“It’s okay Adam, there’s nothing to forgive. At least now I know that you didn’t hate me back then.”
“I have never hated you Sophia, the only thing I have and will ever feel for you is love.”
“I love you too Adam.” She held my face up and kissed me.
“I fucking love you, you don’t even understand.” I said, squeezing her tightly.
“Mmm… help me to understand. Take me to bed now, please.” She begged and I diligently obeyed.
I took her to bed and she understood.
***
Sophia Parker
“What are three things you can’t live without?” I asked as I played with the tiny hairs on his chest. My head was perched on his arm as we both laid naked underneath his sheets, silk as always.
“Oh come on that’s easy. You, money and my business.”
“Really?” I laughed at his answers.
“Yes. I can’t live without you. I need money. I can’t have money without my business.”
“Fair enough.”
We were currently playing twenty questions but we’d asked ourselves more than a hundred questions. It was a good way for me to get to know Adam really well and understand more about the man I’ve chosen to live with.
“What about you?” He asked.
“Hm… I’m not sure actually. There’s nothing I place so high to the point that I can’t live without it.”
“Are you serious?” He frowned at me which made me laugh again.
“Of course you know I can’t live without you! Remember that time you abandoned me for a month, I almost went crazy!”
“I’m so sorry for that.” He said.
“It’s okay Adam, no need to apologise. I shouldn’t have brought it up in the first place because its all in the past now.”
“I love you.” He linked our fingers together and kissed the back of my hand.
“I have another question.” I said.
“Ask away.”
“I’ve always wanted to ask about your family. You never talk about them. Why is that?”
I never had a chance to ask him about this in the past but the question has always burned a hole in my head.
It was a bit dark so I couldn’t see his facial expression but he went silent for a while.
“I’m sorry. You don’t have to give me answer if you don’t want to.” I apologized.
“It’s okay Sophia. I can talk about them.” He caressed my arm lightly.
I kissed him and waited patiently for him to tell me.
“When I was 12, my father set up Wilson & Co. It was nothing back then. Merely just a startup. He had massive potential and his idea was liked by many. He managed to secure a few investors who pumped money into the business. Eventually he went on the stock market and everything blew up.”
“Before this he worked a regular job as an engineer for a company. We were a typical normal family back then. Him, my mother, my sister, an me. We would do normal things that families do like go on vacation together, have Christmas dinner, visit the beach… he even taught Chloe and I how to ride our bicycles.”
I assume Chloe is his sister.
“Once his business became successful, he drifted apart from us. Including my mother. We barely got to see him anymore. He began traveling extensively and spent most of his time away from home. At this point, I was about 16. As a teenager, at the time I didn’t seem to care about the lack of his presence. I was occupied with other stupid things. However, it affected my mother and my sister.”
“All of a sudden, he became cold. He would get into arguments with my mother about the amount of time he spent at work. Slowly they drifted apart and she started having an affair with one of his close friends. The moment he found out, he kicked her out.”
“She moved in with him, so did Chloe. He was a rich guy with Spanish heritage. Very good looking as well. He took care of them, more than my father did.”
“What about you?” I asked.
“My father sent me to college to study engineering. He made me his protege because he wanted me to take over his business. I honestly didn’t mind. I saw how successful he was and I wanted that as well. My interest in his business drew me closer to him. We went on trips together and I shadowed him extensively. In the meantime, he and my mother got a divorce.”
“Adam, I’m so sorry to hear that.”
“It’s okay Sophia. I was fine. I didn’t let it affect me. Chloe took my mother’s side but I sort of fell right in the middle. Sometimes I had to play the middle man but eventually, I stopped caring and went with my father.”
“But why?” I asked.
“I know he stopped being there for us but at the end of the day, my mother had an affair. He shouldn’t have kicked her out. They were both wrong. When it was time for me to decide who I wanted to live with, I chose my dad partly because I didn’t want him to be alone. And that decision brought us closer together than ever.”
“That’s very selfless of you.” It warmed my heart to hear how much he cared about his dad and didn’t do the same thing he did to them.
“Wait until you hear this.” He laughed. “The other part of my decision was for commercial reasons obviously. I knew my father was going to leave his legacy to me but life with the Spanish guy had nothing to offer.”
“Wow. I take what I said back.”
“I’m just being honest. Regardless of everything, I looked up to my father a lot. But everything changed when he passed away during my final year of college.”
I sort of knew about this already. I read about the history of the company when I had my job interview.
“As predicted, he left everything to me. The company, his houses, his money… everything. The only thing he gave to my mother was a million dollars. He also made me a trustee of a 2 million dollar trust for Chloe upon reaching the age of 25 but she’s only 18. She attempted to terminate the trust but I refused.”
“Why?”
“If Chloe gets her hands on that money, she will dissipate it in a week. Instead, I invested it in one of these fashion company she adores. When she’s 25, she’ll have way much more than 2 million dollars.”
“That’s nice of you.”
“No, that’s my duty as a trustee. If it were up to me, I would strip her off it completely!”
“Oh my god, Adam! Do you not like your sister or something?” I tried not to laugh but I couldn’t help it. He sounded really angry.
“She’s a bit annoying.”
“But Adam, She’s your sister!”
“I know, I know, but she’s a brat.”
“I’m sure deep down you love her. Let me guess, you used to be the overprotective older brother.”
He went silent which confirms that it was true.
I laughed hysterically. The role actually fit him perfectly. Imagine if Chloe had a boyfriend right now and he found out.
“Anyway, my father left the company to me. I didn’t know the first thing about running a business so I went to LSE in London to get a Masters in business management. I came back after a year and started running the company and I’ve been doing so ever since. I’m sure you can attest that I’ve been doing a good job.”
“Yes, you have.” I kissed him. “But what about Chloe and your mum? Where are they now?”
“They moved to Spain a few years ago.”
“When was the last time you saw them?”
“I honestly can’t remember, it’s been years.”
“Adam, I understand that you’re following your father’s footsteps but you can’t abandon them. I think you need to reach out to them.”
“I think the fuck not. They didn’t even show up at his funeral.”
“Oh wow.”
“Exactly.”
“I don’t want to overstep my boundaries here but I honestly feel like you should give them a chance. I won’t bring it up again but I’m glad you told me.” I said and then I kissed him.
“Is there anything else you want to ask?” He slightly dismissed the topic.
“No, not for now.”
“Alright then. I think we should call it a day. I’m exhausted.”
“Okay Adam.. Goodnight”
“Love you, goodnight.”
We kissed one last time before we both drifted off into sleep.