After the buzz of the reunion calmed down, and they settled down to talk more when Lawrence remembered that Amber was the one claiming to be Umbra even when the real umbra was in front of him. “Miss Amber said something about being you being her boss and man. Why is she filling the space for you though? I mean this is a great opportunity to make your dreams come true”, he curiously asked, and Tom scratched his head at the question. He didn’t know the exact response to give in order to anger him or make him look like a fool, so he hesitated for a bit before Lawrence came to his rescue. “It’s okay, don’t worry about anything. I won’t hold you for it, there must have been a reason after all”, Lawrence assured him, and he answered. “You do know that I am the CEO of the biggest shopping mall in Chicago right, and one of the sons of the Holland group?” he started and Lawrence nodded his head in acknowledgment. “I had to ditch art in order to get this position, it was the requirement for
Tom and Amber didn’t know that the secret house had been raided by Joseph, who couldn’t wait to get his hand on solid evidence because there seemed to be none. He also got information that Tom had Lawrence lodging in one of their expensive rooms when he came to Chicago. “There is something they are all hiding and that will be exposed when I send this to the press”, he bellowed as he entered the secret house after breaking down the lock through the help of an expert. He searched every nook and cranny, found the artwork and another copy of the contract they both signed. “This should be enough to get them and let’s see how they go about it when the whole world knows that they were being deceived by them” Joseph laughed and ordered his secretary to send the evidence to the press. The paid reporter reported just as Joseph wanted and released the news that a source had sent in a report that the artist was pretending to be someone else. Just as she was watching it on the TV in the meetin
Tom and Amber were busy discussing the new stocks and what to do for the improvement of the mall in a meeting in the conference room, and they had been at it for hours. She took an excuse to visit the restroom towards the end of the meeting and left first. She was about entering the restroom when she heard the older employees speaking ill of her, and she allowed them to finish before pushing the door to give them a reply, but she was about entering when she heard the voice of the junior employee lashing at them for talking bad about Amber. She kicked against the idea of entering and just stood there with her arms folded, waiting for them to come out and meet her at the door, which they eventually did when they threatened the junior employee who ran out for her life. “I was waiting patiently here for you to come out and since I am here, why don’t you leave the poor girl out of this and face me? I am your target in the first place, isn’t that so?”, she stated, and the older employee s
Throughout that day at the office, people were either congratulating her or telling her how they were happy for her. Of course, there were some who gossiped about why she had to be the one that got Tom’s heart. “She is the closest to him, and she has always been a competent lady. Tom is also a brilliant man, so naturally, they think alike and that must have been what linked them together”, one of the ladies working on the CEO’s floor remarked. “Well, I cannot deny that fact, but it makes me mad”, another spat out from the corner and the lady scoffed. “Why are you pained over someone else’s relationship? It’s not like the CEO was ever in your league. It was never anyone’s fault that you have a crush on someone you can never have”, she slammed her and everyone burst into laughter, making the other lady pained. She stomped her leg on the floor in anger, but the lady was not fazed, she had only said the truth. ** * Amber finished her work for the day and went to tender the documents t
Amber was busy sorting out the orders that were brought to her by the mall staff when she felt the need to ask for permission over some certain brands. She went up to the office and didn’t know that Joseph was already inside the office with Tom. She knocked once before entering, as usual, but she was met with their scenes of pinning themselves to the wall. Taken aback by the sight in front of her, she wanted to run up to them and separate them when Joseph saw her coming. He decided to drop the bomb because he was sure Tom had never told her about his true identity. Tom had threatened to crush Joseph if he didn’t stop coming to him and bothering people around him. He was getting tired of his child's play and antics. “It’s not fun anymore”, he had said to him, but Joseph only scoffed. “You claim to love her, but have you even told her the truth? Does she know that we are stepbrothers? Is she aware of the fact that you are an illegitimate child who can lose his position at any time?” q
SIXTEEN YEARS AGO Anita was happily married to John, the father of Tom, who was a civil engineer in Ohio. He was an excellent man who was good at his job and also had a talent for painting even though he didn’t paint officially. When he discovered Tom also had the talent and was interested in painting, he decided to groom him himself, to the point where he would be able to make a decision about whether he wanted to be an artist or choose another path. He bought painting tools and all other art supplies for Tom’s ninth birthday and told him he was ready to support any dream he ended up choosing. Happily, Tom firmly assured him that he would like to paint, and he opened one of the rooms in the house which he turned into their painting studio. They had taken the lesson seriously, with the dad promising to enroll him in a painting class when he clocked twelve because by that time, he would have finished all the projects in front of him. That fateful day, they had just finished paintin
The day Amber’s mother went missing due to the poisonous gas that made her collapse thanks to Joseph’s evil plan, Tom had gotten all expenses paid as a form of care and love towards Amber. He got to find out that she was suffering from kidney problems and her name was still on the waiting list, so he pulled some strings to people he knew to help him find a compatible donor. He had gone back to the hospital when Amber went back to Paris to check up on her regularly. They had the chance to talk very well, and it was then he came out about his feelings for Amber. “Do you like my daughter? I mean no boss has the time to look after their secretary’s mom like this”, she asked the third time he came back, but he only scratched his head and that earned him a big scolding from her. She slammed her hand on the room’s wall and her eyeballs went up in anger as she glared at Tom, who was wondering what he did wrong. “If you plan to toil with my daughter and her emotions, then you should stop all
Never in her life had Anita thought she would hear Tom say he wanted to have a chat with her. The suddenness of his request hit her had so much coupled with the excitement. She quickly left what she was doing to attend to his needs without hesitation because if she pushed him off till she was done, then he might say she shouldn’t bother about it anymore and that would be her loss. “I have got myself a girlfriend”, he announced to her as they went to have their seat, and she jumped off the chair as soon as her butt touched them. With her hand covering her mouth, she almost screamed “You got yourself a what?” “A girlfriend”, he said again, this time with a proud smile. She was so happy beyond expression that the coldness in his heart was melting away, for him to have it opened up for love. Jumping back into her seat, she started her questioning session. “Who is she? Is she someone I know? When are you going to introduce her to me?”, she kept bombarding him that he didn’t even know the