Faye fell into silence. There was nothing in Yvonne’s words she could rebuke or refute, even if her heart was open. So, in the end, she could only answer, “I don’t really know…”Yvonne was in one of her worst moods, she could even consider it as abysmal.She had expected Zayn and Faye’s marriage to be undone by the increasing fractures in their relationship because it would mean there would be a window of opportunity open for her. Alas, as it turned out, Zayn simply capitalized on his identity as the chairman of Violet Vision Media Corp to bring himself closer to Faye. Worst of all, Faye was head over heels for him too!Yvonne had no idea why Zayn refused to come forward with his real identity to Faye, but she knew it did not change the fact that this piece of news boded ill.“Fifi, do you really not know who the chairman of Violet Vision really is?” Yvonne asked tentatively.Faye shook her head. “No, of course not. I’ve only met him twice, and both times, he was wearing a mask, b
Zayn had to wait a little while longer before Yvonne and Faye sauntered out of Fireflies. Seeing the latter's condition improve so much was a tremendous relief to him.A few moments later, Sean dashed out of the club. He sauntered toward the car and very obediently reported to Zayn, “Sir, I’ve completed the task as instructed. Ethan Capel and his cabal are in deep trouble now, I can assure you. They’ll be in there for at least three or five years before being released.”Zayn nodded in satisfaction, replying, “You’re not half-bad this time.”Jubilance spread across Sean’s face immediately. He smiled so widely that his pudgy cheeks had to squish together to make way for his grin. “It’s all thanks to your excellent tutoring, sir.”Instead of following up on that, Zayn simply looked out the window.“Sir, if you’re so inclined, Gordon Hayes would like to treat you to dinner.” Sean added, “He says he would like to get to know you a little better, so maybe if you could tell him the time—
Zayn had no choice but to spend the night on the couch as he was ordered.The next day, he had lunch with Gordon at The Graceful Gourmand. They had reserved the most ostentatious private dining suite in the restaurant just for him.Gordon Hayes was a man in his sixties, but he was so well-groomed that he could have passed for a fifty-year-old. He was a hard worker who left his hometown and came to the city looking for a job at the age of fifteen. For over a decade, he had worked a plethora of jobs, each of them honest labor. That changed the night his boss slept with his wife. In a crime of passion, he attacked the man with an ax and was sentenced to a few years in prison.When he was released, Gordon was a changed man. Gone were his scruples and values of honesty and fairness. He became a practitioner of duplicity and intrigue. His wiles quickly brought him the success that he had never had before and his business grew rapidly. He soon opened a casino and a nightclub.He might not
Signs of a temper shadowed George’s mien. He trained his eyes on Faye, stating, “You and your family have always just owned five percent of the shares.”Faye balled her hands into fists. “That’s not what you promised me, Grandpa. You told me that if I could borrow three million dollars from Mr. Wilson, you’d allocate an additional 10% of the shares to us!”“She’s right, dad. Didn’t you make a promise?” Waine chimed in dissatisfaction.“Shut up!” George bellowed, leveling a nasty scowl at Waine. The younger man’s face immediately paled under George’s sight, prompting him to cast his eyes to the floor while biting his tongue.“Are you truly so shameless that you have no problem reminding us of what you’ve done?” George continued with the same bellicosity now oozing out of his expression. “Thanks to you, everyone’s scorning us for having a loose woman among our kin! Thanks to you, the good name of the Carters has been sullied!”“I didn’t do anything of that sort!” Faye rebuked hotly.
It was the night of the Carters’ annual gathering.Howard appeared distracted, as though his husk of a body was unattended, as he looked on with his eyes glazed and unseeing. His face was abnormally pale too as cold beads of sweat potted his skin.“Howard, are you okay? You don’t look so hot,” Hector asked, his eyebrows furrowed.Howard stared at nothing in particular without answering him. It was beginning to worry the older man, who placed his hand on Howard’s forehead before crying out in shock, “Your forehead’s really cool…Are you having cold sweat?!”Upon hearing his voice, everyone else turned to look at him.“Oh, uh, what?” Howard finally pulled himself back to reality. When he realized where he was, he quickly shook his head. “I, uh, I’m fine.”“Are you sure? You’re having cold sweat. Did something happen to you?” Hector asked, unconvinced and concerned.“Yeah, Howard. If something’s troubling you, at least let the family know.”Howard forced a smile. “What do you mean
The Carters did not waste time jeering and insulting Faye and Zayn, their fingers wagging and pointing in mockery. Mocking them had become a form of entertainment for them.Faye’s expression turned stormy, her ire and contempt toward Zayn multiplying. She had been reluctant to join the family gathering despite being a Carter herself. Conversely, Zayn was so thick-skinned, he did not even care that he was just a guy who married into his wife’s family. He would let himself be abused and looked down upon just so he could have some free food.She missed the chairman of Violet Vision even more. Had he been at their family gathering, everyone would have shut up and kissed his boots as hard as they could.It was regrettable that she did not even have the chairman’s contact details. Just the thought of that made her heave a sigh as her dismay grew.Zayn hardly cared about the Carters’ remarks. The only reason he had come was to be Faye’s companion. He would not have bothered to attend othe
Howard was not being subtle, but as most people had their eyes on Hector, his reaction went largely unobserved.Even so, not everyone missed him—Zayn had seen his reaction. He narrowed his eyes as the cogs in his brain turned before concluding that this was Howard’s doing. The call Hector received had something to do with him!Meanwhile, Hector’s expression went through a spectrum of shock, fury, and finally, horror. By the time the call ended, his eyes were glazed over in disbelief, as though his soul had left him.His shifting emotions mystified the crowd. A heavy air of foreboding began to dawn on them, and they started to wonder if something terrible had happened to the company.Amid the uneasy silence, George furrowed his eyebrows and stared at Hector. “Who was that?”Hector gulped, scanning everyone’s faces, before meeting George’s eyes. “It’s from the finance department.”Though he managed to project an appearance of unflappability, George felt his pounding heart skip a be
Howard could feel Zayn’s eyes burning into him and his blood boiled in frustration. How he wished he could lunge at him and rip his foul mouth to shreds! Nevertheless, he could not make any sudden, out-of-place moves lest he expose himself.Just from the way his grandfather and the rest of his family reacted, Howard had no doubt that if anyone knew who the culprit was, they would lynch him right there and then.This was why he kept telling himself that he had to be calm above all else when it came to situations like these. He needed to deny everything to the bitter end.Besides, Howard had been careful not to leave an incriminating trail when he embezzled the money, and the sum was transferred straight into Gordon Hayes’ account. As long as he remained steadfast in his denial, no one would really believe he had done it. What’s more, he was far from the only one who had access to company funds.George gave Zayn the stink eye. “Shut up. No one asked you!”He quickly turned back to H