Chapter 1
-Chasen-
I sit stunned as the doors bang shut.
I'd cancelled three meetings to be here with her and just so I could hear what she had to say, and she leaves just like that.
How dare she?
Now I have nothing to do with myself for the next twenty minutes.
I call my right hand man, the one who has things done for me. He picks at the first ring.
"Lenox, I need you to do a background research for me. Her name is Avery Howell."
Her envelope is still lying unread at the edge of the desk.
And that's when I flip it out. I almost gag at the figure she's asking me to loan her. There's no way she'd be able to repay the money. Apparently she'll be using it to pay for her brother's treatment, and yet nowhere does she specify returning the money.
Her brother's treatment.
I drop the envelope and stare at the door she left swinging on its hinges.
Something about the way she ran doesn't sit right with me.
Her face went white before she spoke into the phone. Was this about her brother?
A phone call startles me and it's Lenox.
"There's nothing too special about Avery Howell, sir. No criminal record. Star student at her high school, mom is a toilet cleaner, her only brother is bedridden."
I tapped my fingers on the table. "Is he in a hospital?"
"Yes, Saint Maria's."
My jaw tightens at the name of that place, but I breathe. I have my own reasons to know that hospital far too well.
I look at my watch and scroll through my schedule. I'm free for the next twenty minutes.
"Get the car running," I bark into the phone and end the call.
As I'm standing up, my secretary is running in.
"Sir, your mother is here. I told her you're free, so she scheduled a board meeting for now."
I'm tucking my phone into my pocket. "She'll have to wait."
I'm already moving and my bodyguards are scrambling to catch up.
On the drive to Saint Maria's, I'm silent.
There's someone else in that building I need to see first.
I don't go to reception. I know this hospital's back corridors better than I know my own penthouse.
I go to ward 115, the room she's been in for the past two years, fighting for her life and trying to recover from the injuries the Kester's inflicted on her.
She's propped up against the pillows, half of her face and body a mottled brown and black. Fire burns. She was beautiful once. The Kesters made sure that fire took more than our home.
"Glendon." She rasps.
"I don't have long," I say, sitting at her bedside. "There's a board meeting I need to attend."
"You never have long." She reaches for my hand, and I hold her tight. She's weaker every time I come to see her. I feel like I'm gonna lose her. "How far along are we?"
"Closer, every single one of them is going to pay dearly, and for him, he won't be waking up anytime soon. The company is already slipping through his fingers, piece by piece."
"Good." The word comes out with more venom than her frail body should still hold. "They took my face, Glendon. They took your name and gave you nothing but a bastard's shadow of it. Don't let them keep anything else."
"I won't."
She studies me a moment longer, looking from the one eye that wasn't destroyed by the fire. "Finish it. However long it takes."
"I will." I press a kiss to her knuckles. "But promise me,”
“What?” She whispers.
“That you stay alive till I burn their legacy to the ground.”
“I promise,” she whispers.
I nod gravely.
“I have to go.”
She doesn't stop me and I slip away before I start shedding tears in front of her.
When I walk back toward the main lobby, the scene before me is nothing like I expected.
Avery is crying by the reception, and an older woman is behind her, shedding silent tears.
The receptionist is upright and keeping a straight face.
"Please, can you not do this here?" Her voice is cold.
"Please, he's my brother," Avery's voice is broken with emotion. "There has to be a way, a payment plan that—"
"This is the last time I'll say this. At least a half deposit, or nothing." Her voice is final.
Avery turns to her mother and I can see the hopelessness written on both their faces.
"What do I do, mother? I skipped work twice so I could apply for a loan, so I'm as good as fired there."
"But you said you'd bring the money when you get back, what about it?" her mother hollers at her.
My phone rattles in my pocket. I tear my eyes away from them. It's Mother. Not the one I just left. The one waiting for me in a boardroom with her name on the building.
"Have you seen what's been plastered all over the blogs and the media?" she hollers as soon as I pick up.
I walk away from the reception, quietly, so neither of them can notice me. "I'm a CEO, mother. I don't frequent gossip blogs."
"Get here. Now. The board is calling for a meeting and every single board member. You don't want them waiting for you."
She ends the call, not even waiting for my response.
---
I stall at the doors of the boardroom some seconds before I enter, because I know they're going to be brutal.
Before they signed over this company to me, one of the criteria was to make sure I never got myself involved in any internet scandal.
And now, not only was I involved, but there were pictures of me kissing a stranger all over the internet.
Not only that, I was sure Carbone Industries had pulled off their merger.
I didn't care about the merger though. The reason I was here was to drain this company till there was nothing left. So the removal of the merger was to my favor.
The boardroom is quiet when I walk in, but I don't get to sit when Whitmore, a member, slides a tablet over to me.
"You see all that red? The decline? That's how hard our stock prices have fallen since that sidewalk stunt."
I look up, refusing to let even a hint of fear show on my face.
"Everything's been handled," I say, sliding the tablet back.
"Nothing has been handled," Mom chips in from the head of the table, her eyes hard. "There are a lot of rumors going around, and while our publicist team is trying to take the posts down, a lot more are popping up."
"And that's not all," Renner cuts in before I could reply. "I tried calling some media houses to shut this parade down, but they asked me why they would do that when Dasha is paying them much more money to spin the story that the 'new relationship' is fabricated, and it shows that the new heir is too unstable to lead Kester Holdings."
I grit my teeth as I clench my fists.
"If that comes out, because it will," Whitmore glares at me, "then that's exactly the scandal we don't need. Investors don't need to hear about our leadership problems."
"If that gets out, you might have to step down… temporarily." Renner cuts in.
I exchange glances with Mother. Her face is grave.
I can't step down. Not yet.
I already have a revenge plan mapped out.
"What if I prove the relationship isn't fabricated?" I lean forward.
Mother frowns. "That girl is a nonentity…"
"It's the kind of story the media likes, and I can use it to spin things in my favor." I pause for effect. "The rich CEO marries the poor girl…"
"And how long are you going to keep up with that facade?" Whitmore cuts in harshly.
"Enough for them to take their focus off me."
Around me, I hear everyone exhale and relax.
"It's a good idea. The media… they always find a new story, something to put their interest on. But while the heat is on him, it's a good idea to flip the story in his interest." One board member nods with a satisfied smile.
I settle back in my chair. "Besides, marriage is something our investors would root for."
I look at Mother and I see the discomfort written clearly on her face.
Why, isn't this a good idea?
I don't even get to complete that train of thought when my phone beeps.
It's a text.
*"Your mother is dying, Glendon. She's on her last breaths, and she wants to speak to you before she goes."*
Blood drains from my body, and I'm standing up before my brain can even register anything.
