“Do you think the kid is really Stephen Cho’s son?” Alona Ty heard one of her friends from work said as they settled down at a cafe during their break from work. Since she was saved from her ex-fiance’s plans she had been slowly recovering with the help of her cousin, Vanessa, and her cousin’s husband, Stephen Cho. Alona now worked in the business development department of Cho Industries. She was not only getting on track with her career, but she was also now far away from her plotting and meddling Ty family.“It’s not unusual for rich men like Stephen Cho to have illegitimate children.” Another officemate said.“But Stephen Cho seems like the loyal type, one that doesn’t fool around.” Alona told them adding in her opinion.Of course she knew for a fact that Stephen was indeed extremely loyal to his wife, her cousin, and Vanessa had called her right after the news broke out.Unlike her officemates, Alona knew that Paolo Ong or as he would someday be known, Paolo Cho, was not Stephe
“Do you think she’s in trouble?” Alona heard someone whispering behind her back.“I think the more important question is why Miss Javier was fighting with Mr. Wong. Everyone knows disrespecting Mr. Wong like that is practically like disrespecting Mr. Cho.” Alona did her best not to laugh, resulting in an awkward snort.Alona sped up her steps as she entered the elevator not wanting to cause more issues if the girls realized that she had heard them gossiping about her and Ina. “Oh, I didn’t expect to bump into you here.” Vanessa said, making Alona turn around and smile.“Vanessa!” Alona squealed as she hugged her cousin tight. “Auntie, who is this?” A small voice asked, making Alona look to the ground.She saw a little boy that had some similarities to Stephen and Amalia. “Is this Paolo?” Alona asked as she lowered herself to be at around the same height as the little boy. “You’re definitely a Cho.” She giggled, making the little boy take a step back and hide behind Vanessa’s legs.
“I’m surprised Alona agreed.” Vanessa told her husband as Pao Pao now slept on his lap. Stephen had been watching the little boy, longing to have a child of his own. He was thinking about asking Vanessa if they could start trying when her voice pulled him from his thoughts.“What do you mean?” Stephen asked as he looked at his wife.He then pulled her closer and let her lean her head on him. This was the life he wanted, a family. “She hadn’t fully recovered from the devastation another member of the Cho family has inflicted on her.” Vanessa explained to her husband. “Do you think she would have been afraid of my cousin Hans?” Stephen scoffed. “Although, I have to admit, he is more dangerous than my uncle.”“Aren’t you afraid that he will come after you?” Vanessa gasped, suddenly sitting up. “You messed with him when he was young.”Stephen sighed and shook his head.“Hans and I used to be good friends, really good friends.” Stephen told Vanessa as he recalled his past. “It was just
Stephen didn’t know how to react.He just stared at Vanessa when she announced that she was pregnant. He couldn’t even move since Pao Pao was sleeping on his lap. “Say something.” Vanessa said as her voice shook and broke. He could tell that she was worried about his reaction. “V- V- Vanessa, is it true, we’re going to be parents?” Stephen said as he stuttered. He was too much in shock, he was too happy. “Yes.” She said with a frown. “But I understand this wasn’t planned and you just took over, well temporarily took-”“No, no, I think this might be the third best day of my life.” Stephen said as he lifted his hand to wipe away a tear that had fallen from Vanessa’s eye. She started to laugh as it slowly sunk in that Stephen wasn’t mad that she was pregnant. “Did you really think I wouldn’t want to have a family with you?” Stephen asked as he pulled Vanessa to him and kissed her gently on the lips. He could feel her smile clearly relieved that Stephen was happy about her pregnanc
Stephen and Vanessa decided that they would tell his mother and sister the news about Vanessa’s pregnancy after Hans’ visit. Stephen wanted all the attention to be on the little boy as his future was about to be decided. “It came back positive, by the way.” Stephen told Hana as she sat anxiously with Pao Pao on her lap. “Positive?” She asked with a confused look on her face.She was like this most of the time, she often seemed lost and confused, but in reality she was just processing too much confusing herself.“The DNA test.” Stephen told Hana. He had intentionally decided not to tell anyone about the results until Hans had met Pao Pao, but it seemed important to mention it to Hana now.“He’s my cousin’s son. So he is a member of the Cho family, just not my son.” Stephen said with a shrug as Hana nodded and didn’t say a word.Everyone had already expected this outcome, Stephen had managed to get his hands on the video recordings of that night and he saw Hans enter the wrong room.
“Hans!” Amalia scolded as she dragged her cousin out of the room.“Are you okay?” Stephen heard Hana asked the little boy as he began to cry. “Is he really my dad? Why doesn’t my dad want me?” Paolo asked as he hugged Hana tightly. “It’s okay, Paolo.” Stephen said as he walked up and picked Paolo up, holding the boy close, feeling his pain. “I’ll talk to your father. We’ll fix this.”Stephen could feel Paolo’s pain. He felt bad for the child, no child deserted the rejection Paolo had just received. “Can’t you just be my dad Uncle Stephen? Can’t you just adopt me?” Paolo cried out as Stephen allowed him to. “Your Auntie Amalia is speaking to him right now.” Stephen whispered into his ear.“I don’t want him as my dad! I want you Uncle Stephen!” The little boy wailed.Vanessa frowned and patted him on his back. “It’s unfair, so unfair.” Hana said angrily as she balled her fists. Stephen could see that they were already turning pale from the lack of blood.He nodded at Vanessa, tell
“What will you do to him?” Hans said as he eyed his cousin carefully. “I know men like you, you need something to hold over me so you can control me.”“Hans!” Amalia scolded her cousin. “It’s fine Amalia, it’s only normal for Hans to doubt me.” Stephen said with a nod as he handed the still sobbing Pao Pao to Hana.“Still, he should know that you aren’t like that.” Amalia argued as she crossed her hands on her chest and glared at her cousin. “I love you, Hans, I love you almost as much as I love my brother, but this is too much.”“It’s comforting to know that I still stand a step below the great Stephen Cho.” Hans said mockingly as he kept his gaze trained on Stephen. He was wary of his cousin, he had been since he was tricked into sleeping with a woman he couldn’t even remember.“I have no intentions of using Paolo against you.” Stephen told Hans quite honestly. “Even if I did, I know that Paolo is nothing to you.”“He is still my flesh and blood.”“Flesh and blood that you would s
With everything settled, the atmosphere in the room was much lighter. The news also made Claudette run off in order to organize a celebratory dinner. She was inviting all of the Cho and Sy relatives as well as some of Stephen’s and Vanessa’s friends that they said could be trusted with the news.Stephen, however, had requested that he and Vanessa break the news to Eldrich Cho first before his mother told everyone why there was a celebration that night. So all Claudette could do was inform the members of the Cho family that there was an announcement and that they were welcoming Hans home.Many would assume that it was going to be an announcement on Paolo’s parentage, so they would all show up.If Paolo was Stephen’s biological son, it made him the heir to the Cho family, legitimate or not. “Stay.” Stephen said as he drummed his fingers on his office table as he waited for a maid to set up the camera for a video call with his grandfather.“Are you sure?” Hans asked.He was the only o