At the end of the message, John Dave added with a laughing emoji, "Welcome to the group, Young Master! Expect to have tons of messages from your inbox since you are now disclosing yourself to everyone. They might be asking you a few questions about yourself. It's up to you if you answer them or not. You always have my respect." The tension in the chatbox went too deep as it made all the members of the group feel uncomfortable and too tight-lipped. So I decided to change the topic to something more light-hearted. I typed and sent: "Anyway, I'd be holding a royal party in my Dad's five-star hotel in two days. Everything is free of charge. Also, this message is to formally invite you all to join the party. The theme would be masquerade 'cause I love hiding faces and all. Just present this message to the security guards as it represents your free pass. See you there!" "That would be great, Young Master! Couldn't wait to see you soon." "Wait. Really? Does this mean we c
The next day, I woke up with my grandparents already gone from the mansion. What we talked about last night was still fresh from my clouded mind. They were the ones I had left who supported me unconditionally since then and I believe were true to themselves. On the bright side, Dad let them go, not knowing it was I who begged him since their names were already freed from his accusation that they had something to do with the kidnapping. "Young Master... Here's what I got from Ms. Pineda so far." Mr. Logan, my driver, slid me a brown envelope on our way to work. "She will turn thirty in three days. Single and only child. Ms. Pineda has been working as the Chairman's secretary for the past eight years. Her parents died when she was ten years old. She's an orphan." I removed the seal from the envelope and took the documents out. "What about the place where we dropped her off? What did you get about her permanent address?" "That's the most confusing part, Young Master. I co
"By the way, correct me if I'm wrong. Have we met before?" Mr. Cedrick added, his voice deep but his entire face wrinkled. "Don't know when or where but I believe we have met somewhere before." Yes, of course! We have met at the golf course with Dad and some of the company's business partners before, Mr. Cedrick. Unfortunately, everything that happened that day was dimmed from your memories. I know you have some kind of illness that forgets things or incidents easily. That's why Dad and I were too confident to manipulate everything at the family meeting. However, today, you scared the hell out of me. And I was in the middle of confessing the truth to you or not. If I'm gonna do that, what will you do? "Are you sure I said that? Couldn't remember though." I defensively replied. "Of course, you remember that, Mr. Llamas! How could you forget that so easily? You just let it out five seconds ago. What do you mean by that?" he insisted. "Are you the Young Master'
I looked into my class schedule and the door number above us one last time, thinking I might have stood in the wrong classroom. No. The room number was too large not to notice it. My eyesight was still at 20/20. There was no chance I could be mistaken. This room in front of me was my first subject, and Celestine would be my first-afternoon professor. We will see each other five days a week for the entire semester. Could this be just a coincidence or is fate trying to bring us back together? "Can we talk for a second, Celestine?" I begged, ignoring the fact that she, being one of my professors, was news to me. "Don't worry, this talk won't take long. It's about our son." My instinct could sense that she started getting uncomfortable talking with me. "I wanted to have custody of Noah, Celestine." I added, "With all the evidence we gathered against you, Sebastian, and even your parents, there's a higher chance that I would win the case. So, before we could go that far an
Julian's expression sharpened, mixed with anger and hatred toward me. In addition to that, my instinct tells me that my fate to get beaten in their hands is inevitable unless a miracle shows up at my doorstep. So, I quickly scanned the entire place they called a den. "You were the coward, Julian," I replied, not because I wanted to pour fuel into his burning rage, but because I was buying time. "If you're not, why are you still hiding behind your minions? That's how cowards usually play. Why can you just face me alone, huh? Want to punch me? I dare you to punch me without using innocent people." As I secretly darted my eyes from shadow to shadow, I took in every detail of the abandoned building. My mind raced, searching for any possible way to escape from their clutches. I see broken windows, creaking floorboards, and the rusty emergency exit door at the far end of the hallway. "Considering the fact that your family had nothing already, it made me wonder why these peop
My schedule the other day was too swamped to the point that I couldn't even take a break for lunch, it was exhausting. There's a school, bullied by Julian and his helpless friends, and being kicked out of the Lincoln building. I couldn't even spend a minute holding my phone for that same reason to check all my emails and messages. "What time would the meeting with Sebastian be?" I helplessly asked her. My meeting with the attorney would be in an hour. And I planned to give him a call thirty minutes before that to make sure he would show up this time. I already mustered the courage to confess everything to him so he could use it against those who ruined and wanted to ruin my life. So I must take this meeting at all costs before everything changes. Before my core gets frightened and chickened out. I didn't have a good night's sleep last night for this. "That would be in an hour from now, Mr. Fisher. Do you want me to reschedule it?" Jennie proposed as she scanned
The tension between us immediately swallowed the ambiance of the entire place. I already expected this to happen between us, I came here with a bullet in my rifle. "No," Sebastian insisted firmly. "I will only explain everything to the Young Master. That's what you emailed me last night, Ms. Pineda. I was supposed to have another appointment today, but because I expected the Young Master to show up, I canceled everything on my schedule." "We are not here to make false statements, Mr. Stroem. If you don't trust Mr. Llamas or me, you are free to call the office of the chairman to verify it." Jennie defended me from Sebastian's insults and sarcasm. Even though helping me wasn't necessary as I had things twirled with the tip of my fingers, it appeared that she had had enough of his sharp tongue. The moment Sebastian and I stood face to face, I could not help but sense everything: his suspicions of me, rage, and even hatred. I, for one, have had enough of his sarcasm, but I
At first, I hesitated to grant Van's threat, not because I had no cash with me or I couldn't wire him the amount of money, but because my first impression and suspicions of him were proven true - that he couldn't be trusted. He just revealed his true color to me, finally. What's worse than that, his unexpected appearance in front of Sebastian high on drugs and intoxicated not only ruined my Dad's business reputation but mine as the Young Master as well. Everything was my fault he took advantage of us. I used him to lie for me. Now, he's using my secret to his advantage. "Is everything alright, Zachary?" Sebasitian's unexpected interruption caught me off guard. I was startled to the point that my body almost got out of balance. Then he hopped his hand on top of Van's shoulder. "Why am I feeling that you are scolding the Young Master, huh? Have you forgotten your place? You're just a mere employee in his Dad's corporation." Jennie looked at me, her entire face filled wi