Take over my companies

    Chapter 5

    The world seemed to be frozen for seconds as she sat in front of him, trying to process what the man said to her. Was he saying the truth? 

    "What...what are you saying? Did you bring me here to tell me that and think that I will believe you?" She scoffed, convincing herself that this was a lie. She had her father, and the man was staying at home with her mom. What the hell was this man saying to her and expecting her to believe him?

    "I'm sorry for not coming for you all this while. I had no idea you were my daughter until the last six months, and I have been trying to find you since then, up until..."

    "And you think that I will believe you because you said that?" She scoffed.

    "I and your mother had a thing together back in college, during our last two months before graduation. We fell in love and dated for three years, but we broke up two weeks after our graduation, because I had to go out of the country to pursue my dream..." He paused and bit his lip as waves of guilty surged through him.

    "I had no idea she was pregnant with you before I left. I thought I would come back for her after I became successful, but... It took me nine years before I could come back, and...and I realized that she moved out of the city. I tried to find her, but it was all in vain," He explained, and she could only stare at him, still finding it difficult to believe. How was she supposed to bring herself to believe that the man she had lived all her knowing her dad wasn't really her biological dad?

    "My life has been messed up since then. I know I don't have any right to show my face in front of you now... I don't want this to seem like I'm coming back to you because I have no one else in my life... I'm really sorry," He explained, and she bit her bottom lip. It was obvious from his explanation that it wasn't all his fault. It was fine for him to have broken up with her to pursue his dream, and he never knew she was pregnant before she left, so it wasn't his fault. But then, it was difficult to believe him without any proof.

    "You can ask your mom about me... She wouldn't try to hide it from you now," He further said as if he read her thought, but she was too angry to even think of confronting her mom. How could she have hidden such a thing from her? Didn't she deserve to know the truth about her father? What was her reason?

    "Why did you come back for me?" She finally asked for the first time in over ten minutes that the man had been talking.

    Silence crept into the atmosphere as she waited for him to answer her, but deep down, Mr. Arnaldo was scared of telling her the reason now. 

    "Uhm... I want you to take over my company as the new CEO, since I plan to retire in three months," He dropped the bombshell, and she froze in her seat. For seconds, she thought of how to react to this, whether she should scream her lungs out, but then, what if she was just dreaming? What if this was not real and she was just hallucinating? 

    "Wha... what did you say?" She blinked her eyes rapidly, secretly pinching her thigh to be sure this wasn't her illusion, but since she could feel the pain coming from her skin, she knew she wasn't dreaming. This was a reality. 

    "Please don't say no, Aliya. I will do everything I can to convince you. I know you are mad at me, but we can sort that out later...I really need your help, please," He pleaded with her desperately, but she could only stare in shock. Who would've ever thought she would manage to reach her dream of becoming a popular actress, but now she was going to manage a whole entertainment industry as the CEO? Has her nightmare finally ended? Has her miserable life finally come to an end? Has God answered her prayers now?

    "Let's take a DNA test," Those were the only words she could utter in reply to everything he said. She just wanted to be sure this man was saying the truth, to avoid reaping where she didn't belong.

    "Sure, anything you want," He replied to her with a new hope filling him. 

    "I will arrange it right away. I will contact my doctor to take care of it tomorrow. I will personally pick you up to go to the hospital with me tomorrow morning," He replied to her, and she slowly nodded her head. If things turned out to be true, then she wouldn't have any reason to go back to that monster that called himself her husband. There wouldn't be any need to worry about paying him anymore. 'Is this how someone's story changes overnight? Is this how miracle happens?' she thought to herself as she felt new hope fill every ounce of her. She was finally going to break out of the yolk of miseries.

    They finally concluded their meeting before she went back to the hotel by cab since she insisted he shouldn't drop her off.

    She couldn't sleep all through the night after she got to the hotel, looking forward to daybreak, but the time didn't seem to be fast tonight. She kept tossing on the bed as the thoughts of the man filled her heart. Why didn't her mom tell him about the pregnancy before he left? Why didn't he ever bother to tell her that the person she thought was her father wasn't really the one? As much as she wanted to be angry, she thought that there was no reason to be. She has found out the truth, and that was all that matters.

    How time flies, it was finally morning the next day, and she quickly got dressed after she had her bath, leaving the hotel to meet Mr. Arnaldo, who already called her that he was on his way to pick her up.

    He arrived a few minutes later, and they both went to the hospital in his car.

    The test was done as soon as they arrived, and although the doctor asked them to go and come back in a few hours, she insisted on waiting for it because of curiosity.

    Sitting in the hospital the whole day was really something crazy she has never done all her life, but she didn't care at this point, because she really needed to know the truth.

    "Do you want to take a walk?" Mr. Arnaldo, who has also been with her in the hospital all day, asked as he sat beside her. Although he had a business meeting to attend, he had to put everything on hold. He hasn't been there for her ever since she was born, and this was the least of the things he could do to make her feel loved or wanted, rather.

    "No, I don't feel like it," She declined, and he nodded his head.

    "It feels awkward, honestly," She scoffed as she threw her head back, and bit her bottom lip.

    "I know..." He nodded his head as he glanced at her. She had a striking resemblance with her mom, the woman he was still in love with even after twenty years. He was scared of everything, scared of facing her again, scared of telling her that he was back. This was the only thing he could do, approaching his daughter. Maybe he shouldn't have broken up with her in the first place, he could've told her to wait for him that he would be back for her, but it was already nine years before he came back. Was she supposed to have waited for him that long?

    "Do you...have a child?" She tilted her head to look at him as she asked the question that had been bothering her for the whole day. She was scared of being rivals with his other kids. She was already through a lot in these few months, and she wasn't ready for another drama in her life again.

    "No, I don't have any," He replied to her, and she slowly nodded her head. Of course, she still had a lot of questions to ask him, which were not limited to how he had spent the recent years of his life, and how he managed to be so successful, but she tried to resist herself.

    "Hmm," She hummed as she stared into space.

    The doctor finally called them to his office, and the test was issued to them. It was positive. He was really her biological dad...