting was supposed to have hold two hours earlier but due to the little scenario that happened, Lisa had the meeting adjourned and let the fuss die down for a while. Lisa walked into the conference room, taking her seat at the head of the table. As the new chairwoman and owner of Dela Cruz groups, she was determined to lead the company back to the top of the market. The board members sat around the table, waiting for her to begin."Good afternoon, everyone." Lisa began, her voice calm but firm. "I want to thank you all for being here today to discuss how we can restore Dela Cruz groups from collapsing finally and bring it back to the top where it belongs."She looked around the room, meeting each person's eyes. The reaction on their faces were just the same as she heard expected, she nodded slowly then started at a slide presentation."As you all know..." She continued, maintaining the same fame tone. "We need to rebuild our reputation, and I have come up with a plan of action.
Rosy was seated with her legs crossed as she slowly sips the drink she's holding in her hand, trying to suppress the look of impatience that's delineated on her face. At several intervals, she scanned her surrounding but got disappointed yet again.She stared at her wrist watch, it was way past midnight and she wondered why Alex hasn't shown up yet. Rosy was furious to think Alex was sitting her down on purpose, alone without himself or anyone else."Hey, pretty..." A guy on suit approached Rosy, a small smile on his face. She raised her head slowly to meet his gaze, her brows furrowed. "What's a pretty lady like you doing here, sitting alone?""..." Rosy only stared at him for few seconds without saying anything and returned her gaze to her drink, trying to pretend he wasn't there in the first place."Did you come with someone or maybe you are waiting for someone?" He pestered, his voice sounds calm but flirtatious —he did not give her a second to reply him before speaking again. "We
"I probably did not tell you but Lisa had disappeared from my house after signing the divorce papers." Alex told Rosy, letting out a deep sigh afterward. "It's been almost two weeks now —I think it's the day after she came to the hospital."Rosy smiled inwardly, truly, the piece of information Alex had shared worth the time she had used in waiting for his arrival —it was as though a rock-like roadblock had just been lifted off her path miraculously after months of trying without any yielding results."That's a good news for us, Alex." She announced, displaying her white dental sheepishly. "There is no hindrance to us finally being together anymore —Lisa has left, and now it's just the two of us. Don't you agree?"Alex find himself sighing again, not sure if he's supposed to be happy as Rosy; he doesn't even know if it's truly a good news. Lisa suddenly leaving him and disappearing without traces was bothering enough, coupled with the fact that he left him something he never thought sh
Even though he was driving, Alex's mind wandered faraway with different thoughts running through his head. As his mind raced back to what happened earlier between himself and Rosy, he wondered what he was thinking to have rejected her offer without a thinking it twice. He believed he loved Rosy and wanted to be with her always -but for the rest of his life? He wasn't sure about it.“...It's not even up to a month since my last marriage ended, I can't jump into another one...”was this even enough reason to turn Rosy's proposal down just like that? Or is there something more to his rejection that even himself can't pinpoint. Alex ran his left hand through his head, frustration visible on his face —coupled with the eye bags under his eyes because he isn't getting enough sleep since Lisa had left, he looked horrible. He tried to think of something; anything that could justify his action but nothing was to be held accountable, this was just a foolish move on his part. He got home at almo
Mrs. Williams sighed loudly as she rubbed her temple in frustration. She didn't even know what to do to stop Alex from seeing Rosy, it was as though Rosy bewitched her son and things had got even more complicated than she thought since he started seeing Rosy again; it just a matter of time before her son rebel against her.She shook her head sideways, as if to push the thought off her head. She won't sit back and watch her son rebel against her all for a woman —something needs to be done to stop him before he goes out of control.Mrs. Williams breathed in slowly, her expression going stern afterward. "For you to right your wrongs, you will have to look for Lisa by all means, I don't care how far you have to go to win her back." She said sternly. "That way, I'll see you as a grown up and let you be!"Alex's eyes widened as though he heard something outrageously strange. "What did you say?" He blurted out, his shocked expression suddenly turn to that of anger in a split second. "I shoul