"Ms. Layne suggested that we should have our outing in the chairman's newly bought mansion, Mr. Fisher," Jennie said. "I don't know if you are aware of this, but the chairman recently bought a mansion that fits your ideal kind of outing. The property was located on top of the hills with a dense forest where we could have a few activities. What do you think?" Indeed, I didn't have any idea about Dad's newly bought mansion on top of a hill because it was the least of my worries. But it turned out that my cousins were more aware of all his properties. I looked into her eyes to check how she would react when I replied, "Well. I have no idea about it, but I think it's not that hard for Ms. Layne to ask Dad's permission, isn't it?" "Of course." She replied without any signs of second thoughts. "I'll give you guys feedback once I talk to Uncle later tonight. Would that be alright?" All of us in the meeting room were left with no other choice since I had nothing to say anymore
Mom was taken aback when Dad removed her grip from him. "No," he firmly replied, his stares toward turned deadly. "I'm not going home unless this bastard could hear my words. Know your place, Zachary. Be grateful you were using what our family had, deny it or not. Don't you dear cause more trouble in school not that I owned it. I would never spend another thirteen million dollars on your mess. Do you understand?" After letting out those words, Dad evacuated the condo and never returned, leaving me and Mom standing across from each other. "What are you still looking at, Mom?" I asked, "Aren't you supposed to be following him like you always do as one of his minions?" "What happened to you, Zachary?" Mom asked before she wiped off the tears that fell from her eyes. "You've changed a lot, son. I don't know if you are still my son or not anymore. Your Dad was just concerned about you, and you didn't even acknowledge it." I was about to defend myself from what I believed wa
After confirming Noah was already in a deep sleep, I asked his nanny to keep an eye on him for a few hours until I got back. I was not the kind of father who was rigorous, heartless, and inconsiderate, so I told her she could take a nap as long as she was next to my son. "Do you want to see the list of the games we prepared for tonight? I also need to discuss to you with regards to the prizes for each game." Jennie asked as we continued walking outside. She handed over to me a small piece of paper marked with numbers one to thirty on it, I believed, there were fun games to play for our two days of company outing. I know we can't achieve everything on the list, but the first three that came to mind were volleyball, truth or dare, and hide and seek. "Do we have everything we could use for these games?" I worriedly asked before I returned the piece of paper to her. "I mean, if we are going to play all those games within two days, we must have everything we need, right?"
Startled, Jennie hurried to my spot and helped me up. "Zach, are you alright?" she asked before she yelled at her brother, "Julian, do you have any idea what you just do, huh? Are you out of your mind?" "Come on, sister Jennie. That bastard deserved to get beaten, not just a single punch." Jelian hissed back. "Do you even have the slightest idea what that moron did to our family? You should stay away from that monster before your life gets ruined as well." "You should leave this place in an instant, Zachary," Julian ordered. "You, of all people, should know better that most, if not all of us, hated and disagreed about you being part of the outing." "As much as it pains you, Julian, but you can't just shoo Zachary out of this place." Jennie defended me, her voice sharp and sounded scary for the first time. "To begin with, he was not here to join your class outing. We also had our company outing in the same place and time as yours. In fact, we are in the middle of playin
I slightly crouched closer to her with the hope of having a better look at her face but to my surprise, she cracked her eyes open. Startled, with no way of escape, I closed my eyes and kissed her on the lips. "What are you doing?" she whispered to make sure Noah would not wake up. "Go-good night kiss?" I defensively uttered right after I removed my face from her face. Then I cleared my throat to avoid the stuttering of my voice when I was about to add, "Good night, Jennie. Thanks for keeping an eye on my son. You can now get back to your room." Gladly, Jennie didn't ask for further questions about the kiss even if I knew she had all the right to confront me. What I did could have startled her too. She could have bombarded me with questions but she chose to shut her mouth and evacuated the room. I guess we're even now. She kissed me before, so I was simply returning the favor. The next day, I woke up alone on the bed. Worries and fears sent shivers down my spine when
None of them even considered the fact that the statement was also applicable to me. "Someone like me, that's completely ridiculous!" I could not help but scoff inwardly in disbelief. Well. What else could I say? All my cousins were born with a silver spoon in their mouths. Lucas managed to achieve his dream at a young age. He became the CEO of his own company, and his parents could be proud of his achievement. His achievements also helped his sister, Layne, to achieve her dreams. She got all kinds of support from her brother and parents, either love, financial, or even connections. My other cousins, Mark and Chris, have grown well as well. Their parents supported all their dreams. None of them experienced being in my shoes. To get humiliated, mocked, degraded, and kicked out of the family. It's easier for them to say "Someone like her" because they know nothing about Jennie. I was about to defend Jennie when one of the housemaids of the mansion approached me and whispe
Our uncertain journey began when Jennie and I nervously sat on the couch in front of Dad's desk while waiting for him to get back from his meeting. "There's still time for a change of heart, Mr. Fisher." Jennie broke the deafening silence and towering wall that divided us. "I'll be giving you ten seconds to evacuate the room before the chairman arrives. And before you would regret it for the rest of your life." Regret. Did she think I might regret something for the rest of my life if I tied the knot with her? Perhaps she already noticed or heard the sound of my racing heartbeats. "One." she began counting. "Two." I joined her counting inside my brain. "Three." "Four." "Five." Reaching this far, my heart skipped a beat for a few seconds, attempting to consider her proposal. I still have five more to be able to run away. If and only Noah could talk and understand the situation his confused father is going through, I could have called him and sought his
"That's enough, gentlemen!" Mom spoke up. "Someone died and yet you are blaming each other. Aren't we supposed to blame the one who killed them and find justice? Let go of him!" "We're so sorry, Mrs. Fisher." one of Dad's bodyguards replied, his voice barely audible. Without asking further questions, they let go of their clasp from me and strode to the corner. "Zachary, we are here to pay respect to Mom and Dad." Mom uttered, her eyes swelling up. "Your dad even canceled his appointments just to visit them." Right. Mom loves Grams and Gramps as far as I can remember. She was once a devoted daughter to them before she married Dad. She barely spoke every time Dad was taking over the floor. But her life turned into a living hell since they got me. There was this one night when she attempted to run away from the mansion - away from Dad, but she failed drastically. She was locked up for a few months in the dungeon similar to a prisoner. That's how wicked Dad really wa