Chapter 9

The rising sun cast a reddish shade across the morning sky with the golden fingers of rays that lit up Wayle's mansion.

 The white fluffy clouds drifted, lightning flashed all over the atmosphere and brought with a strong gust of wind that blew against Greg's face.

Greg was being tumultuous in the living room. He was unable to calm his mind in calling his father since it didn't respond to him. He was upset quite a bit, thinking that he shouldn't waste time in saving his family from the threat when he can't pay the remaining twenty-five percent of the debt.

"Father, please. Come on, pick up your phone," he was bothered, and stubbornly suppressing his control marked by being fidgety. 

The phone keeps ringing but no one seems to answer. 

"You don't seem to be comfortable there, Greg? Are you calling father?" Yuna asked as soon as she came down from her room.

Greg's sigh was exasperated that showed strong feelings of irritation and annoyance. "Didn't he come home last night? I don't think he slept here?"

"Ugh," Yuna's sight lined from squinting into to daylights, smoldering, and looked like hell. She also puckered her lips and gritted her teeth. 

"I told him you were here, so he didn't bother to go home," she then quelled a chuckle.

Greg's eyes were dark pools that carried a mixture of shock and barely contained discomfort. He couldn't withstand dropping his jaw in disbelief at what Yuna said to him and just nodded his head listlessly.

"Why did you say that?" He uttered once came closer to her.

"I must be the one who is supposed to ask you. Why are you looking for him now, huh?" Yuna retorted him back in a sharp and quick-witted way.

Instead, Greg would strongly rebuke his sister for the judgment, he did not mind her and just stared evilly.

"You haven't made us feel for a long time, and then all of a sudden you're going to show up like nothing that happened? What the hell did you have perpetrated again, huh?" Yuna expanded.

He didn't let out any statements since he was avoiding mess, but he could not blame his sister for how he was being dealt with.

"Is it because you have something to ask from him? You certainly didn't change, Greg. You always appear if you're only in need, what the fuck!" She even stared at him and dissed him with disrespect.

"Yuna, if you have nothing good to say, kindly keep your mouth shut?" Greg responded with a point-blank demand to her.

"Huh! Can you refrain from asking for a favor, too? 

Just fix the predicament you have infiltrated, and don't feel sorry for other people to take responsibility for that. You're just a headache!"

"Don't start a mess here, Yuna." He said and restrained himself from uttering awful phrases. "If you don't want to see me, just mind your own business. I'm only here for father and I don't have anything to ask from you."

Yuna didn't enunciate anymore and went straight to the kitchen, while Greg takes in and let out a long-loud breath in relief.

 After that, he just thought of going to the company to meet his father.

From the world of dreams into the day, the light poured through Caruss' window. He was somewhat groggy which seems to weigh him down and felt like having sleep inertia after he sighted every ray of sunlight.

He then wake up somewhat taken aback when he saw the counting hands on his phone, knowing that he has only a few hours left to prepare for his initial job interview. 

While he moved with undue haste to fix himself, he was being terrified when the image of Sheena has been plunged in front of him.

"Hey, Caruss! It's good that you're finally awake," she exhibited a pleasing curved mouth while busy preparing food for their breakfast.

"Oh, shit! You scared me there," he said as he was struck and undergone by nerve impulses. His chest throbbed when he stood up to greet his best friend.

"Surprise! I cooked your favorite breakfast meal," Sheena smiled, lengthening her wide arms as if she has shown something.

Caruss ignored it and just got a drink. "How did you get here? How did you know I was here?" He asked when he opposed her.

Sheena impelled her eyes with an easy, continuous, and full degree motion. She also mumbled something under her breath. "As if you know how to lock a door since you were always like that."

"Well, I have called your stepmother and her bodyguards even took me here," she reasoned out, increased her voice, and even intensified the mother part.

"Oh, Sheena," Caruss tapped his face and enervate a quick downward motion of his head. "I'm so sorry if I didn't say goodbye to you personally. I was just scared of what might happen to me, so, I better runoff."

"Bud, it's fine," Sheena pulled taut a smiley face. "I understand why you are in such a hurry. Besides, I just want to check if you're fine?" She shrugged her shoulders which was something she felt uncertain about.

"Yeah, I'm good," Caruss responded. "But I'm still restless, thinking that Greg might even come here."

"Bud, don't even think about him anymore. You have already eluded him by your dexterity, and there's nothing you could worry about. The best thing is to relax and calm down first," Sheena attempts to persuade Caruss with courage and hope.

"How can I calm down?" Caruss worriedly repining "If I have a job interview later for a classified position? Especially since I was narked if we might meet again and he would chase me here."

"Oh my gosh, I didn't know you were going to work now, Caruss!" Sheena depicted a reaction with a wide face, blank eyes, and a mouth open in a scream. "Looks like you assuredly stand for living a normal life without your family's wealth and sovereignty," she brought up a grinning face with sparkling gapes.

"You know me, don't you?" Caruss suppressed a continuous gentle sound. 

"So, kindly excuse me now since I still have time to pursue?" He straightly stressed and gave her a joking grin with his spreading cheeks.

Greg reached the company with the inner striving, every nerve was strained, and felt skepticism since he wasn't sure if his father would be pleased to meet him.

As he goes to the office, an inevitable moment came off when the employees were gawking and talking about him. 

Rather than catching a glimpse of it and slamming them, he just ignored it with a higher chin and confidence.

"Hello," he extended his wide cheeks at the beautiful lady at the desk near the president's office. "Is the president busy?" He further asked her while referring to his father.

"Hi," the lady smiled back at him. "The meeting just had ended and he will be having a job interview later with the son of our company's former partners, why?"

"Job interview?" He pondered and in deep thought with his thumb and index finger resting on his chin. "That's not his job, is it?" His tone was puzzled.

"Yeah, but it was an exclusive interview for a classified position," the lady explained. "May I know what brought you here?" 

"Can I talk to him even for a moment?" Greg made a request.

"Okay, I'll just let him know about it first. Wait for a second," the lady bestowed approval and appeared agreeable.

"Mr. Wayle, please excuse me. Your son is here. He needs a moment with you," the lady struck the door with the knuckles of her fingers to excuse.

The meeting had just halted and Mr. Wayle still had a limited time to rest. He made a quick downward motion of his head to the lady and incited a move to let Greg in.

"Didn't he tell you what he meant here?" Mr. Wayle further enunciated a question to her.

"Sorry, sir. He didn't tell me. He just wanted to talk with you," the lady bowed in front.

"Okay, let him in," he commanded.

Greg's body was stiffened and appeared glued to the spot. He mumbled like he was going crazy around, with his legs were doddered as he got into the office and his facial nerves took on a frozen 'deer in the headlight.'

"I don't have enough time to talk with you. What brought you here?" His father directly raised a question when he was being addressed.

"Uhm," Greg couldn't form a particular thought in his mind. "I w-would like to ask s-something from you, father," he stammered.

"Huh," his father tried to stifle an explosive vocal sound and uttered once more. "Let me guess, have you lost gambling again?"

Greg was in a tense situation like it was a big disaster for him, knowing that his father would precisely disagree. He underwent an insanely powerful urge to laugh since he felt incongruous. 

"No, I don't gamble anymore," he was defending himself.

"Then why there's a rush? What do you want me to talk about?" His father asked with a furrowed brow, lifted chin, and pressed-together lips that showed a mix of contempt and negative moral judgment.

"I just want to lend 50 million from you," Greg looked at his father's eyes intensely, begging for it to consent to him, while he drew a weary face.

"What?" His father brought up a flushed face, depicting wide eyes and red cheeks as if blushing with degrees of embarrassment and disbelief. 

"I paid all of your debts because of the foolishness you did, and this is what I would hear from you again? Have you lost your mind?" His father sternly asked him with a high-pitched tone and even stood up in the seat in shock.

"Father, I know you're still mad at me, but let me take it up for you. Don't worry, I will return the money you have paid and within 2 months I will pay you in full," Greg further construed.

"How could I trust you, huh?" His father implored with a neutral mouth, raising the left brows that conveys doubt. "After all you've been through just to waste my wealth, do you still have the courage to reveal yourself just to borrow 50 million in cash?"

"Father, I would like to buy a Lady Linda yacht. A presence for my upcoming birthday," Greg tries to convince his father even more.

"When have you ever had a passion for yachts? Do you truly need that kind of present? For what? Just to impress the media like what happened after I bought you a Lamborghini?" His father tried to clarify as if couldn't believe what he offered.

"No, no, no," Greg jiggled his head. "I just think of it as an investment, father. There is one convertible and..."

"And your birthday is in 6 months. This is nonsense! Tell me, have you made troubles again, huh?" His father interrupted and frankly interrogated him with suspicion.

"Father, believe me. I didn't gamble anymore. I have thought to sell it double like having a profit while I am investing, too. I just need this yacht for now," Greg deciphered so that he could further elucidate and be even more convincing.

"Excuse me, sir, the applicant is already in the lobby and he's coming here," a lady in a presentable dress instantly came up which caused their conversation to cease. 

"Thanks, just be nice to him and accommodate him well," Mr. Wayle enunciated a command to her.

"Father, please..." Greg intruded and begged.

"Let's just talk about it next time, and don't ever do anything that will ruin our company's image again," his father stabbed him and even managed to point its index finger at him.

Greg unknowingly has an idea that the applicant for the classified position was Caruss, the jerk he ever loathe. 

Caruss, on the other hand, also didn't recognize that their parents were business partners and Greg's father was the one to interview him.

Luckily, they didn't encounter each other after Greg left first the office before Caruss got entered. But one moment comes to conjunct them again.

"Oh, shit! I left my phone there." Greg mumbled. He even scratched his head so hard after he reached into his pocket and hurriedly went back to his father's office to pick it up.