Gates Group

“This is the best thing that's ever happened to the MOMO family,” Madame Aurora celebrated as she popped open a champagne.

“Let's celebrate.” she poured wine into Valeria's glass. “With the Gates Group backing us up, we'll be unstoppable.”

Lucas laughed as he handed her his glass. “Take it easy, Madame Aurora. The Gate Group won't disappoint you. As we speak, Gate Group invested heavily in Rockechilds' shares. Money is never our problem.”

Madame Aurora's eyes widened. “That's the Gate Group for you. I'm blown away by how wealthy your family is.”

Valeria smiled, linking her arm in Lucas'.

“Lucas was the perfect choice, grandmother. I never understood why you hooked me up with a loser like Moses from the very start,” Valeria pouted. “I couldn't stand him.”

“Matching you and Moses was my greatest mistake,” Madame Aurora admitted. “I hadn't foreseen the Doberman's downfall. If I could turn back the hands of time, I would have paired you off with Lucas a long time ago.”

“Can we stop talking about that piece of garbage?" Lucas yawned. “He's old school. Gate Group is worth over $9 billion. The Doberman clan can never smell that kind of money in a hundred years.”

“You'll make a fantastic grandson-in-law,” Madame Aurora grinned, then turned to Valeria. “You have proven to me you're worthy of being my successor, Valeria.”

Valeria felt pleased. “Really? Thank you, grandmother. I promise I won't disappoint you.”

Just then, Lucas' phone buzzed in his pocket.

“Talk of the devil, it's my dad,” Lucas laughed as he brought out his phone. “What a perfect timing. He'd be thrilled to hear you accepted my proposal.”

Lucas answered the call. “Hello, dad. You won't believe it. Valeria divorced her shitty husband and accepted my proposal.”

“Who the hell cares about that?” Lucas' father yelled. “What have you done to us?”

Lucas didn't like the tone of his father's voice. “I don't get it, dad. I haven't done anything.”

“You imbecile,” his father shouted. “Rockechilds Empire sold off all the shares we invested in. Our stocks are plummeting like crazy. We're losing millions of dollars every second. So far, we've lost over $600 million in five minutes.”

Lucas felt the blood drain out of his face. “$600 million in five minutes? That's impossible,” his voice was barely above a whisper.

“And that's not all,” his father went on, his voice erupting like a volcano. “Rockechilds Empire just announced publicly that they're withdrawing from our partnership negotiation. Do you have any idea what that means?”

Lucas felt heat rising around his collar. “No?”

“It means our reputation has been damaged,” his father bawled. “Rockechilds Empire is the number one leading company in the world. Their announcement today has left Gate Group in shambles. I have investors pulling out left and right. It's a daylight nightmare.”

“This doesn't make any sense,” Lucas said, his face running with sweats. “Rockechilds wouldn't come after us without a reason.”

“You tell me,” Lucas' father snapped. “You crossed the Chairman of Rockechilds Empire, and now we're paying the price for your foolishness.”

“What?” Lucas exclaimed in shock. “When did I… I would never… I don't even know who the chairman is. I swear I've never met him in my life.”

“I don't care anymore,” Lucas' father broke out in tears. “Because of you, Gate Group is on the verge of bankruptcy. It's predicted we'd lose $5 billion in thirty minutes. That's quarter of our net worth.”

Lucas felt the entire room spinning. His knees felt weak. He tried to breathe, but the air won't pass through his lungs.

What's happening? He thought to himself. How is this all my fault?

Madame Aurora and Valeria watched Lucas with growing concern.

Lucas started pleading like a mad man on the phone. “Father please, give me a chance. I'll fix this somehow.”

“It's too late for that,” his father said darkly. “The damage has been done. I can't trust you anymore. I renounce you as my son. Don't let me see your face around me. If I lay my eyes on you, I'll kill you with my hands.”

The line went dead, leavings Lucas frozen like an iceberg.

Valeria approached him, touching his arm. “Lucas, are you alright? You're sweating profusely. Are you sick?”

But Lucas could barely hear a word she said.

Blood roared in his ears as he imagined a life without the luxury of the Gate family.

To everyone's shock, Lucas placed both hands on his head and dashed out of Madame Aurora's study, screaming like a psychiatric patient.

“My goodness,” Madame Aurora exclaimed. “Is he possessed?”

“He seemed to have lost his mind?” Valeria rushed to the window where she saw Lucas running out of the gates of Madame Aurora's estate.

He didn't even take his car with him.

* * * *

The news about Gate Group financial crises broke the internet.

As predicted, in less than thirty minutes, the company lost billions of dollars.

It was the fastest any company has sunken in the business's history world. No one saw it coming.

The next morning, Gate Group was ruined, never to rise again.

The news flooded the newspaper headlines. It read that Lucas Gate offended the chairman of Rockechilds' Empire.

Because of his foolishness, Lucas Gates' mind broke.

He was taken to a psychiatric hospital where he started receiving medical treatment.

* * * *

Moses had a bright smile on his face as he washed the floor outside Madame Aurora's office.

Today, he was on janitor duty.

He could hear Madame Aurora ranting inside her office.

Her frustrated voice was like music to his ears.

“I don't believe this,” Madame Aurora cried, waving the newspaper at Valeria's face. “The Gate Group are finished, and Lucas is in a mental hospital. How on earth are we going to get the funding for our project.”

Valeria was shocked at the insensitivity of Madame Aurora. “Grandmother, should we be concerned about our project? The Gates family is in a big mess.”

“And how's that our problem, huh?” Madame Aurora barked. “They should have known better than to offend the chairman of Rockechild's Empire. Lucas was a mad fool.”

Valeria didn't say anything.

She won't admit this before Madame Aurora, but also felt like an idiot divorcing Moses on a whim and getting disappointed that same day by her new fiancé.

Madame Aurora slammed her hand on her office desk. “Damn it, just when I thought we were getting close, this happened. Whatever, we still have time. One way or the other, we'll be able to raise the $2 billion we need for our new hotel.”

Valeria lowered her head. Even without Madame Aurora telling her, it was clear she was no longer her successor anymore.

“I'll do my best to seek another alternative,” Valeria promised.

Madame Aurora didn't reply her. That was her cue to tell Valeria to get lost.

Valeria quietly left her office, a tight knot in her chest.

As she got out, she met her now Ex-husband, Moses, outside Madame Aurora's office, whistling as he mopped the floor.

He paid her no attention, but Valeria was quick to see the taunting smile on his face.

She gritted her teeth bitterly as tears welled up in her eyes.

He was jeering at her.

“Idiot,” she spat and walked past him, her back stiff with rage.

Moses watched her leave out of the corner of his eyes.

“This is just the beginning,” Moses chuckled quietly. “But it's about to get even more interesting.”