"Why didn't you show up at the party?" Clayton asked his son calmly when they met halfway up the stairs. He was displeased by his son's attitude but he didn't let it seep through his voice. Clayton, no matter how displeased he was with his children, wouldn't talk to them with an angry tone. "Is the party over?" Theo asked while looking at his feet. "Yes, everyone left, except for Craig as he was waiting to take Tracy somewhere," Clayton ascended the stairs after answering his son's query. "Where is he supposed to take her at this hour?" Theo muttered, turned to go back upstairs and strode to his siblings room. Theo walked over to the person he knew that could give him the answer. He sat on the edge of the bed. "Are you still awake, Maya?" "I don't want to talk to a bad brother," Maya said, yawning. She was not happy that he didn’t attend Tracy’s birthday party. "You're talking to me now," Theo let out a soft chuckle. "Hmmp, I won't talk to you," Maya made a gesture of zipping
"Mom, hurry up!" Maya said while they were on the freeway leading to the airport."Darling, we are not on the race track, okay?" Emerald said, thinking of her husband and four children, Emerald became careful in her driving."But mom, you are an F1 driver," She countered just wanting her to drive fast as she worried that she could not see Tracy before boarding the plane."That was more than a decade ago, sweetie," she smiled while her eyes were on the road. "Don't worry, they are flying by a private charter."Emerald offered to Michelle and Jake that they fly through their private jet.Not only did the Strongs own more than a dozen private
By talking to them and observing them carefully, Emerald knew that this couple weren't bad people. She found it hard to tell but she has to. "Theo has a fiancée and they have been engaged since they were kids," Emerald’s remark made the couple blanch. Two things had shocked the couple. First, they don't know about Theo and Lindy's relationship. Secondly, they couldn't believe that arranged marriage was still practiced. They thought the practice in the medieval years was no more since they're in the modern times. "Theo and his fiancée grew up together. He adored her and loved her but due to adolescence he's confused and thought he liked your daughter." Emerald paused to take a deep breath. "So, you are going to ask us to make our daughter leave your son?" There was hurt in Gloria's tone. "You may not believe me, but I'm doing this for all of them. When Theo reaches adulthood he will have a clearer understanding of his feelings towards his fiancée and I am sure he will marry her
8 Years Later"Mom?" Theo stood up from his chair to welcome Emerald. He was surprised to see his mom.From the time he had become the CEO of one of the subsidiaries fully owned by Kingston - Strong Conglomerate, not even once Emerald went to see him in his office.Theo also moved out from the Strong manor and had been living in his penthouse.Since then, Emerald has barely seen her son."Why are you here?" Theo said and pecked his mom's cheek.Emerald sighed looking at Theo with a sad expression.Theo became
Remorse filled Theo's heart as he watched Tracy moving further away from him. Why did he allow his pride to rule? Why did he rebel against his mom and thought that she was controlling his life? Theo realized that his mom only wanted the best for him. And it's late for him to realize it. The woman whom he thought to be his mother's pawn so that she could continue to control him has slipped away from his hand. Had he known better he shouldn't have rebelled against the arranged marriage. "Theo, aren't we going to sit?" Rina asked Theo after the uncomfortable silence passed between them when everyone left them alone. "Go and find a seat," Theo said and pulled her hand away from his arm. "Theo, have you seen, Tracy?" Maya's voice rang as he was pacing towards the door. He stopped and faced his sister, her arms folded above her chest. Her lips curled up in a mocking smile. "She's beautiful isn't it? As they say, she's a feme fatale. The women you dated were all rubbish compared to h
"Sorry, I'm late, my love. Something came up," Ashton said as he caressed her face."It's okay, let's go. I'll introduce you to mom and dad," she smiled at him.She knew that being a CEO wasn't easy work.She met Ashton in Ameridia, they were in the same university. He was ahead of her by two years.She became Ashton's official girlfriend only after years of pursuing her.Tracy thought he would stop wooing her when he came back to Westfield but he persisted.He visited her every other month for two whole years. He called her everyday to check if she's okay.
"Since you are all here already, I will make an announcement," Clayton said to his children. Clayton smiled at Emerald and held her hand with both his hands. Maya giggled seeing the affection between her parents. She wished to have a happy marriage like her parents. If one day her mother arranges a marriage for her she wouldn't rebel like her brother who had missed out his chance to marry a good woman like Tracy. "I am retiring so your mom and I could enjoy being together. I will take her on a tour around the world," Clayton said and eyed Emerald who was apparently surprised and pleased. He then looked at Theo and said, "Theo it's about time for you to step up as the president of Kingston - Strong Conglomerate. I was at your age when I took over Strong Corporation." "Okay, dad," Theo didn't protest and wholeheartedly accepted the responsibility. They have put so much time and effort into them and now he is an adult and his siblings have entered adulthood, they have to let their
"Sir, this is the document you requested," Theo's secretary, Anne, placed the file on top of his desk.She had been his secretary since he took the position of one of their subsidiaries.Not wanting to have a newbie secretary working with him, he decided to keep her as his secretary as he took the reins of Kingston - Strong Conglomerate."Thanks, Anne," he said while his eyes were trained on the screen of his MacBook."Do you want coffee, sir?" Anne asked to prolong her stay in his office.She had been in love with him for a long time but Theo didn't even ask her to be his "flavor of the month".
“Dad!” Maya pouted while Spencer chuckled. He’s used to the father and daughter’s antics. Clayton ignored Maya’s protest and talked to his granddaughter. “And don’t take your grandma and mother’s love for extreme sports.” Clayton looked at Spencer. “Make sure that your daughter won’t get involved in any extreme sports.” “Yes, dad.” Spencer nodded. He too didn’t want his daughter to take a liking to extreme sports. He would surely have a heart attack. “Are you going to make her life dull? No hobby? Just study and take over a company?” Emerald asked in a teasing tone. “Of course not, just no dangerous sports. There are sports that aren’t life threatening. She can choose from those. I can’t teach her to play golf when she grows up.” “That’s a great idea, dad.” Spencer agreed and added. “Maya and I also planned to enroll her for piano, dance and art lessons.” “Really?” Clayton was excited. Clayton wants diversity in their family. He wanted his grandchildren to have different hobbie
Zoey bit her lips. The feeling she had for Maurice was an elephant in the room that she was unwilling to face. Maurice was in a relationship and Zoey didn’t want to be the third party, destroying a relationship. Ignoring her feelings for the man would eventually kill it. That was the reason she didn’t want to admit to herself that she had fallen for the man. “Do you like me, Zoey?” Maurice’s voice was so gentle that it touched Zoey’s heart. Despite knowing that Maurice was currently free and had no girlfriend, she had no courage to confess. “If you say you don’t like me. I will tell mom and ask her to search for another woman that wants to be with me. I don’t want to force you into this relationship, Zoey. I won’t bother you again. ” Zoey's heart thumped painfully in her chest. Just the thought of losing Maurice to another woman was tearing her heart to pieces. “Do you like me, Zoey?” Maurice repeated his question a while ago. “How about you, Maurice?” Zoey asked with teary eyes.
Zoey bit her lips as her entire body and heart turned cold. “Sir, I’m not making an excuse. My phone and wallet had been stolen.” Zoey’s distressed look moved Emerald’s heart. She can’t just watch at the sideline and do nothing to help her. She couldn’t help but imagine her own daughter. What if her daughter, Maya was the one in this situation? Of course, she wanted someone to step in and intervene to help her daughter out of her predicament. “I’ll foot the bill,” Emerald passed on her black card to the server. Grateful that a good samaritan had stepped in to help her, Zoey stood up and bowed several times and unceasingly said, “Thank you.” She was in a foreign land without her phone and any money. If this kind hearted person didn’t take the initiative to help her, she couldn’t imagine what would have happened to her. She didn’t know if justice prevailed in this nation. “Come with us,” Emerald said in a soft voice. Since she had started helping her, she will follow through a
“Ms Desmond,” the man called out, his voice having an edge of huskiness. Recognizing the man, Zoey nodded and said, “Mr Fuller.” Jonathan Fuller was the president of the company that hosted the event. The event was exceptional and everything went well and beyond what he had expected. Since taking his father’s position, this was the first time that he hosted such a big event. He got curious about who was the event specialist that handled their event so well. His assistant took Zoey to meet Jonathan before the event concluded. Jonathan was smitten by the woman’s beauty and grace. “Get in the car. I’ll drive you home.” Confident that Jonathan wasn’t a pervert, Zoey didn’t refuse and hopped into the car. It was almost one in the morning when they arrived at Zoey’s apartment building. Zoey could not unbuckle her seat belt and Jonathan volunteered to help her. Not far from them, Maurice saw everything. From his vantage point it seemed that the man and woman in the sports car were
Zoey was snapped back from her own world and remembered that she wasn’t alone in the living room. She sat on the couch still hugging, Chubby the giant chubby penguin. Having no idea what to talk to, Zoey said nothing. Exhausted from the long journey, Zoey could not stop her eyes from closing when she was hugging the plushy. Maurice observed the sleeping woman, her eyebrows were drawn to a frown and her mouth slightly parted. But it didn’t lessen her beauty to a tiniest bit. “Here you go,” Trina served the hot chocolate drink. One for Maurice and one for Zoey. Trina smiled sheepishly at Maurice. “Zoey, sweetie.” Trina tried to wake Zoey by pulling the plushy away from her. “Mom, no, don’t take away Chubby from me. I missed him so much, I haven’t hugged him for two weeks,” Zoey murmured while she hugged Chubby tighter. Something flashed across Maurice's eyes while listening to Zoey. He took a sip on the hot chocolate while his eyes never left the woman who was mumbling in
Zoey felt Maurice’s body turned rigid. She bit her lips and wished that Maurice would go along with her. The man beside her looked down on her with an unreadable expression, and Zoey gave him a pleading eyes to act along with her. Zoey’s heart thumped strongly, banging her ribcage as she waited for Maurice. “Let’s go,” Maurice said indifferently and guided Zoey to his car. He opened the passenger seat and protected Zoey’s head from hitting the car frame. It was quite a romantic gesture that crushed Nick’s sliver of hope. Inside the car, Zoey fiddled the strap of her handbag, guiltily. “I’m sorry for using you Mr Strong. Please tell me how do I compensate you?” Zoey said but Maurice remained silent. Zoey felt goosebumps covered her entire body at the eerie silence that enveloped the car. “You can compensate me by making a plan for a marriage proposal.” Maverick spoke after an undetermined time of silence. “You have a girlfriend?” Zoey exclaimed in shock and added, quickly. “
Maurice pressed his lips into a thin line, waiting for Zoey to react and decline Tracy’s proposal. Caught unawares, Zoey's mind went haywire and she couldn’t form a word to refuse the idea. She swallowed several times to moisten her dry throat. Seeing that she wasn’t refusing the idea, Maurice frowned and said. “Her apartment is in the opposite direction to the manor. I have to go to bed early.” At this time, Zoey already recovered from her surprise, nodded in agreement and said, “It’s still early, taking a cab isn’t dangerous and I have learned some self - defense. So you don’t have to worry about me.” “Ten o’ clock is already late. Maurice, do me a favor. Drive Zoey to her apartment.” Theo spoke this time, he knew that Maurice would not refuse him. Maurice's hand that was in his pocket balled into a fist. “Please, don’t worry about me. I’m used to taking cabs.” Zoey was telling the truth. Before she managed to buy a second hand car, Zoey used to take cabs even in the dead
“Congratulations, Mr Strong and Ms Wagner,” Zoey said when she was near them. Maverick and Esther, shook hands with Zoey. On the other hand, Maurice who was near them took his phone and pretended to check on his messages.“You did a great job, Ms Desmond,” Maverick gave her two thumbs up. “Thanks Mr Strong but I only managed to come up with that idea because of the information you gave to me about Ms Wagner.” Zoey didn’t want to take all the credits. With clients' willingness to give her an input she was able to come up with such ideas. “By the way, Ms Desmond, I will introduce you to my siblings and in - laws, who knows, perhaps they will be your clients soon. That man wearing a black suit with gold tie is Theo, my eldest brother and his wife, Tracy. Next to her is my sister, Maya. Well we are triplets, and Maurice is my identical twin. Next to Maya is her husband, Spencer. And also the one seated on Maurice’s left side is Esther's best friend, Betty with her boyfriend, Rex.” Zoe
Although she had made a decision to let her know that she saw Maverick leaving the hotel with a beautiful woman, she found it hard to begin. “What? Cat got your tongue?” Esther teased her to alleviate the tense atmosphere. Betty swallowed before opening her mouth to speak but the phone atop her desk rang, stopping her from disclosing what she saw. She picked up the handset. “Come to my office,” Betty heard the familiar voice and her body went straight like a ramrod. “Okay sir,” Betty answered and she looked at Esther while putting down the handset. “I’ll talk to you later, the boss wants me to report to his office.” “Okay,” Esther sighed. Meanwhile in his office, Maverick was tapping his fingers on his table as he waited for Betty. “Come in,” he said as the first knock. “Betty, I need your help,” Maverick said as soon as he saw Betty enter the office. Betty couldn't help but frown, she couldn’t forget that he and a woman got into the same car, leaving the hotel. B