The empress came in and they all got up to acknowledge her."Sit," she commanded after taking her seat.Chase, who was standing all along went to take his new position closest to the empress."Are you ready for your first day at work, Theo?" The empress asked while the servants maid the rounds to serve the food."Yes, grandma," Theo nodded his affirmation. "You'll ride with me," she told him."Mother, we have countless cars out there and Theo can ride any one of them that he likes. Why does he have to ride with you?" Regina spoke up. She was fed up with the preferential treatment Theo was getting, instead of her son. That had been the reason for the mini outburst with her husband the previous night.Chase flickered his eyes to her but kept quiet, instead, put a slice of steak in his mouth. Did it really matter who he rode to work with?"You speak only when you're spoken to," the empress said firmly without looking at her.The empress thought she had quite the nerve to interfere with
They got into the back of a white SUV. The family members had been surprised when she asked Theo to ride with her because she never offered to ride with anyone. If not that they all bore the same last name, nobody at work would know that any of them were related to Dame Gabrielle Alcantra, but again, she had extended the hand to Theo, which she never gave even her own children."Do you want to grab a bite first?" She asked him when the driver smoothly peeled the car out of the driveway."No, grandma. I'm good," he repeated. She had no reason to worry but she couldn't help it. She had been given a second chance to take care of the only legacy of her favorite child and she was going to do it while giving him maximum protection all her life.She sent him a side-glance and placed a soft hand above his, silently telling him that she was there for him."Grandma, I've been introduced to the family and I know I was supposed to finish my training here but I wanted to ask if I can go back to P
The rest of the car ride was done in silence with Chase looking out of his tinted glass, trying to see what's on the other side of the city, while the empress pulled out her phone to send a broadcast message to the rest of the family, informing them not to reveal Theo's identity yet."What games are the playing at this time?" Damien scowled as his phone pinged and he pulled it out to see a text message from his grandma.Jacob, who was in the same car with him scrunched up his nose but before he could ask any questions, his phone pinged as well. He skimmed through the message before turning the phone off and placing it on the center console."Whatever games it is, stay out of his way as much as you can," Jacob gave his son the most valuable piece of advice he could give him.It was no longer news that the empress treated this new addition to their family like a priceless egg and it would be plain unwise to cross him unprovoked. They needed a plan and Jacob was already cooking various i
Chase knew that the words that would follow wouldn't be easy to do in the least but he was ready to take the shot."I'll give you two weeks. If you're able to meet our monthly revenue of the head branch in two weeks, then I'll not only make you my vice-president, I'll make you untouchable," she said in a sickly sweet voice. She knew how near impossible it was to meet that target. The head branch made about 30 billion dollars monthly in revenue and she expected him to meet it in two weeks. It was laughable even. "But, if you're not able to meet up with this, you'll remain in the position of a director for the rest of your life," she said, her voice dropping dangerously low. Even if she loved him dearly, Theo knew she wasn't one to mince words or back down from them.Again, Chase weighed his options and after a second of thinking, a small smile played across his lips."Double," he said and the empress creased her eyebrows in confusion. "I'll make double the head branch's revenue in two
"Why did you take so much time to get here?" Damien asked with narrowed eyes."You're not supposed to be talking animatedly with me," Chase rolled his eyes and walked past him, entering the office that the guard held open for him.Damien, not accepting the snub, followed Chase into the office."Can you stop being annoying and answer my question?" He asked.Chase stopped in his tracks and turned around dramatically."Well, if you really want to know, I was having a chat with grandma," he informed him."For that long?" Damien spat out. The empress wasn't one to engage in long conversations with anyone if it wasn't about money and as far as he could see, there was nothing Theo had to offer the empress and this spiked his curiosity.In response, Chase shrugged his shoulders in a bored manner."Does this 'chat' of yours have anything to do with the text message we all received from grandma?" Damien pressed.Chase clicked his tongue and chuckled. "You know, for someone who clearly doesn't l
The rest of the day passed in a blur, mostly consisting of Chase studying graphs and numbers and some of the top officials in the company coming to welcome him.They all knew that there was a new director on board and they all went to welcome him. But the main reason for this was because the news had spread like wildfire that the empress had gone herself to the new directors office, which was when she took secretary Kim to Theo. This came as a shock to everyone because even though the empress worked there everyday, nobody ever saw her. She had her own route in and out of office and to hear she went personally to a new director's office, they all had to thread carefully.Chase was a bit disappointed that his plan at being incognito had failed but he couldn't dwell on it for long and besides, all they knew was that he was an important person. He had a more important task at hand.After giving secretary Kim strict orders not to let any other person that wasn't the empress in, he spent th
"What's this about, mother?" Jacob asked after they were all seated for a few minutes and the empress didn't make a move to say anything.The empress finally looked up at all the waiting pairs of eyes before clearing her throat to speak."Theo, I'll like you to repeat our agreement to the hearing of the whole family," the empress said amidst the silence in the room.Everyone looked in anticipation for what Theo was about to say.Normally, if someone was to make an important announcement to the hearing of the whole family, they were supposed to stand up, except it was the empress.But it was that moment that Chase crossed his ankle to his other knee and relaxed into his seat. All their faces showed disapproval for his behavior but he wasn't bothered in the slightest. He hadn't expected the empress to announce it to the family but as it came to it, he had no other choice but to tell them.He looked between all of them and cleared his throat."I made an agreement with grandmother that if
His words left everyone in shock. How could he say something as grave as that so easily?Imelda searched the empress' face for any form of disagreement but all it held was conviction."Oh, no," she whispered.Jacob and Damien visibly relaxed into their seats. This was it. They had him just where they wanted him. He had dug his own grave and he wouldn't even need anyone to push him into it. It was certain. He was going to fail and they would personally kick him out of the family and he would go back to wherever he came from."If that's all, I'd like to be excused, grandma," Theo said and stood up when the empress nodded her approval.After him, the rest of the crowd followed suit, leaving only the empress in the large living room as she thought of ways to help her grandson come out victorious.She soon decided that she was going to have to sit back and watch. She had put him under Kim's care so she was sure he was in good hands.She said a silent prayer for her grandson before retiring