Chapter 01
Ethan holds the tray of the glass cup and wine in his hands tightly,he releases a deep breath and tries not to let his nervousness get the best of him.
He joins the other staff and they all stride down to the meeting hall. He didn’t feel so good about this but what can he do? He’s in charge of serving the section.
The hall door opens wide and he leads the staff in with the drinks and foods in their hands.
“Welcome to Trump international hotel, Here is the order you place” Ethan bowed his head with a clean handkerchief in his hand at the bottom of the wine bottle.
He bent the wine slightly and poured the young man a few.
It’s a business meeting going on between five businessmen and women.Among those women is his wife Jones Gracie.
He bowed his head and gently put the wine bottle in an ice bowl.Ethan could feel eyes on him but he decided to ignore and focus on his work.
He didn’t want to cause trouble for his wife again and he doesn’t want to be looked down on by his wife's boss and colleagues too.
“Isn’t he your husband? I almost couldn’t recognize him for a while” Mr Augustus asked Gracie.
She cleared her throat slightly and glance at Ethan, she really do not wish to be acknowledged as his wife at that moment,
“Sure” Her replies are quick yet faint, she knows lying won’t help because her boss knows him so well.
Ethan realises what was about to happen and quickly wants to walk out with the other staff.
“Mr Jones,Stay and have a drink with us” Mr Augustus said before he could walk out, Ethan halted and swallowed hard.
“I really do not think that’s necessary sir?” Elsa, Gracie's best friend, speaks up before things get even more awkward.
“What do you mean not necessary? I’m just trying to be nice to my business partner husband and I don’t think that should be an issue” Mr Augustus snorts.
“Sir, I think we should just let him be since he’s still in his working hours and he’s really not needed here” Gracie quickly said, She knows her boss so well.
He’s far from being nice, especially with his choice of words.
“Come on Gracie! You know how important this Contract is, right? Let’s not delay it and let him just have his seat already” Mr Augustus said frankly giving no room for another opinion.
Ethan realises he really does not have a choice than to sit with them and he won’t want his wife to lose any important deal because of him.
He swallows his dry throat and takes his seat beside his wife gently, he’s been quiet knowing he might just add to the fire and so he remains quiet but eventually he is unable to escape.
Gracie has always wanted to avoid this kind of situation but only gets worse each time, the meeting is a high stake contract and she can’t afford to lose it.
Mr Augustus is not an easy man to deal with and she knows that as well, Ethan felt very uncomfortable to even lift up a glass of water to his mouth.
“It’s really unexpected to meet you here, I mean you working as a waiter is unexpected and unbelievable too” Mr Augustus laughed.
Ethan looked down at his fingers trying not to raise his brows up to his face, He already felt uneasy and too low sitting among them.
“Tell me really, Why are you working as a waiter? I did hear that Gracie married a pauper but I never expected someone that is not qualified for a decent job, " Mr Augustus says.
The other staff except Elsa and Gracie ended up laughing while some chuckles and some seize him up in his cheap clothes.
Ethan was quiet. He felt like the man's intentions were really to mock him after all and he should have turned down the offer immediately and walked away before it got worse.
“We should talk about the business sir,” Elsa said, trying to take away the awkward atmosphere.
“Business? That’s been unfair to Gracie's husband, the waiter. How is he supposed to understand? Is he even educated?” Mr Augustus asked.
Most of the meeting holders couldn’t hold in their laughter anymore, “He does look too poor I will say” , Mr Augustus' close men said frankly.
“That’s true,” Another lady agrees.
Ethan holds his hands tightly under the table and tries not to break down with their words, it’s starting to get too much for Gracie to bear.
If only the contract is not important, She tried not to let it show that he’s her husband yet this happened.
Ethan keeps staring at the glass of water before him while they laugh and joke at him.
“I felt like I made a mistake letting someone of a lower class to sit with us now, I shouldn’t have allowed that and now I’m afraid his cheap perfume will contaminate mine” Mr Augustus said with his scornful voice.
Ethan was about to burst at that moment and wanted to stand up from the table, Elsa and Gracie couldn’t say anything.
Stopping Mr Augustus will only make things worse and it’s even as worse as it is already, Just till this meeting ends and she will breathe.
Ethan wonders why the man had to be like that, it’s not like he wants to be like this too, just the circumstances of life that have brought him down.
Does he feel happy looking down on him this way and turning a man like him into a laughing stock?He's not really surprised by his words.
Ethan felt that just because he’s rich and he is not doesn’t mean he could rub it on his face that he's a classless man.
All this because his wife wants a contract from him, his leg starts shaking and his head refuses to leave the glass cup in front of him.
“I have finished the wine, Come pour me more wine” Mr Augustus said and Ethan was forced to raise his head up this time.
“You shouldn’t be looking at me that way Mr Jones, It’s your work and you could have been out there bowing your heads to more people better than you are” Mr Augustus said plainly.
The rest of them laughed heartily.
`That's right,he just saved you some stress.He's probably been lazy all his life and that’s why he didn’t make it in life till now”Another man said, causing the rest of them to laugh.
T.B.C
Chapter two The meeting ended and everyone started taking their leave one after the other, Mr Augustus had his eyes on Gracie all along.She’s a beautiful lady with a great body and he wonders why she would end up with a poor man like Ethan.“Don’t you think this contract should be discussed even more privately between us?” Mr Augustus asks Gracie,taking his lips in cockily.Gracie is packing her things ready to leave too when he said that to her while Ethan is still attending to him. He seems to be making him do that intentionally just so he could humiliate him the more.“What do you mean by that sir?” Gracie asks with a perplexed look, She really doesn't know the level of the man’s shame anymore.“You know what I’m saying Gracie, Don’t act naive” Mr Augustus replied with a mischievous smile while Ethan swallowed his dry throat.He must have thought so low of him to even discuss this right in his presence, there’s no dignity left in him and he wants to piss Ethan off more.“If the c
Chapter 03Ethan stares back at Gracie who is looking at him in his own blood with pity.“You should go to the hospital” Gracie said and started packing her files in her hand.She really wants to get out of being dragged out in disgrace because of Ethan.Ethan remained still looking at her without saying a word, “You need to go to the hospital!” She repeated but he kept looking at her like he’s not in her world.He manages to stand on his feet and pulls off his shirt leaving him in his singlet, “Stop being stubborn Ethan! You have cause so much damage already constituting a nuisance everywhere” Ethan looked at his wife wondering how she could utter those sentences to him, he’s the one who had created a nuisance now? What about her own boss?.Should he have watched him continue disrespecting him just because he’s poor and he’s rich, everyone should have equal rights.The country might have turned upside down and the rich rules but he’s not going to allow that to happen to him.He even
Chapter 04“I do not owe anybody any apology and if someone has to apologise then it should be you, Mr Augustus,” Ethan uttered without hesitation.He didn’t know where this sudden confidence came from either but he’s never going to apologise to someone who should have apologised to him instead.Mr Augustus felt like this guy is really pissing him off yet he liked the fact that he’s one interesting guy, “How much would it take you to bow down to me?” He asks.He didn’t even want to care about the things that have been going on for a while now, right now he’s after him making sure he worships him.Ethan could not believe his ears, he’s going to go this far? “I’m never going to bow to you no matter how much you offer me” He cuts him off.That’s something he won’t do especially with someone like him, he just wants to mock him and make him understand that money is everything.“Are you sure about that?” He chuckles with his hand raised out from his pocket, snapping his finger, his girlfrie
Chapter 05Ethan glanced at Gracie once more but she neglected him like she never saw him at all, he started feeling bad for everything he did that moment.He should have done it but the deed is already done now, “Gracie please” He hurriedly walks to her front.“I’m really sorry about everything please, I should have get angry and talks to them anyhow, I know it’s going to affect the family business yet I did it and I feel bad now”Gracie looked down on him and tries to work away but he held onto her tightly, “please don’t leave like this just hear me out”“See I promise I’m a changed person now, it’s never going to happen and I will keep my anger in control” He apologises over and over again.Gracie on the other hand didn’t know what to say to him, she hurt and didn’t understand why Ethan had to go to such length.The business would be affected badly even more than it is already with the two men he has made any enemy with and now she wonders how she’s supposed to fix it.He’s just to
Chapter 06Ethan walks slowly to the door, he was expecting to see his mother in-law's fierce face staring down at him again and yelling at him.He frowned when Gracie stood by the door staring at him with some expression he can’t seem to understand.“Here” She said, bringing out a card from her bag, staring at him with a little smile.“Why would you give me this?” He frowned, unsure of what to say next exactly, he might not be rich but these days have been working for him well in his profession.“It’s my grandmother's birthday you know right? You can also get yourself some gift from it, the card contains just $50,000” She replied shortly.“You don’t have to do this Gracie, it’s bad enough that I can’t give you all what you want. Why give me this?” He felt bad for his incompetence already.He’s ready to change all that soon and make sure Gracie herself would be surprised and sees him in a new light soon.“I never said it’s for you, I said for my grandmother but just make sure you get
Chapter 07The noise outside the door keeps getting even more intense and Ethan knows he has to do something about it before they bring down the door.“Calm down ladies, I’m going to open the door now and see what they want from us” He said to them.Verena panicked and so did her friends, “They sound dangerous and I’m afraid” One of the girls said.“They are not going to do us anything okay?, I’m going to see to it” Ethan assured them and slowly reached others to the door knob.He didn’t want to cause any trouble besides what if it’s Gracie boss’s men that had traced him down here? He’s just going to be another reason why these girls would be in trouble.He opens the door and faces the hefty guys, they seem like just area boys hoodlum.He steps outside the house and faces them, “what do you guys want?” He asks them boldly without any fear.They are about six in number and look much taller and built than he is,he didn’t really care about all those things though.After all they might al
Chapter 08They finally get to the venue, Ethan finds a clear space and packs the car.He packs the car and they all get down while he went to the boot to bring out the gift he had prepared for Gracie’s grandmother.They inside the mansion all together, Ethan couldn’t help but marvel at the place structure.It seems more like a ball party, yet classics type just like his in-law would always do.It’s beautiful and everything is different, everyone at one table or the other drinking and chatting between themselves.He is stuck beside Gracie and they look for a spot together to take their seat, they finally get a table at the high table, where they are served drinks almost immediately.“What’s the gift you have prepared?” Gracie asked with her eyes glued on the flat thing he had wrapped up.She has been giving it thought and guessing what it could be but couldn’t find a thoughtful one that he could have brought.He won’t bring something that won't be worth it right? She had specifically
Chapter 09Ethan stand in his ground that his painting is the original whole Damon on the other believes he must be insane claiming his own is fake.“Ethan really? What is your agenda wanting to disgrace our family name and bring us shame now” Mrs Richard is already in their table.He really do not have anything to say the old man he just know that he’s never going to back down one bit, his painting his real and he knows how much he had put into it.The whole crowd keeps murmuring, the certainty that Ethan had brought a fake painting is very high, many of them already knows he has nothing.Where would he see money to get original painting? How could he claim that his paintings is real? “You really wants to disgrace us after almost bring down my daughter business right?”Mrs Richard starts getting annoyed the more, Ethan is doing just great and perfect in bringing down their family name.Gracie is confuse as hell, how could he be adamant that his painting is real? He could have just a