~ Chapter 1 ~

Amanda West walked out of the elevator and started heading to the conference room, dressed in a black tight-fitting dress showing off her lovely figure, her curly brown hair left to flow freely on her shoulders, a light make-up on her face defining her facial features more. A pleasant smile graced her face, adding to her beauty.

"Good morning Miss West"  Her secretary; Oliver Romans, greeted. Walking beside her with a tablet in his hand and a small smile on his face.

Amanda turned towards him for a brief second with a smile on her face, her eyes roaming around her secretary's handsome face "Morning Oliver, slept well?" She asked.

"Of course and judging by the smile on your face, guess you did too"

"Yes," she said curtly "I believe everyone is in the conference room already, right?"

Oliver nodded his head "Yes, they all assembled five minutes ago"

"Good," she said, and opened the door walking straight to the head chair and plopped down. She sat there for a moment, staring at each of them intensely, they all sat up and straightened their postures when they felt her gaze on them.

"Good morning ladies and gentlemen, without wasting much of our time let's get straight to business. Mr Romans, please brief us on this meeting" She said in a light tone but the authority in her voice couldn't be masked.

"Yes Miss West," he said and stood up, connecting his tablet to the projector. Everyone diverted their attention to the projector and he started explaining "This meeting is to discuss further on the designs for the next jewellery exhibition, the marketing, available resources and everything else" he finished and disconnected the tablet, facing the people.

"Miss Gavins? Don't you have designs to show us?" Amanda asked, turning to a petite Asian woman who gave her a tight-lipped smile.

"I do Miss West," she said in a squeaky voice, readjusting her top now and then.

"Well then proceed,"  she said, raising an eyebrow and pointing to the podium.

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"Well that was intense," Oliver said, walking into Amanda's office with her.

She dropped her bag on the table and sat on her chair "that's the fastest way to get everyone to do their best."

Opening up her laptop, she was met with the unfinished design she has been working on. Her designs will be the highlight for their next jewellery exhibition and she is not even halfway done

"What's my schedule for today?" She asked, her eyes not leaving the laptop in front of her.

"Clear, the meeting was the only thing you had on your schedule" he stated, showing his pearly white teeth.

"I guess you're happy too. Well then, you can leave I have a lot to do" she shooed him off and collapsed on her chair, gazing blankly on her laptop.

It's been 5 years since she left her family, and she has successfully made a name for herself in the big city of New York. 

When she left, she had no clue where to go or what to do with herself nor with the 2 years old in her arm. She somehow managed to get herself to New York and everything else happened like a dream.

Sighing she ran her hands through her face, "no time for the past" she muttered and got to work.

She began researching various jewellery lines, their exhibitions and even her own jewellery line, and after hours of researching she was flooded with ideas and creativity and she began to design.

For hours she sat behind her desk, designing and scrapping the designs. And After 3 hours of working, she had only one design to show for it.

Amanda sighed frustratedly and rested her head against her desk, she always gets worked up anytime she has an exhibition coming up because she wants nothing less than perfect, and it leads her into scrapping tons of good designs.

She stared at the screen again for a while before shutting it down "time for a break I guess" she muttered under her breath and was about to stand up when Oliver barged into the office without knocking.

"Umm... Is there a reason you're barging into my office like that?" She asked, an annoyed look plastered on her face.

"I'm sorry but I can totally explain!" Oliver said in a loud voice, trying to calm down "you will not believe who is out there waiting for you in the lobby" He said with wide eyes, excitement lacing his voice.

"Jeff Bezos?" She asked dryly, relaxing back into her chair.

"Even better," he said, and she immediately sat up. Who could be more important than one of the richest man on Earth? "it's Alan Wesley, the CEO of the Wesley Entertainment Company!!  His company produced your favourite movie 'Lost in the moon'?!" He said really fast and Amanda's mouth dropped open.

"As in the Alan Wesley?" She asked sceptically and Oliver nodded rapidly "why? OMG!! What's happening?" She asked repeatedly, letting the excitement take over her and momentarily losing her cool.

After a moment of excitement, she took a deep breath and calmed down "please send him in" she said in the coolest tone she could muster, Oliver smiled at her and walked out of her office.

A moment later, a tall light-skinned man dressed in a plain T-shirt with tight-fitting jeans walked in and a gasp nearly left Amanda's lips, he is handsome!

"Good day, Miss West," he said in a deep baritone, a cheerful smile lighting up his face. Amanda immediately stood up from her seat and stretched out her hand.

"Good day Mr Wesley, it's a pleasure to meet you," she said in a light tone, a pleasant smile on her face. Alan took her hand in a firm handshake and nodded.

"Can I have a seat?" He asked the moment he let go of her hand

"Of course," she said and the both of them sat down simultaneously, she took the time to take in his appearance and the more she looked the finer he got in her eyes.

His green eyes dotting with amusement just stared at her as she kept ogling him, and when he felt she has seen enough he cleared his throat drawing her out from her head "I'm sure you have been wondering why I am here?" He asked, and Amanda nodded, straightening her posture.

He nodded and placed a brown envelope that she didn't notice earlier before her, she looked at him curiously and he gestured to the envelope "open it" she stared at him for a while, before she slowly picked up the envelope and opened it.

Her lips parted when she saw the content of the envelope, she immediately put it back in and stared at Alan

"Judging by the look on your face, I guess you know who that is," Alan said with a small smile

"Why do you have a picture of my brother? And why are you showing it to me?" She asked in a tight voice, tossing the envelope back to him.

"Andrew West.." he called out and she glared at him "Your brother Andrew disappeared with my money, over 100 million dollars," he said and Amanda's eyes widened in shock, her mind went blank for a moment as she took in the information.

What on Earth is he doing with 100 million dollars?!  She shook her head and turned back to the man in front of her, what he is doing or did with the money is none of her business  "Then go find him and take your money"

"Why do that when you are here?" He asked, sitting up and placing his elbows on the table and leaning close to her

"What do you mean?"

"You didn't empty the contents of the envelope," he said and passed a glance to the envelope "your brother signed a contract that if he doesn't pay back the money within a stipulated period of time, you will take care of it" he stated and Amanda's eyes diverted to the envelope and she immediately picked it up and emptied the content on her table.

She immediately picked up the paper that laid in front of her and read through it "I didn't agree to such nonsense! Weren't you meant to get my consent before all this? I don't remember agreeing to such"  she shouted, slamming her hand on the table.

Alan stared at her with a smile, finding her actions amusing "your brother assured us that you agreed before signing the contract, so I guess you just have to talk to him then" he said, quirking up an eyebrow.

"I refuse! This has nothing to do with me" she said, her eyes punching holes into his face.

"That's not what the contract says," he said nonchalantly and stood up "You have one week to either pay up or provide your brother before I take legal actions against you"  he stated and turned to leave before pausing.

"Here is my business card, call me when you have my money or your brother ready," he said and placed the card in front of her before strutting out.

She glared at the card and the contract before her, her anger slowly turned into sadness and her glare into tears "I thought I escaped those bastards!" She shouted and slammed her fist on the table.