CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR;A Phone Call--Althea received a text from Melanie, one of her staff in their main branch. She said in the text message that there was a problem- one of the staff in a certain branch defrauded her customer and stole the earnings in her shop. After that, she left the shop without any of the other staff noticing. Since then, the staff has been on the run. The crime didn’t come to light until the customer raised a ruckus in the shop, saying she’ll sue whoever runs the business. Because of this, she had to drive back in a hurry. She doesn’t want to because it only delays the business deal with the Browns. Also, if they still have many unfinished discussions, surely, they have to meet again for it. Something she wants to avoid the most. There’s no way she wants to meet him again. It would be nice if it’s only his mother, Victoria, but she can choose not to meddle in it because she only offers the help of her son. Not her personally. She can choose to decline, yes,
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE; Surprise! -- "Hello, son!" His sophisticated mother entered his office, walking like she was on a red carpet whenever she received an award for being the richest woman on earth. "I came to mock you!" Tyler, who was disturbed by signing an important contract, glared at his mother with green eyes that were the same as hers. "Get out." Victoria ignored him and proceeded to sit down on the sofa near his table and crossed her legs with elegance then rested her left hand on top of her knees while her other hand removed her sunglasses, then he stared at her son with a mocking gaze and occasionally twitched lips in laughter. "So, did my dear Althea respond to your message?" Tyler didn't respond and tried his best to act as if he wasn't there, and Victoria was only delusional and talking to the wind. His head was bowed as he read the same paragraph, again and again, not a single word entering his mind. Victoria snorted and threw her expensive eyeglasses toward him.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX; A coincidence -- Althea was busy the whole week and the next thing she knew, it was already the day before her birthday. During this short period, many things happened, recruiting new part-time workers in the shop where the scammer was in, observing them work, and briefly teaching them things she knew. Because of that, she had to go back and forth from the city to that province. It was exhausting and mentally draining, but at least she didn't have to carry the burden of managing two shops. One was the main branch and the other was in the province—because Melanie was there. She's indeed efficient, just like what Emily told her. She carried half the burden Althea was about to carry. She also took the initiative to look after their somehow airhead cleaner. Also, during these times, Victoria visited her shop with a grin of something she failed to understand. She will just smile back and briefly glance at her back, then look away and drag her eyes back toward
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN; A Question -- Althea decided to have a small celebration on her birthday. With just her, the shop's staff, Charlotte and Kai. It will be a closed-door celebration so she wasn't that pressured about having many guests. It was 6 in the morning when she decided to cook the food. Normally, you would celebrate birthday parties in the evening, but Althea wants the night free. She wants to spend time with her kid. It's been a long time since they last met, a months-long or so time. "Here," a voice said from behind. Althea looked over her shoulder and saw Melanie putting the tray of sliced fruits on the table. "What should I do next? Should I help you with the food?" Althea dragged her attention back to the spaghetti sauce she was stirring and shook her head. "Nothing, for now, I can do it myself. I'm thankful enough that you woke up early to help me." "It's okay, but if you say so... Okay." She nodded before sitting down on one of the chairs. Althea hums in res
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT;Birthday—ARC FIVE:Shrouded in Mysteries—The sound of the broken glasses invited silence in all of them. Victoria widens her eyes in shock while Jack and Melanie share glances. Tyler, on the other hand, has his brows furrowed as he watched Althea pale from the shock of his mother's question.The question, too, shocked all of them, especially Jack and Melanie. They never thought that their boss's parents were already dead. What's more, it's both of them.It might not be shocking, because she's not the only one who lost all of her parents after all. But the two of them always thought that her parents were alive. No wonder Althea never talked about them before.Tyler was also shocked, but he didn't say anything. With his eyes, he just observed her every movement.Victoria was also wondering, she's wondering why Althea reacted like this to the mere mention of her parents' death, but she can ask again bluntly. She, more or less, caused this (but really, she's the
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE;Okay--They ate longer than usual since they were talking as they ate. Jack is especially noisy as he fools Becca now and then. Victoria was also a lost cause as she helped Jack fool Becca and, Althea's son, Kai, was also fooled.He was still a kid after all.Melanie was occasionally throwing a deadly glare toward both Jack and Becca. Althea was laughing along with them, completely amused by their topics.It was originally from chickens and lizards, but who knows when the topic turned towards dinosaurs. Jack said that chickens developed from them as well as lizards. So basically, if they kill a lizard, they just kill an offspring from an ancient animal. And if they ate chickens, they were eating them.Althea was speechless about his nonsense.It even becomes chaotic when Kai enters the conversation, asking why and how the chicken evolved from dinosaurs. Victoria was the one who answered him."It was because," she said with all seriousness. "Kai, some dinosaurs can
CHAPTER FORTY;A Ring-“They’re gone?” a small voice asked from behind. Althea turned to see Kai. She smiled and patted his small head.“Yup,” she said then pushed him back inside the store. “They’re busy.”“Oh,” her son said with disappointment lacing his voice. “I see.”Althea looked down on him and ruffled his hair. “You like them?”“I,” he paused. “I like Victoria’s stories about the flying dinosaurs.”Althea gaped before laughing very, very hard. She scooped Kai into her embrace and bit his chubby cheeks. He groaned and pushed her face away from her with his fleshy hands.“What are you laughing at?” He asked with a frown on his cute, small face. Althea had the urge to bite him again, but she restrained herself. She instead smiled and hugged him even tighter.“Nothing!” she responded, then she remembered something. “Right, where’s Charlotte?”“Oh,” Kai said, as if he just remembered it now. “She said she doesn’t want to get scolded, so she just dropped me here and fled.”“…” That
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE;Ice Cream--“Good morning, Althea,” an old lady greeted with a big and bright smile that was stretched from ear to ear.The smile was contagious, Althea smiled back. “Good morning Mrs. Goodman. What flowers are you looking for today?”“Oh, I want those pink roses over there,” she pointed out the vase which contains the flowers. “It’s lovely.”“Sure,” she said. “For what are you going to do with this?”Mrs. Goodman snorted, “I am giving to my good husband, I’m pretty sure he forgot that it’s our wedding anniversary right now, boys- old men- they are all the same! They always forget things such as this! I’ll give him flowers instead- and shock him until his grey hairs fall off!” With that, she laughed.Althea laughed as well while cutting off the rose's inappropriate length for the bouquet. “Men are sure forgetful…”“Hmm?” Mrs. Goodman said, “Seems like you know it yourself.”Althea said, “Yes, it's common knowledge.”The older woman gave off a burst of laughter.“Goo