"But before that, I would like to you meet your first-degree cousins." he added." And guess what? All of them were very successful in their respective field of careers..." He first introduced to me the eldest of my cousins, Lucas Fisher-Dela Cerna, thirty years old, happily married with two kids. Lucas was Aunt Roselle's first-born son. Proudly, if I may describe how Dad said those words. The man was a doctor of Business Administration. At the age of eighteen, even in the middle of his studies, he already earned his first million dollars. And he was the head of the financial department of the bank he was currently working on. Mr. Perfect. That's how I can describe him. "We've heard a lot of wonderful things about you, Zach," Lucas said as he smiled at me. "I was hoping you could teach me more about your missions and visions for the future. We are at the same age, right? So, can I call you brother?" "Zach would be better," I replied without considering how he woul
It did not even bother me when I just realized that my feet were wearing one shoe as I hurried toward the operating room where Celestine was admitted. Luckily, the hallways near the operating room were already empty. None of the Lincolns stayed late, giving me enough view of her body lying on the bed from the glass window. The sight of her was nothing but awful. I stood silently in front of the glass window, watching her still figure connected to an array of tubes and wires. There was once in my life when I experienced the same thing - that night after they kicked me out of the mansion. With those wires and tubes attached to my body, I could barely imagine how Celestine unconsciously battled for her life to save the baby in her womb. "Celestine... Babe," I softly breathed out her name and our old endearment. "Please, stay strong for our baby, Noah. He still needs you as his mother, remember? Besides, I still have a lot of things to confess to you." My heart
All the memories of my past with her, were they still worth it to remember and acknowledge? That was one of the questions that kept running wild inside my brain on my way to my condo instead of the mansion. The atmosphere of the mansion was already polluted by our relatives' appearance. And I had enough on my shoulders at the moment. As I passed the park where Celestine and I used to spend countless evenings, I couldn't help but smile at the memories flooding back inside my heart and brain. We had been so young and carefree then, experiencing the boundless joy of first love. "Do you like it?" I asked Celestine the second she reached out to the bouquet of fresh red and white roses from me. She took a sniff at the flowers in her hands before she smiled back and nodded her head. "They're pretty, Zach. These are some of my favorites. Of course, I like them." "But I like you more, Celestine," I whispered in her ears, my hands wrapped around her waistline. "Yo
"What is that bastard doing here? I thought he was forbidden to step anywhere into the building! What's going on, Mr. Chairman?" I blurted, my deadening stares fixed at Dad. "Watch your mouth, Mr. Llamas!" Mr. Cedrick growled back while pointing a finger at me which surprised my cousins. They exchanged intrigued glances with each other. Lucas lifted the tip of his shoulders when Mark Joseph fixed his eyes on him. "Know your place." he added, "You're just a mere employee in our company who we can fire any time." "Of course, I am just a mere employee to you, Mr. Cedrick!" Clenching my fist, I hissed frantically, "But for the record, I am also the chairman's son and only heir of his empire unless he is going to give up his reign and let my cousins inherit everything he built for the past sixty years." "What?" Cedrick and his father blurted in unison. "Did you just claim again that you are the Young Master even if we already saw and met him at the family dinner?" Mr. C
"Don't address me that way here, dude. You're flattering me." I awkwardly laughed as I scanned in all directions to check if someone might have heard our conversation. Luckily, there's just the two of us cleaning up those fallen petals. "Besides, Celestine already had a new man. I don't want to force myself on someone who has no feelings for me anymore." "That's too bad," he replied on our way to our classroom. "After knowing you came from a fucking rich family, I was rooting for you and our professor. I mean, you two could have been a perfect couple. By the way, why are you selling flowers and chocolates when you have tons of money in your bank account?" Our conversations deepened on our way to our classroom. I started to trust Augustine, so I answered all his questions as the Young Master. Thanks to him, we sold everything and earned close to five hundred dollars from the flowers and chocolates in an hour. Right after class, I went straight to the hospital to follow
So I forced myself to close my eyes. The time was already ten minutes past dawn when I last checked on my phone screen, yet my mind still wandering everywhere. And I believe I couldn't sleep if I did nothing. I hopped out of bed and went to the dining area to check if I still had a few canned beers left in the fridge. However, I just realized that the fridge was already empty, so I went outside to buy some. The time was already 12:10 am when I glanced at the clock on the wall of my condo's living room. Despite the late hour, I was desperate to fill my bothered mind with alcohol for me to be able to sleep for the remaining hours before the next sunrise. As I stepped out of the chilly night, the road that I took seemed deserted, with only the dim glow of the streetlamps illuminating the deserted sidewalks. I could barely see anyone wandering anywhere. The silence outside the building was too deafening. I decided to walk instead of riding a car because the nearest
The next day, despite my whole body still being half asleep, I traveled back to the mansion to join everyone at the meal. The strict order came from Dad himself as he called me this morning instead of Mr. Roland or Mr. Randolph. Halfway through the mansion, I received a call from the people I missed the most these days. "We thought you had forgotten us already, young man!" Gram's pleased voice reverberated in my ears. "Did you and Gramps like the package I sent to you?" I asked back. Excitement and longing are evident in my voice. My sleepiness not only disappeared but filled them with faith, hope, and love after hearing Gram's voice. Their names first popped out when I saw those flowers on Valentine's Day. I brought the flowers for them. So, I sent one bouquet of their favorite flowers, a basket of fresh fruits, and a box of chocolate. As far as I can remember, I never missed sending them flowers on Valentine's Day. I would rather miss sending one for my parents inste
As soon as we reached the office, I did not waste a minute of my time and introduced Chris to the team as the Vice President of my little company. "Another thing, Mr. Fisher," Jennie said. "I got an email from your Dad that your family has been awarded this year as "The Most Perfect Family" by the city. He asked me to clear your schedule tomorrow morning for the photo shoot and interview, which will be aired on all social media stations. I haven't confirmed it yet because I need to ask your side about it." "What else to think about it?" Chris replied on my behalf. "Taking the interview will give a good image, not just to the Fisher Group and Companies, but for Zachary, himself as a business owner. It's a good addition to his profile." I haven't thought about boosting my profile or increasing my number of followers, but Chris had a point, especially when I was playing games with my cousins. Dad assigned all my cousins to prove that I was his useless son. If I failed, it