Everyone's head snapped to the staircase that a beautiful woman was descending from."I'm sorry I'm late, mother," the woman said but her eyes were not on the empress, they were on Chase.She stood for a couple of seconds, watching the man that looked exactly like her brother and sobs wrecked throughout her body.She walked up to Chase, who was confused at her reaction and pulled him up to his feet. Before he could think of anything, she wrapped her arms around him in a tight embrace, sobbing into his chest."It's really you," she said, not believing her eyes. She pulled his away, running her hands through his face and chest to be sure he was really there and when she was satisfied, she pulled him towards her again.Chase, not knowing what else to do, awkwardly wrapped his hand around her.Soon, the emotional embrace ended but she couldn't stop staring at him."Pardon me," she said with a choked chuckle. "I'm Imelda, your aunt. I thought I would never see you again. You were so little
A small smile played on Chase's lips because he could already tell he was going to have 'fun' working directly with Damien.Damien's apprehension was visible because he bit the inside of his lips, clenching and unclenching his fists. He wanted to protest. He wanted to blatantly refuse but he knew better than to counter the empress."Hope that is okay with you?" The empress, with narrowed eyes, asked for the sake of it. He didn't have any choice in the matter."Yes," Damien said stiffly as he sized Theo up with his eyes."If that is all, you are all excused," she told them.Damien was the first person to storm out of the room, followed by Benedict, who was also raging. His anger was because he already had enough competition with Damien and he didn't need any more clowns to join the charade. His wife, Clara followed him swiftly and his sister Jennifer, with an upturned nose and a glare to Theo."I'll head back to the office, mother," Jacob said and after clearing his throat, turned to l
"As you already know, I'll be retiring next spring and I'm not handing my position over based on sentiments. I'm handing it to the most capable person. I know they all have years on you and you got to the race late but I want you to put all you've got into this as if your life depends on it.""Because it does." She added to herself."I'm grateful for this opportunity and I promise not to let you down," Chase said with conviction."Good," she nodded.She got up and went to the part of the library that looked like it hadn't been used in years and pulled out a book with a thick, black cover."Read this after you're rested," she handed the book to him.He clutched it tightly as he left the room back to the living room."Take the young master to his wing," the empress said to a young woman in a maid's uniform who Chase hadn't seen earlier."Please, come," the woman, who looked to be in her mid-twenties said, bowing her head slightly.The house was an estate with different large buildings a
"Can you believe that?" Damien stormed into his father's office with rage, throwing all forms of curtsey in the wind.Jacob sat on his recliner chair, going through some papers on his table.Damien hadn't expected his father to be as quiet as he was during the meeting with the empress. Even though Damien didn't have much of a say in decisions involving the empress, his father did. She was his mother after all. But he had just sat there and watched her bring a total stranger into their home and not only that, his position was now threatened."What's the ruckus about, son?" Jacob asked calmly. That was his nature. He never raised his voice above the normal level, no matter how mad he was. He was more of a silent observer."Dad, you can't just let grandma bring a total stranger into the house, you have to do something," Damien roared and slammed his palm on the table, hard."Oh, but she has," Jacob said without batting an eyelash or sparing a glance his way."And we're just going to sit
"It's almost time for dinner. I can't believe that guy will be joining us," Jennifer groaned as she went into her mother's room. She lived in the same quarters with her mother and her brother, Benedict did too, up until he got married and was given a quarter of his own."Who are you talking about?" Imelda asked as she coated her face with another layer of makeup."Of course I'm talking of that guy that grandma picked from God knows where," she huffed and lay on her mother's bed. She had watched him throughout the meeting and if it wasn't for the way her grandmother looked at him with love and admiration, she might have just been friendly with him but now, she felt nothing but dislike for him."You're talking about your cousin, I presume?" Imelda arched a perfectly-carved eyebrow in her daughter's direction."He's not and will never be my cousin," she sat up, not believing her mother had said that to her."And you say that, because?" Imelda asked slowly."I don't know if you heard, mom
"Come over here," the empress said, pointing to her left.Theo went closer and started to pull the chair next to Benedict's wife until the empress spoke again."Damien, please move," she said without meeting his eyes."What?" Damien asked, hoping he had heard wrong but when he turned to her and met the cold look on her face, he knew better than to question her again.The silence and tension in the room was so thick that it could slice glass as everyone held their breath, waiting for what would happen next.There was an unspoken hierarchy in the family and Damien fell third in that chart after his father and for the first time in a long time, that chart was about to be broken.Chase took slow, purposeful strides to the chair that was assigned to him and Damien only stood up after he got there and waited for a beat."Enjoy it while it fucking lasts," he muttered under his breath in Chase's ear through clenched teeth before moving to take the seat close to Imelda, who sported a victoriou
Dinner ended and just as they were all about to leave the dining table, the empress cleared her throat, stopping them in their tracks."Jennifer," the empress called as she sent deadly glares to the girl."Grandma," she answered softly with a bow of her head and everyone stared curiously."Do a repeat of what you did this evening and you'll see a side of me you've never seen before and trust me, it won't be nice," the empress warned.Seeing that her daughter was being apprehended, Imelda was about to say something in her defense but was cut off by a clearing of throat."It was an accident, grandma. Or wasn't it?' Chase said cockily, directing his question to Jennifer. He had seen what happened and knew better than anyone that it was anything but an accident because the look of harmful intent was clear on her face before the maid was sent spiraling to the ground."Yes, it was and I promise to be more careful," she said through gritted teeth."If that's all, grandma, I'd like to retire
Chase spent a good amount of the night reading the book the empress had given to him. From what he had read, it was written by the empress' husband and even though he knew a good deal about business, he was grateful for the book because it gave him insights about large scale businesses such as the one he had found himself in.He had been so engrossed in the book that he didn't realize when he slept off.A small knock on the door woke him up the next morning and he slowly opened his eyes, trying to make them get used to the unfamiliar environment."Young master," the muffled voice of Denise, his help was heard on the other side of the door.Chase pulled the comforter up to his waist and rubbed sleep from his eyes."Come in," he said in his deep morning voice.Denise pushed the door slightly open and poked her head in and when she was sure it was safe to enter, went the rest of the way in.She had to take extra precaution because she still had unwanted images of Damien fucking various w