"Don't tell me they were rude to you? Liam, it seems that both of them are not competent enough. Just fire them," Elena said, making the two bodyguards anxious.They wanted to speak up to plea but didn't know where to start. If they lost their job at SOHO, they didn't think they would find a better one with as many benefits.They knew how many privileges they enjoyed while working at SOHO. No other company could afford them.Ivan was also shocked and couldn't help but speak up for them."It was just a misunderstanding, Mom," he said, but his explanation made Elena even more furious."A misunderstanding? Why should there be a misunderstanding when you are the one involved? So, that means they were rude to you?" she asked, and Ivan shook his head helplessly.Elena's logic was a bit twisted, but Ivan didn't really mind. He knew it was just her way of showing that she cared."No, Mom, just let them be. I'm here, right?" Ivan said, and Elena finally relaxed, dropping the matter."Be gratef
"You know that I don't need your apology. I just want to know why. Why did you do it?" Ivan asked in a grim tone.He did not want to hear any excuses. He was happy to see his parents after so many years, but that was all.Where were they when he was suffering and needed a place of solace? His mother's hug and his father's comfort? Where were they when he would stare at the ring hoping that something magical would happen and his parents would appear in front of him like in those fantasy movies?Where were they when he was being maltreated and bullied with no one to cry to?Where were they when he needed them the most? When his son died? Where were they when he became homeless?Where were they?Ivan started to get agitated when he thought about all this. His mother saw the condition he was in, and still, she was asking if he had been doing well. Does he look well?Does he look like he had been enjoying his life? Does it look like it?And here his parents were, enjoying their life, compl
"You guys are joking, right? A week after you left, the woman kicked me out of the house with the excuse that you guys had not paid the rent for years," Ivan said simply, and Liam opened his eyes wide in shock."What?!" he exclaimed."How is that possible? Even though we were not okay then, we made sure that we did not owe her any money for rent. We also never borrowed money from her, so how could she do something like that? We trusted her because she was older, but could she stoop that low?" Elena might look like a gentle mother with a gentle voice, but her temperament was like a firecracker."The old woman said that she needed money urgently, and since you guys were not around and she felt that no one would pay the rent that you owe, she thought I was too young to handle it. So, she said she could not wait anymore and heartlessly kicked me out, without even considering how I would live without a roof over my head.""I tried begging her, no, I did not try, I begged her countless time
"Listen to what? What other excuses do you have again? Did you call me here just to tell me stories? Then I should not have come. I should just continue to live my life with the mindset that I had for fifteen years, that I don't have any family members again. Isn't that even better?"By the time Ivan finished talking, he had already stood up. Liam and Elena stood up anxiously with him as they tried to calm him down."Ivan, listen, we will explain everything to you...""Then, what is taking you so long? What is the use of all the wealth you've gathered in all these years when I had just been suffering due to loneliness? Okay, I am also at fault for being a useless and a good-for-nothing son, but at least, you should not have made that action. It made me feel as if you guys never cared about my well-being at all.""In all these years, there was no particular day or time that I never worried about you. I knew your condition before you left and I could not help but have different worries
"How come? How is this possible? How did you guys do it? Both of you are the owners of SOHO, how does that work? How is it even possible? You guys are not pulling my leg, right? How could it be? SOHO has been in existence for years, even before I was born, so how did you both do it? If what you are saying is true, then it means that you guys have been the CEOs of SOHO for years, so why did we have to live like we were poor? What happened? What exactly is going on?"Ivan questioned in confusion. A look of sheer disarray washed over his face. It was as if someone had pulled the rug away from under him, leaving him suspended in a condition of bewilderment.The truth of the matter was so far-fetched, so unfathomable, that it seemed like a riddle with unaccounted-for parts, and he struggled to connect the dots and come to an obvious conclusion.Questions tumbled through his brain, each one more baffling than the last. How is this possible?His confusion was palpable as he searched for answ
Ivan listened to his Dad's explanation silently, but he was already going through many turmoils inwardly. He had started to believe that his parents were really the owners of SOHO, but he never expected that they had gone through so much.The whole matter was like a fairytale to him; it seemed unreal, but all the evidence was placed right in front of him, and the fact remained that his parents would never lie to him.They could keep the truth a secret like they did, but the one thing that he was sure of was that they would never lie to him.Ivan realized that it had also been very hard on his parents to make a name for themselves and do well in life. Thankfully, they had each other.If only Lucy could also...Ivan quickly pushed aside that thought, berating himself for thinking about Lucy in such an important matter. He cast his thoughts aside and continued listening to Liam. He wanted to know what went wrong after all the precautions his parents took."Anything we do, we do it secret
"Thankfully, before I left, I made sure to increase the security around your mother. I just did it in case, but I never expected that those people would really attack her when we were so vulnerable. But at least, she was able to escape, although not without some wounds.""The security around her was very tight, and even though the assassins were martial artists, they were still outnumbered. The bodyguards were very skilled, but they could not take on any of the assassins head-on, so they just used their numbers to defeat them. Elena was only able to escape then purely due to luck.""When I got back from the business trip, we also started hiring martial artists for the first time. I was not really scared of those people, but I was anxious about Elena's safety, so I had to be cautious and less reckless because I knew that it would affect both mother and son. She also had some wounds, but they were superficial ones and did not affect the baby.""After this attack, we got tired of it all.
"The news did not reach people in order to avoid affecting his image, reputation, and the Company's image. He didn't want anyone to know what happened within the Company, and only a few managers and shareholders were aware of it," Liam continued as Ivan listened attentively.Liam's words seemed like a dream to Ivan. He couldn't believe that his carefree parents had gone through so much, with his father even getting shot in the process."So, what happened next? Did Mother give birth to me?" Ivan asked slowly, and Liam shook his head slightly."Not yet. Many things happened before Elena gave birth to you. Alex continued to send men to assassinate us, and we were constantly on the run. No one knew about all this, and we went into hiding. We did everything we could to escape from Alex, but he kept tracking us down. We lived in fear every day, with no peace of mind.""I knew we had to do something because of your mother's health. She needed rest and peace, not the chaos that was happening
After they finally found a dress that they would wear for the ball, they sent all the designers packing, and the house seemed empty. Isabel and Rachel were both immensely tired.“I'm stressed; I need to go to a spa.”“Well, you can add that to the list of what we have to do tomorrow,” Rachel told her, and she nodded.“I really do not like being stressed out. It messes with my brain,” Isabel complained.“I wonder how your husband is coping. To be very honest, you're lazy. You can't even do any hard work for like three hours straight.”“Now, why would I want to do hard work for three hours? I was not made for stress; it's why I have my very loving husband that understands me,” Isabel said, and Rachel laughed.“Well, that's good because if your husband was not Ivan, I wonder what you'd have shown him. The people around you need to be very patient people,” Rachel told her, and she nodded.“That's why I have you, Chelsea, Elijah, and Richard. You all love me so much that it's suffocating,”
“I'm so stressed out. Let's quickly get today over with,” Isabel moaned as she sat down.“We have only just begun; have you forgotten that we are going to shop for the dresses that we will wear to the ball?” She asked her.“Oh, I totally forgot about that, darn.”“Good that you're here. That's how you'd have forgotten about it. It's important, you know,” Rachel told her.“I'm sorry, I've just been so stressed out, and now you're putting me through a hardcore workout,” she told him.“You need these every morning, you know, so you'll have a clear mind,” Rachel told her.“Clear mind how? I'm so stressed right now, and I can barely think, so please, there's no way I'm having a clear mind with this torture,” she groaned, and Rachel just laughed.“Now come on, it's important to keep fit. Go and take your bath,” Rachel told her, and she nodded.“You don't even have to tell me twice. Can't we just tell the designers to come here?”“Well, my house is too cramped up, right?”“My house? Let's go
“I've done a number on him,” Isabel muttered as she plopped down onto Rachel's bed.“Why do you say that?” Rachel asked as she removed her makeup.“He's now acting like a baby around me, like he's scared what might happen if he does some certain things with me. Ivan used to be so confident; he asked if he could hold me earlier after the panic attack,” she told her, and be nodded.“I understand that bit; you just need to be there for him. He needs you this time; make sure you don't let anything happen to him. It's the time to be there for him,” she told her, and Isabel nodded.“I know, I know. I just hope he gets better soon. The panic attack was so deadly to watch; I've never seen him have one. The way he clawed at his throat, Rachel, I don't think I want to see that again. It seemed like he wanted to die, and it drove me insane. I can't bear to see him die, you know,” Isabel told her, and she nodded.“I understand; don't worry. You guys have each other, and you're strong together, so
“Where the heck have you been, Isabel?” Elijah screamed at her on her way back to the office. Everybody stared at them due to how loud his voice was.“Don't you ever shout at me like that again,” Isabel warned him, and he still looked panicked.“I'm sorry, but everybody has been looking for you.”“Why? I was in Rachel's office; you know that's where I go most of the time.”“Darn it, it's Ivan,” Elijah said as they both got into the elevator.“What's wrong with him?” She asked hurriedly.“He's having those panic attacks again; it's worse this time around. I'm not comfortable leaving him but I was about to go to the announcement room and call your names through the speakers,” Elijah told her, and her own heart dropped.Why was he having these panic attacks? The elevator was not going fast enough; she kept staring at the numbers. She was burning inside, and when the elevator finally opened, she ran out. The people on the floor looked at her, but she didn't care.The man she loved was in
The moment Rachel got to the office, she was greeted by different people, and they complimented her dress. She smiled and felt happy; she liked dressing nicely and being complimented by people. It made her feel good. She quickly made her way to her office to start her work for the day. She had a lot of things to do, and because she didn't come to work yesterday, she knew she had to catch up on a lot of things today.She remembered her night with Dante and smiled as she entered her office. Maybe things were finally starting to be okay for her and Dante. Maybe they could do this after all, but she still didn't know what would happen. She knew that his father was so against the idea, so even if her own parents agreed, she wasn't sure his own father would allow it. She didn't know what to do, and she didn't want to think about it, so she resumed work immediately. She needed to catch up on things. They had a meeting tomorrow where she would have to give her briefing, so she wanted everythi
She opened her eyes but quickly closed them again. She didn't want to leave the bed; it was too comfortable for her. So, she closed her eyes, intending to go back to sleep. She didn't want to think about anything; she just wanted to continue being in the arms of the man she loved. She burrowed into his arms, but it felt empty. She immediately opened her eyes and looked beside her, only to find an empty space."Dante?" she called out, met with eerie silence. She sighed in disappointment, realizing that he was gone. She had expected him to still be there, and perhaps they could have talked some more. But she kept forgetting that he was a busy man and didn't always have time for what she wanted to do. Although she knew that if she told him she wanted him to stay, he would do so without hesitation, without thinking twice. And she loved him for that.She finally admitted to herself that she was in love with him. She thought as she plopped back down on the bed. She should probably have toda
After her conversation with her mom, she plopped down on the bed, contemplating her life and what to do next. She had achieved a lot at her age, and living in a cramped house was simply her choice. She could have easily afforded a penthouse for herself, given her hard work and the trust fund that would set her up for life. However, she wasn't lazy; she wanted to work hard and establish a trust fund for her future children as well. She had already started planning and saving for the children she would have, and the amount of money involved was not insignificant. She had clear goals that she wanted to achieve. For now, she knew that she simply wanted children. She didn't desire much more, just like her parents. Whether they came as twins or individually, she wanted kids. As for a husband, she couldn't envision herself with anyone other than Dante. She thought about it constantly, and he was the only person she could imagine being with. It was a strange feeling, but she just knew it. You
“Mom, come on, tell me. I'm itching to hear about her,” Rachel urged her mother.“Andrea, I don't want to spill your brother's secrets,” she told her, and she pouted.“But he knows all of mine,” she told her, and her mother glared at her.“Mommy.” She gave her that look that she couldn't resist.“Okay, okay.”“Thanks, mommy.”“I'll tell you, but you don't get to use it against him or I'll kill you personally,” her mother told her, and she knew that she took that threat seriously.“So, after you left, you know how your father changes maids in the house every year, except Nora?”“Yes.”“Serena came in as the next batch of maid for the year. It was only supposed to be a year actually. She was assigned to Andre, your brother's chambers. You know the typical boss falls for the maid, whatever. That was exactly what happened, but Serena didn't like him then. She gave him a hard time and she really messed with your brother's mind. He almost went crazy. Anytime they had an argument, he's alway
It was the weekend again and Ivan and Isabel had to sleep in the same bed in the same house, their children were growing rapidly and their wits were also growing with them, those children were smart and they got it from their father probably. Isabel wasn't a nerd so she wasn't exactly smart all the way, but their father was everything so of course, they were smart.They just finished dinner now and Ivan and Isabel just tucked their children to sleep after singing for them. It felt nice to do all these once again, Ivan liked it and Isabel didn't want it to end actually. That was how he wanted things to continue to go, smooth.They were finally back in their room and they both laid down, they have never cuddled after everything that happened then.“Let's talk,” Isabel told him and he pulled his perfect eyebrows together.“About what?” He asked.“About us.”“Okay….” He said carefully not knowing when this will end, he had no idea what she wanted to talk about and it drove him crazy. He w