The Revenge of The Worthless son in law

14. Blacklisted.

"Good morning mother." Lauren greeted her mother as she entered her former home. The Kings residence. To think that Lauren lived there her whole life but she still felt like a stranger whenever she visited.

"You're here early." Mabel and her daughter had made plans to meet by twelve noon to discuss work, and usually when they made such appointments, Lauren was either exactly on time or a few minutes late. Never had she been four hours early before.

"I know. I was the only one at home and I got bored, so I thought I'd alter the time of our meeting." Ever since her divorce, living alone in their apartment had become unbearable for her. Everything was always reminding her of Jason and she could barely stand it.

"Oh, and that is why I told you to move back in. Your room is still as you left it, untouched, except when the cleaning lady goes to tidy up the place. Why are you still living in that tiny apartment?."

"I guess I'm used I it." And because she wanted to be as close to Jason as she could, and that apartment was the only way she knew, but of course she couldn't say that to her mother. "Mother, was it really necessary?"

"Was what necessary?" Mabel asked, her eyes not leaving the television.

"The divorce?"She felt like evverything was her fault. If only she hadn't lied about being single that day, then her mother wouldn't have come up with her scheme, then she would still be happy in her marriage.

Jason might have been low financially, but he still made her feel happy.

"Not this again Lauren, what is wrong with you? Tell me, when you were marriets to that loser, were you able to wear jewelry like the one you're wearing now?

And just look at the ceremony that's coming up. Would you ever dream of attending if that nobody was your husband?

Or course not!"

If she worked hard enough, she might have actually earned herself a spot at the Deluxe Dance. And as for the jewelry, she had the money to get herself what she wanted. It might not be as expensive as the ones Phil hought her, but she would have been satisfied.

Then Jason said he had gotten a job, and it sounded like it was a pretty good one, seeing as he was insisting on paying back the money she spent on him.

"I was just–"

"I know, I know, you feel bad for the little imbecile, but don't let it affect your thinking. Anyway, now that you're here, I have something important to tell you." Just then, the doorbell rang and she jumped up excitedly. "Who could that be?" Lauren knew her mother was planning something but she kept mute. "Oh look, it's Phil." She flashed Lauren one of her best fake smiles as he walked in.

"Lauren, so good to see you again." He said as he walked in, holding a bouquet of flowers.

"Why are you here so early?" She ignored the flowers he handed her and folded her arms.

"Nonsense, don't be silly. Nine AM is the perfect time to receive guests. Besides, it's Phil, he's welcomed here anytime." She pushed him towards Lauren who had already gotten up.

Their initial plan was for Phil to show up by twelve, but due to Lauren's early arrival, Mabel had to text him to reschedule..

"Now my dear, there's no need to be hostile." Phil tried to hold her but she evaded his touch.

"I'll be on my way now mother." Her mother was unaware of the reason Lauren was trying to avoid Phil, and she wasn't sure she was ready to talk about it. She just needed space from him.

"Lauren! We have important matters to discuss so you can't leave now." She increased the volume of the TV and handed her the remote. "Here, watch the news or something, just sit. I'll fetch some snacks."

Lauren did as she was told but refused to talk to Phil. She focused her attention on the TV screen even though she wasn't really watching anything.

Ten minutes later and her mother still hadn't returned and Phil's nonstop chatter was starting to annoy Lauren. What was worse was that he wasn't apologizing, instead he spoke casually, like the incident never happened.

She turned to face him but just then, her mother rushed out, saving Phil from the harsh reply she was about to give him.

"News, turn on the news. The Decker Industries is having an announcement." She grabbed the remote from Lauren and changed the channel. The three of them were eager to hear about the company's latest update..

"Shocking news as Mr J Decker, the CEO of the Decker Industries confirmed it that Mr Phil Garcia has been banned from the company for life." The news anchor started. "A staff said that Mr Garcia had caused a scene the last time he was at the company, insulting one of their staff, looking down on a fellow client and allegedly went violent with a female staff at the Decker headquarters..."

As the lady continued, Mabel's face turned red with anger. Her hands were trembling and she was breathing deeply the way she did whenever she was enraged.

Phil on the other hand, looked like he wanted to crawl under the ground. He looked mortified that Lauren almost felt bad for him.

"--and in conclusion, the CEO has decided to ban Mr Garcia from ever doing business with his company for life. And he even went on to add that all family and friends of Mr Garcia are automatically on the company's blacklist as well."

"What?! Blacklist? Phil Garcia you bastard!. Are you trying to ruin my reputation? And you have the audacity to sit in my house and tell me you want to marry my daughter?!"

"Mrs Kings, I know you're upset but please, calm down."

"Calm down? You have been banned for life, and that means you can't fulfill your promise to me, you can't get me on that list anymore!. How dare you open your mouth and tell me to be calm?" Phil tried to reason with her but Mabel wasn't willing to see reason. "You will leave my house this instinct and I never want to see you again." Without waiting for a reply, she stormed off, leaving Lauren alone with him.

"Lauren, I–"

"Just leave for now. I'll text you later." He nodded as he got up and slowly left the King's residence.

~•~><~•~

"Mr Decker?" Jordan appeared by the doorway, knocking on the door she had already opened, a weird habit that people tend to have. Why bother knocking when you already opened the door?. "May I come in?" She was already half way to his desk when she asked the question.

Another bad habit exhibited by people, Why bother asking if she wasn't planning on waiting for his response. "Yes Miss Smith, come in." He answered anyway.

"Your tux has arrived." She reported as she got to his desk.

"Oh, thank you."

"My pleasure sir. Um sir, may I be so bold to ask a question?" She seemed a bit cautious as she forced the question out.

"Sure, go ahead." He set aside the file he was going through and turned to face her squarely.

"Why did you insist on putting Phi–I mean, Mr Garcia on the blacklist. I might be wrong but, I feel it's more personal than business."

He leaned back into his executive chair, eyeing her cautiously. Was she upset about what he did? He still hadn't been able to decipher the relationship she had with Phil, but it was certain that they were related somehow.

"I thought you said we shouldn't inquire about our personal lives." He had tried to bring up the subject and she respectfully told him to mind his business.

"At work here, I am your secretary, here to help you out in any way you need me to. Other than that, I'm a nobody, so with all due respect sir, I think it would be best if we left our personal lives out of work." She had said.

"Right, my bad." She apologized, looking down at her hands.

Fearing he might have been too blunt, he added. "I see nothing wrong in getting to know more about each other, I believe it's a step to becoming good friends. But I can't be the only one giving out information."

"Of course, I understand." She was still not budging.

"But if you must know, it is personal."

Cutting Phil off in a public way is a fast method to ruining his personality as his company's remark were highly respected in the society. So if the Decker Industries said a company was bad, then the whole city believed it was. He was sorry to Lauren, because such announcement would affect her as well, but she brought it on herself. He was going to make sure he had his revenge on Phil Garcia and the Kings family.

No matter what!