With Lee added to Luke's team, The preparations for his event were progressing smoothly. Despite his inexperience, Lee was more than willing to put in the work to ensure that everything was as Luke wanted. It was almost hard to believe that such a good worker was unable to make a name for himself in his fathers company, but Luke wasn't going to complain. Because of the boy's father, he was able to obtain this hidden gem. Even Ella began to warm up to him the longer they worked side by side. Although she usually just ordered him around like some kind of dictator, she would occasionally give him praise when he did well at something. Even she was surprised at how well he had adapted so quickly, especially considering that he only met them a short time ago. Although things seemed like they were falling into place, th
"Agghh. How are you so good at this!? This shouldn't be happening! I'm supposed to be the one winning." Ella was sweating bullets after losing yet another round of Blackjack. She was beginning to lose track of the amount of money spilling out of her savings. "Hmph, Serves you right." Lee muttered as he watched her crumble beneath the pressure. "T-This is just not fair. Come on boss, Why don't you throw us a bone. If we keep going like this, we won't even have a paycheck to take back home with us." The two older men pleaded with him as they watched Luke scoop up the entire pot once again. Luke couldn't help but smirk at them as they continued their desperate pleading with him. "You shouldn't have underestimated your boss. I told you that I wouldn't give you a single penny didn't I? I'm sure your wives will be thrilled when you return home." Luke chuckled as he tucked the money away. "Anything but that, boss. You know she'll kill me if she finds out that I lost so much money gambli
"Yeah, I don't know about you guys but I feel like a million bucks. How about you Lee?" Luke asked as they made their way towards their resting room after leaving the casino floor behind them. "You came out with quite a large haul, unlike Ella here." "Ha, ha, ha. It was fun. I was never allowed to gamble like that before today. My parents would never allow me to do such a thing." Lee replied with an innocent laugh. His tone quickly turned into a nervous chuckle when he noticed how he was speaking. "Oh, this is your first time playing? You must have some talent for this kind of thing if you were able to beat us all." Luke remarked as he stared at Lee with a curious expression on his face. *Ahem* "Don't exclude me from this talk. As his commander, it is only right that I too enjoy the fruits of his labor." Ella spoke up while wrapping her arm around Lee's shoulder. "To think that my little boy has grown so much. They grow up so fast don't they?" Ella smirked while eyeing up Lee's wi
"Don't pretend to be something you're not. You've never been my sister." Luke spoke with a stern frown as he looked at her with a challenging glare in his eyes. "No? You sure about that then boy?" She asked with a sly grin as she placed her hand over her heart. "You're going to hurt my feelings if you say something so awful." Ella added with an exaggerated pouty face, which caused Luke to scoff in disgust as he crossed. Noticing the concerned glances from Ella and Lee, Luke stands up from his chair. "If you have something to say to me, say it quickly. If you haven't noticed, I'm currently on vacation." Luke started with an intimidating glare. "No need to be so hostile, How about we talk privately. Just the two of us?" She asked with a calming tone in her voice, her eyes staring at him with an innocent curiosity. "I wouldn't want to make things awkward for your two companions." "Ugh. Fine, but only because I have a few questions of my own." Luke retorted with an annoyed sigh. "Go
"What the hell is wrong with her? Why is she acting so weird?" Lee complained with a frustrated expression as he looked up at the ceiling in disbelief at how bizarre his conversation with Marilyn was. "I don't even want to stay here anymore. I'd much rather just head back to the city than spend another day with that nutcase hanging around. And what did Jonathan do to her to make her act like some obsessed fangirl. It's almost like I'm talking to someone who has some form of Stockholm syndrome." Luke thought allowed with his hand to his chin. "But her mental state is a matter for another time. What did she mean about this ship being created for me? Is she saying that Jonathan had her build it specifically for me? What could he hope to gain from doing something like this, and how did he know that I would even be going on a cruise so far in advance? Things are just getting weirder and weirder around here." Luke spoke with an annoyed glare in his eyes. "I don't even want to know what t
"ugh, damn my back hurts! When did Ella turn into such a ferocious beast?" Luke complained as sat up on the side of his bed. "Looks like she's doing just fine though.” He added while watching Ella sleeping peacefully beside him. "Rubbing his fingers through her hair, Luke takes a look at the time to see that it was only 6 in the morning. Early enough for him to get his pre-speech jitters out of the way before the big announcement. Looking over towards where Ella laid, he found her eyes open and staring directly at him. "Morning." She greeted with a small yawn. I can't believe you're up so early. I was hoping that I would still be able to catch some sleep before I had to get ready for today's festivities." "Well you should be excited. You finally get to see the impact of all your efforts." Ella rolled her eyes while speaking with a sarcastic expression. "It's just going to be a collection of brown-nosing old guys anyways. I couldn't care less about those people. I'm only interested
Grooming himself and getting dressed in the finest clothes in his wardrobe closet, Luke looked like a new man. His hair was freshly combed, and the shirt he had chosen to wear was immaculately pressed and starched. The tie that rested comfortably at his neck was neatly tied without any wrinkles or loose threads anywhere to be seen. Luke had spent the last hour making sure every single detail of his appearance was impeccable. With all of his preparations complete, he stepped into the bedroom to show off his new image for Ella. As soon as he opened the door, Ella greeted him with a round of applause and a huge grin on her face. "You look amazing!" Ella exclaimed with excitement. "You remind me of some fancy assassin from one of those movies." "You've been spending too much time with Aria again," Luke replied with a playful smirk. "She's probably rubbing off on you." "Oh whatever! I bet you're happy to be compared to a movie star. You're welcome for the compliment by the way." Ella te
Arriving outside a massive open space filled with tables and chairs. All of the guests were already seated and waiting in anticipation for the presentation to begin. Standing in front of the audience is a single large white podium with two empty seats located on either side of it. Luke walks around the outside of the room, remaining out of sight until he arrives at the backside of a curtain neighboring the podium. With a quick peek through the curtains, Luke can feel his heartbeat speed up as he realizes just how big the crowd waiting on him is. Hundreds of faces with their focus solely on him, as well as the countless amount of cameras that would be recording the event. While Luke tries to remain calm while looking at the crowd, Ella had already taken center stage as she walked towards the podium with ease. After climbing up onto the stand, Ella gave Luke a quick wink before addressing the audience with a warm smile. "Good morning everyone. Thank you for being here today to see the