Not long after, Kevin walked out of the room, donned in a simple checkered shirt and suit pants. He did the last button of his shirt as he stood behind the seat that Jake and Howard had both moved to as they played a game on the game console. “Okay, guys. I'm done,” he said, interrupting their conversation.Howard and Jake immediately hopped on their feet, ready to leave whenever Kevin was.“We're ready, boss," Howard spoke on behalf of both of them.“Okay then,” he headed toward the dining area that Cindy was currently filling up with the breakfast she made. “Let's have breakfast, then we'll get going.”"Okay, boss,” they chorused and followed him to the table.As the three men savoured their breakfast, a comforting blend of tofu, melted cheese, and the smoky hint of bacon, Cindy brought a table of water for each of them, as Kevin always instructed her to serve every meal with a bottle of water, whether it was needed or not.“Thank you, Cindy,” Kevin said a few minutes later as all o
The agent came as fast as Lionel had assured Kevin.He was a man of average height with a serious expression, one that slowly eased up into small smiles whenever conversations began.As directed by the man, Jake drove from one place to another, from one location to another. They would drop by at each of the buildings that were available, and Kevin would look at the place and see if it was suitable for what he had in mind, if it matched his requirements.“And this place, it is the most sought-after area here in the Landary province,” the man who was showing them around began when they walked into another building yet again.Kevin took one look at the deserted area and knew he wasn't going to like the place. It didn't look deserted like how estates were always quiet; it looked abandoned, almost like the inhabitants of the area were tired of doing life. But he said nothing as he listened to the man and inspected the building while briefly wondering if he really meant it when he said it w
Lionel nodded. “That's right. You will really need a place. And I think it should be bought with Lord Phoenix's name.” Then he added immediately, “Except that it won't make sense if you have access to the building all by yourself.”"I was about to point that out to you,” Kevin said. “If it happens like that, before you know what's happening, words will spread about an ordinary man having access to such a house, and the people behind the paperwork will also start to talk since we'd have bought the apartment under Lord Phoenix…” Kevin trailed off.“And they would begin to suspect you to be the Lord Phoenix,” Lionel completed.“And then, boom! Just like that, our cover would blow off.”Lionel laughed at his boss’s theatrics. “And then they'd begin to make moves and plans on how to get you again."“Yeah," Kevin murmured back.As the room grew silent again, Lionel, reaching for a cranberry in the bowl of fruits set beside the wine bottle and munching on the juicy fruit, pondered Lionel's s
The next day, Howard, Jake, Lionel, and Kevin were up early. They prepared to catch their flights. Lionel was the first to leave, as he had a business meeting early that morning.“I'll leave now, boss," he said as he stood before Kevin, his small bag in his hand.Kevin looked up from his breakfast. "Have you had breakfast?”"I don't have that time, boss. I have to be there on time, so I just ordered a takeout.”Kevin nodded as he dabbed his lips with a napkin. "Alright then. Have a safe trip."“Thank you, boss." He lowered his head in a bow and turned around, walking out the door.A few minutes later, Howard walked into the living room, fresh out of the shower. “Good morning, boss." "Good morning, Howard, our flight is in an hour. Help yourself to something,” he said as he gestured toward the breakfast tray that had been rolled in earlier that morning. It was filled with a variety of food.Howard nodded and made his pick.Just then, Jake walked into the room, dragging his feet as he
On second thought, Kevin decided not to go to the Perry villa empty-handed, so he told the driver to take him to the Pearls store." “Alright, sir," the driver answered.Hopefully, he'll get the perfect piece that will convince Mrs. Perry and change her mind about making Mia divorce him.Having lived with the Perry family for a year, he has come to understand that there was always one way to buy their favour or admiration.An expensive gift or a million dollars as a gift would do. Whatever screams luxury, whatever screams fame.It was a foolproof way to get the almighty Mrs. Perry on your side. Just remain consistent, and she'll become your best friend.It was one of the reasons why she hated him. After all, her granddaughter only deserves a man that would bring riches and fame to the family. All these years, she never ceased to complain bitterly about how her granddaughter made a wrong choice, a dumb one. If only she knew Mia unknowingly made the best choice.Several minutes later,
The man regarded Kevin for a long while. He knew the perfect thing to do. He looked well-kept, but he could swear with his whole bank balance that he wouldn't be able to afford his coat. He shook his head and snickered, seeing as the only way out of this for both of them was for them to kiss his shoe.He turned to the attendant, who had a fearful expression on her face as she looked up at the idiot that was her girlfriend and said something to him.It was enough that a customer was mad at her. If the customer she offended should get into a fight with the one that was trying to help her, she sure was going to lose her job, and there was no way she could risk that. “Please,” she called out to Kevin. “Please, just leave; I'm fine."Kevin outrightly ignored her and returned his gaze to the man who had his own gaze on the attendant."Dirt!” He called, and Kevin was shocked when the girl answered, her lower lip trembling as she did, and began to beg again.“Your boyfriend sure has some ner
Just as Kevin contemplated giving Morris a response and just leaving him be, they heard the soft creak of a door as it was opened.Kevin released Morris, leaving him to fall back on the couch in an uncomfortable position.Morris cursed under his breath as he gathered himself and glared up at Kevin.Kevin and Morris turned to see Mrs. Perry walk into the living room, Mia's father by her side.He lowered his head into a small bow. “Good afternoon, Mrs. Perry." Mrs. Perry scowled at him. “What are you doing here? What do you want? Are you back to disrespecting me some more?" She rushed out bitterly, not giving Kevin a chance to respond.“Of course not, grandmother," Kevin answered calmly. "I'll never do that. I'm here on behalf of Mia.”Mrs. Perry simply arched her brows."I apologise if I made you feel like I disrespected you. It wasn't my intention.”Mrs. Perry snorted. “Look at this boy. Did you just say you made me feel disrespected?" She repeated his words with so much disgust that
At that moment, the main door was pushed open, and they all saw Mia step in.Mia stopped short, her gaze taking in the scene. “Uh…” she slowly began to walk into the room, looking from one person to the other, hoping to deduce what was going on before she asked, "What's happening here?”She stopped beside Kevin. “Grandmother, Dad,” she acknowledged them before she turned to Kevin. Her eyes roamed his face. He looked calm, but then, Kevin always appeared calm and composed. “Kevin? What's going on?""Welcome,” Kevin said to her. “I called your line several times, but you didn't pick up.”“Yeah, I was in a meeting,” Mia explained as she began to reach for her phone in her bag. She unlocked it and saw several missed calls from him. She sighed and returned her gaze to him. “I was in a meeting, so I had to put my phone on silent. Did something happen?" Her gaze returned to the rest of the group.Morris scoffed. “What do you think? Once your ex-husband is around, you can just tell that a lot
“Okay. I was just thinking a better school would do her good," Howard said.Kevin shook his head. “No, there'll be no need for that. It's like when you have a slight headache and you decide to go for a scan when all you need is a pain reliever. I'm not saying bullying is a mild offense. It isn't. But the school is a good one. The flaw they had was not seriously tackling the issue with the bullies…” and the principal's foolishness to favor the kids of sponsors, but he didn't tell that to Howard. "And I've taken care of it. So, there's no need to worry, Howard. Put your mind at rest and continue to play your role as her father. Lisa will be fine and you'll be too."Howard looked up at Kevin and nodded. “Thank you so much, boss. I really appreciate this."Kevin shook his head. "It's nothing, really. I did it for Lisa. Every victim of bullies deserves to be freed.”"Thank you,” Howard said one last time."Yeah," Kevin said absentmindedly as he remembered to let him know that… “Your accoun
Lisa lingered at the door to her classroom. She turned back the way she had come,gazing down the shirt hallway.Maybe I should go back to uncle Kevin and plead with him to follow me in, she thought.She knew that Kevin had done something to them, their apology was a testament of that, but… there was this fear that they've instilled in her. She barely ever showed it, but their presence fill her with dread. When they had walked out of the basketball court, she had grown rigid with fear until she remembered that the principal was by her side and Kevin wasn't far away.“Don't worry, Lisa,” she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “You’ve got this. You can do this. Uncle Kevin has warned them off, there's nothing to be scared about anymore.”After the quick pep talk, she lifted her chin and squared her shoulders like her mom always teaches her to, and walked into the class.She passed a quick greeting to the teacher and walked to her seat, avoiding to look in her ex-bullies’ direction.
“Wow,” Kevin exclaimed. "That's great!” Vivian beamed."Which company is that?" Kevin asked.“Glikkle enterprise."The name Amy mentioned immediately rang a bell. Though not as big as the Mekin company, Glikkle enterprise was one of the big businesses right now."What a great way to begin the day.” Kevin smiled. “See that we're not doomed like Mr Ross, the manager of the Mekin company equivalent to the CEO of any other company, thought we'd be."Amy and Vivian laughed lightly. “We're not, boss.” Amy said, a smile plastered on her lips. “No one can stop the Print Odd from growing."“Now, that's the zeal. Let no one intimidate you just because the company is a start up.”“Yes, boss,” they chorused, insanely glad that they had a man like Kevin as their boss."So boss, when will you be free so I can book the appointment?”Kevin ruminated on her question for a while. “Tomorrow, by 12, will be fine."“Alright, boss. I'll go get started now."Kevin nodded as Amy walked out. He handed over
Kevin ended the call with Gideon. He was about to pull back on the road when his phone rang again.With his hands still on the steering wheel, he glanced back at the phone. The moment he saw the caller's ID, one of his hands fell from the wheel as he picked up his phone and answered the call.“Hello, boss, good morning.”"Lionel, good morning.”"I called to ask if you've heard from the guy, boss.”"Gideon? The one you suggested to handle the company in my absence, right?”"Yes, boss. We've talked, and I have actually given him a go-ahead. In fact, he has arrived in Landary province. He's in the country right now.”"Yes, I know that. I've heard from him. I actually just finished talking to him.”“Okay, then.”“Yeah, everything's alright. We've discussed a bit. He seems like a good guy. And I can see he's very interested in the role he'll be handling. That's a good start.”"Yes, boss. Once I told him, he accepted in a heartbeat.”Kevin chuckled lightly. "I'm not surprised.”“By the way,
“People need to learn to drive properly,” Kevin muttered under his breath, shaking his head as he slowed down and allowed a motorcycle to speed past the front of his car. If he had been driving as recklessly as the boy and kept up with his speed without being cautious, he'd have hit the ignorant boy. As he marched on the accelerator and returned to his initial average speed, his gaze followed the young boy on the motorcycle who had sped ahead. Kevin began to contemplate if he should go after the boy and reprimand him for his speed. He was on a packed highway; he should move with some sense and not just speed ahead because he feels adrenaline pumping through his body because he's on a power bike. Before Kevin could make up his mind, his attention was drawn from the motorcycle that was rapidly disappearing in the distance ahead; his phone rang out.With his gaze now on the road, he reached for his phone on the dashboard. He switched his attention between the road and his phone. Ashe c
“So that's all about the premises,” Jake said as they stepped out of the storeroom behind the Print Odd building. “As time goes on, you'll get used to the ins and outs of the building.""Thank you,” Howard said to Jake, grateful for the detailed tour. The Print Odd building was quite bigger than it looked. If Jake hadn't shown him around, he was sure to get lost someday.“So now, let's head up so I can introduce you to the two second most important people after the boss.”“Okay,” Howard said, then he added, guessing. "That would be the manager and…" He trailed off, and Jake didn't hesitate to fill in.“And his secretary. They basically run this place since the boss is always busy."Howard nodded as they made their way inside the main building. Jake first walked them toward Vivian's cubicle. And as luck would have it, as they approached, he saw that Amy was right there with her, hunched over Vivian's desk, both of their gazes glued to the system as she pointed at the desktop's screen,
Just as Kevin took a step in the direction of the parking lot, he came to an abrupt halt as a thought hit him. He turned around and walked back into the school building.He was headed for the principal's office, but then made a detour when he saw the principal in the hallway. He appeared to be in a serious conversation with someone as they walked farther down the hallway.“Principal,” he called to stop him since he was walking as he spoke with the man.The principal instantly stood straighter, immediately recognising the voice he had just come to know about half an hour ago. It was forever etched in his memory. He turned around and saw him walking toward him. “Mr. Kevin,” he smiled as he began to walk toward him, determined to reach him before he took more than three strides. He reached him just after Kevin took his second stride.“You came back," he said when he stopped before him. Did he return to accept the invitation to the end-of-the-year party? He wondered before Kevin could
“The right thing to do is to apologise to the person that you all offended. Who do you think is madder at you than I am right now?"Their eyes widened the same instant that one of them gasped, “Lisa!”At that moment, they all scrambled to their feet and raced one another outside the court, each wanting to be the first to apologise to Lisa.Kevin smiled as he watched them troop out of the door. He began to walk to the door so he could join them outside, turning the lights off on his way out.Outside, the kids were already in front of Lisa, apologising to her.Lisa and the principal gaped at them, wondering what Kevin had done to them.They even had smiles on their faces! Lisa squinted her eyes at them to see if their smiles were the evil ones they always gave her in class or the forced ones they flashed at her whenever there was a teacher around. But it wasn't! She couldn't believe her eyes; her bullies were genuinely smiling at her.The principal also looked at them, shocked but glad.
“Lord Phoenix," Lionel's voice filled the space. “Is there anything you need me to do for you?" Kevin smirked as he pointed his left index finger to his phone that he held in his right hand, "Do you hear that?"“What? Sorry, Lord Phoenix. I didn't get that.”Kevin took in the kids' reactions, their bugged eyes and open mouths. The girl who had her arms stubbornly crossed across her chest as she proved to be a badass just a few minutes ago now had her hands by her side, clutching her gown as she shivered with fear. She was the one that looked the most scared. It was true that the loudest was usually always the dumbest.Kevin scoffed, shaking his head.“Lionel,” Kevin finally acknowledged him. “Yes, boss?""I'd call you later,” Kevin told him, then he hung up.All of the kids shook with fear as they gaped at Kevin. They couldn't believe they were in the presence of the lord Phoenix.The lead girl and the tall boy who had both seemed the boldest and most fearless were the ones who trem