"Stop!" Her shrill voice broke the two men apart. "What is wrong with the both of you?" She scolded as she moved Theo off her brother."Do you know this asshole?" Malcolm asked with a broken lip."Yes, Malcolm and why did you get in a fight with him? You could get in serious trouble for this!" She yelled, her hand still on Theo's chest."Why are you taking his side when he started it?" Malcolm yelled back, wiping his bloodied lips with the back of his hand."I'm not taking anyone's side, Malcolm, but you should know better," she said and turned to Theo. "What are you doing here?" She asked, the fury never leaving her eyes."I just came to ask you to go on a date with me and…" Theo started but she interrupted him."And you planned on doing that by getting into a fight with my brother?" She asked, placing her hands on her hip as she scolded them like kids."He lunged at me first!" Theo defended."He was being a jerk and wouldn't leave when I asked him to," Malcolm reiterated."Stop it,
"Young master, our flight back to the states leaves by 8pm tonight," Agatha called from the passenger's seat of the car.Chase made a non-committal sound at the back of his throat and looked out the window.It had been three days since he last spoke to Evelyn. He hadn't even seen her because each time he went back there, Malcolm would tell him she wasn't around and he wasn't in the mood to create any scene again. She was purposely avoiding him and it infuriated him to no end.The empress had sent for him to come back that day but he had one last meeting with a restaurant that was planning to collaborate with one of their pet businesses which was also a five star restaurant and his presence was required before the signing would be complete.He picked up his phone to see if Evelyn had responded to the last message he had sent her but it was still on delivered.Sighing softly, he tossed the phone to the side and thus caught Agatha's attention."Is everything okay, young master?" She aske
"Young master, is everything okay?" Agatha asked softly beside him but he couldn't hear anything past the loud ringing in his ears as the two people that changed his whole life walked into the office.Martha and Mark walked hand in hand into the office with bright smiles on their faces.It wasn't until his eyes became hot that he realized that he had been staring at them without blinking.Never in a million years did he think he would see them again. When he woke up in that cramped apartment, he promised to close that chapter of his life forever but he knew it was a faraway wish as Martha's hot red lips curled up in her signature smile as she stared at everyone in the room. The same smile he had fallen head over heels for years ago."Mr and Mrs Andersons, this is young master Theo Alcantra, the vice president of our sponsoring company," Dante introduced and Martha flashed him her pearly white smile, while Mark stood there with indifference. He just wanted to get the hell out of there.
"Do you mind grabbing dinner together to celebrate?" She asked, flashing him a very wide smile.Chase tilted his head to the side with raised eyebrows. He could see through her and he knew she had an ulterior motive, he only needed time to figure out what it was.As he stared at her, he wondered how he hadn't been able to see through her façade then. "What do you say?" She pressed when he didn't say anything.Agatha, who stood beside him saw the need to remind him of their trip back to the states that evening but he cut her off but speaking first."Is your…. husband okay with that?" He asked, spitting the word 'husband' like it was poison but she was too preoccupied with admiring Theo to notice."He doesn't mind. He'll join us, right?" She asked Mark, who had been absent minded the whole time."Um, yeah, sure," he said, not even knowing what they were talking about and not caring to ask.Chase narrowed his eyes in slits as he stared at his brother. Mark was currently a shadow of his
The ride back to the house was smooth and in no time, Chase was in the confinement of his room, working on a project he had received from the states.His phone rang.He was too busy as he had to complete what he was doing on time, he ignored the call.A couple of rings later, the call got disconnected, only to start ringing again in the next second.Groaning, Chase picked the phone and pressed the green button."Why aren't you picking my calls?" The empress asked as soon as he placed the phone on his ear."I'm busy with the Riverdale project, grandma," he said in a bored tone, eyes fixated on his screen.The empress nodded in satisfaction but soon remembered the reason she was calling."I heard you're not coming back today," she said.Of course, Agatha must have relayed the message to her already. He thought to himself."Yes, grandma," he replied."Do you even care about me?" She asked a second later.Chase finally stopped typing on his laptop and leaned back on the couch."Grandma…"
Chase raised an eyebrow but walked deeper into the dimly lit restaurant."Do have a lovely evening," the manager said and bowed his head."Oh, I will," Chase replied with an evil undertone but the manager didn't get it, instead he smiled genuinely and bowed one more time before turning to leave. "Hello Mrs…" Chase started as he got to the table, pretending he had forgotten her name.Martha's eyes sparkled at the sound of his voice and she immediately turned around and stood up from her seat."Please, call me Martha," she said amidst giggles."Okay, Martha," Chase said with a smile that didn't reach his eyes while the name was like shards of glass coming out of his mouth."Thank you for coming," she said again."It wouldn't speak well of me to stand a beautiful woman up," he said, playing her game."Oh, you flatter me," Martha beamed. "Please sit," he said hurriedly and even pulled out her seat for her."Thank you," she said and sat down.Chase stared at her back with disdain but when
He had said it so randomly and so easily that she wondered if she had heard him correctly.Seeing her confused state, he decided to elaborate.He picked up his handkerchief and dabbed the corners of his lips while she stared at him with wide eyes."Your ex husband? I learned that you were married but he died a couple of years later due to unknown reasons," he said.Seeing that he already knew about it, there was no use hiding it so she decided to tell the truth. Or her own version."Yes," she said with hard eyes."And might I add that I also read that he was your current husband's brother, no?" He asked.She waited for a few minutes, trying to gather her thoughts before answering him."You're not wrong. Everything you heard is correct," she said. She took in a deep breath and tears welled up in her eyes. "My ex husband, Chase, he was a very abusive man," she started and Chase balled his hands into fists. "He would always hit me at any given opportunity and sexually violate me afterwar
"Do you want to hang out and maybe see a movie together?" Martha asked as they left the restaurant into the chilly night.They had just finished eating, Martha at least, because Chase couldn't get any food down his throat after all he'd heard."Pass, I'm tired," he replied with no emotions as he walked her to where her car was parked."We should do this again, maybe tomorrow? I really had so much fun spending time with you," she said and placed her hand on his upper arm."Yeah, okay," Chase said and finally managed a smile."Okay," she said giddily, happy that he had agreed to go out again. Everything was going better than she had expected. "Can I have your number? So I can text you when and where directly instead of going through your secretary?" She asked but she frowned her face at the mention of Agatha, Chase could tell that she didn't like her.Well, Agatha didn't like her either, so they were even.Martha thought Agatha was too nosy and for her to get what she wanted, she had to