“I’m going to be a great grandfather?” Eldrich Cho gasped. “I never thought I would live long enough to see any of my great grandchildren.” He said laughing heartily. “Grandpa, don’t say that.” Stephen said, frowning at the old man.“I’m only stating a fact, Stephen.” Eldrich Cho scolded. “My great grandfather never met me. The members of the Cho family don’t normally live that long.”“We will do whatever it takes to get you to see our children grow up grandpa.” Vanessa swore.“Thank you Vanessa.” Eldrich Cho said as he gave her a loving smile. “But we need to discuss more serious matters now. Like what do you plan on doing about Paolo Ong?”Stephen and Hans both nodded in agreement, the priority of the discussion for now should be Paolo and his future.“The first thing we need to do is to change his family name from Ong to Cho.” Stephen announced.“It shouldn’t be too difficult.” Vanessa said as she considered her husband’s connections. “The only person that can possibly oppose the
The Lu and Cho families had been enemies for generations.They had controlled Marina City being the richest and most influential families in the city and the nearby regions.While other rich and powerful families intermarried and eventually consolidated their influence and wealth, the Lu and Cho families avoided one another like the plague. At a young age all members of these families were taught the history of the rivalry between the two families.There were also large books in each family home that had a detailed list of living members of both the Lu and Cho families. Stephen reached up and touched the spine of the one belonging to the Cho family. He knew that his grandfather’s assistants updated the book regularly, taking note of marriages, births, and deaths. “I find it odd that they approached you.” Stephen said as he brought down the book and turned its pages. “You aren’t that distant that their books would forget you are related to me.”“Are you doubting me?” Hans asked. S
Hans kept glancing at Stephen nervously as he sat at the head of the table. His eyes also wandered to the familiar man that Stephen had introduced as his good friend John.John was in deep conversation with Andrew, Stephen’s other right hand man. Unlike most people, Hans knew that those two men were some of the most influential and powerful people.One was Stephen’s right hand man in the underworld while the other was Stephen’s right hand man in Cho industries. Both men wielded considerable influence despite not coming from powerful backgrounds. “Relax.” Hans heard Amalia tease him. Stephen had him sit higher up on the table, a symbol of how much trust he placed in his cousin and a symbol of their mended relationship. Hans was well aware of how events like tonight were used by heads of the family, such as Stephen and his grandfather Eldrich, to send a message.Tonight Hans knew that the message was. The Cho family was strong, the Cho family was united, and the Cho family’s futu
“Settle down!” Stephen announced as everyone around the table stopped their conversations and turned their attention to Stephen.“Now that you know the truth about him, I’d like to introduce you all to Paolo Cho.” Stephen had already asked for the adoption papers to be processed and Hans had already signed off. Paolo was his and Vanessa’s adopted son now and no one could question that fact.Hans picked Paolo up from his seat and carried the little boy.Now that everyone knew that Paolo was Hans’ son they could clearly see that the father and son duo did indeed look alike.They had the same eyes, the same hair, and even the same body type. Paolo smiled at Hans then looked around the room.Hans whispered something into Paolo’s ear, Paolo nodded and waved at everyone and gave them a sweet smile.“Paolo might be Hans’ biological son, but Hans and I have spoken and he isn’t ready to be a father.” Stephen told the members of the Cho family. “The reason why Paolo’s family name is Cho and n
Hans was surprised that his relatives were able to stay silent about Paolo’s existence. He had expected that at least one of his relatives would have gossiped the information to a friend.But it seemed that their fear of Stephen was even stronger, as no one had said a word and there were no signs of the news breaking out. Hans was currently at Philip Tower where his cousin had provided him with a temporary office. It was from here that he was coordinating with his managers and assistants back at home.He had been working hard in the day and at night he would come home and spend some time with Paolo before bed.Hana was a constant fixture, always watching over his interactions with his own son. Aside from Hana, Stephen had also introduced him to another young woman who kept him company when he interacted with his son. Her name was Alona Ty, a cousin of Stephen’s wife.Stephen said that Alona had her own story to tell and that Hans might be able to find it out on his own if she trust
“This is a bad idea.” Hana hissed as they entered another toy store. Hans was carefully taking note of everything that Paolo picked out, making sure. That he knew exactly what his son liked and didn’t like.He had informed his parents the night before that he had a son and both took the news quite well.They were surprisingly calm and happy about the news. Of course they were disappointed that Paolo’s mother was not Hans’ wife, but they were at least happy that Stephen had not forced their son to marry Paolo’s mother. “The press don’t know how Paolo looks.” Hans reminded Hana. “It’s you that they know.” Hana glared at Hans as he insinuated that if anyone was going to be the cause of Paolo’s identity being revealed to the press, it would be Hana. “I would never do anything to harm Paolo.” Hana said as she argued with Hans.“And yet you are here.” He said coldly as glared at Hana. Things were usually much more difficult with Hana around. He needed to be nice to her when she was co
When Stephen heard the news about what had happened, he quickly left his office and ordered both John and Andrew to utilize all of their resources to figure out what had happened.He was glad that he had sent the extra security detail to watch over Paolo. When Hans had told him that he wanted to take Paolo to the mall, Stephen had a bad feeling that something could happen.He knew that Stephen had no ill intentions towards his own son, Stpehen just had one of those bad feelings. Unfortunately, he was right. The press that Robert should have had under control had somehow managed to find out that Stephen’s so called illegitimate son was shopping with members of the Cho and Ong family.Stephen was out for blood.From what they had managed to quickly gather, someone had released information about the trip. “Alona seemed worried about something.” Vanessa told him over the phone as they spoke while on the phone while Stephen was being driven back home. “She wouldn’t tell me, I think she
“They are in Paolo’s room, sir.” A maid informed Stephen as soon as he had arrived. Paolo, Alona, and Hans had arrived before him and Vanessa.They had placed the boy in his room, but according to Hans he was afraid to leave Paolo. The little boy might wake up and find himself alone after what had happened. “Thank you.” Stephen told the maid as he rushed up the stairs to check on his adopted son.When he entered, Paolo was still fast asleep and the adults sat to the side, silently discussing what had happened.“Cousin.” Hans stood up to greet Stephen, who nodded and gestured for him to sit back down.“How is he?” Stephen asked as he walked up to Paolo and gently brushed the hair off of the sleeping child’s face.“He slept soundly in the car as we drove home.” Alona told Stephen as she watched the interaction between Stephen and Paolo.It was clear from the way Stephen acted that he loved Paolo. She saw the same love in Hans’ eyes when he was watching over Paolo, but as Hans had tol