CHAPTER 16
Spring, 1994
Patricia hummed softly as baby George dozed off in her arms. She cuddled him and walked across the room to lay him down in his cradle bed. She stood by the cradle and watched him as he slept. She was so happy to have him, to be his mother unlike his father.
Morris Scott…
Patricia remembered the look on his face when she broke the news of her pregnancy to him. He was displeased, very unhappy about it. He didn’t even try to hide it and till now, she still wondered why. Was he still angry about what her parents did to him? Did he hate her? She hoped not. She wanted Morris to love her and she was willing to do anything to change his mind about her.
She didn’t want George to grow in an environment like this, with a father that despised him. That wasn’t the future she envisioned for him. George was 3 months old, yet, Morris hardly glanced in his direction, he would rather use ‘work’ as an excuse to hide his distaste for his new son.
She didn’t know what else to do to make Morris love her and George just the way she loved him. She had always wanted to have a simple, loving family, but it seemed like things were not going her way. As she got lost in a whirlwind of thoughts, the door leading to her room opened and Morris Scott stepped in.
Patricia approached him, a smile gracing her lips “Welcome back. How was work today?”
Morris thinned his lips, annoyed by the question. This was not what he pictured when he agreed to marry her, waking up everyday to go and work for another person, when he could focus on building the beauty company Patricia’s parents willed to her. She didn’t really have an interest in the beauty company, choosing to leave it in the hands of her personal assistant to monitor it for her. Why couldn’t she give it to him instead?
“Same old thing” Morris muttered as he took off his shoes and loosened his tie. Couldn’t she see his frustration? Did she really believe what her parents said about him not being good enough for her in any way?
“We’ve talked about this before.” Patricia settled down on the bed beside him. “You have to take your job seriously if you want your boss to take you seriously too. Your boss told me you hardly do anything all day and so many of your colleagues have testified to that. I went through a lot in order to convince your boss to hire you. Your job pays you so well and yet, you do so little ev- ”
“Are you saying I’m lazy? I’m not good enough?” Morris muttered coldly
“You’re twisting my words, Morris” Patricia responded calmly “All I’m saying is you need to put in more effort at your job. Any random person handling their job the way you do would have been sacked a long time ago. Even if your boss is my friend, he won’t be able to put up with your attitude forever.”
Morris sighed, frustrated with everything. “Why do I even have to work there everyday when I can manage your company and make it more successful?”
Patricia remained silent, acting like she didn’t hear anything he just said
Morris turned to look at her, he knew she was completely in love with him and would do anything to make him happy. But at the same time, he knew her beauty company was very precious to her and she would not hand it over easily, so he had to play his cards well. “Patricia, you have to trust me on this. Imperial Hub Limited has the potential to grow bigger than what it is now. I can make it happen”
“You don’t know how to run a company Morris” Patricia voiced out. Her beauty company was worth over $100 million, what would it turn to if she gave it to a man who had never even owned a small shop? “You’ve never owned a business before. There’s a high chance you’ll run my company down”
‘Patricia, I won’t. I’ll give it my best shot” Morris replied hastily, determined to convince her. “I’m willing to take professional lessons on marketing and sales, I will prove to you and your parents that I’m capable. Besides, I’m doing this for our son’s future too. Imagine him being a young CEO and the next owner of the biggest beauty company in the country. I give you my word that I will make Imperial Hub Limited get to that level”
They bantered on and on about the weight of what Morris was asking for. At the end, Patricia agreed to give him a chance to prove himself.
~~~~~*~~~~~
Morris skimmed over the legal document Patricia placed in front of him. She had decided to give him a chance to prove he could handle the company, but it didn’t come for free. There was a deadline to keep him on his feet and there was a price he also had to pay. Shifting his gaze from the document to Patricia’s face, he asked “Is this all I need to do?”
“Yes, that is all…” Patricia replied before signing her part in the document. “… I’ve made it easy for you because you are my husband by giving you a long deadline. But at the same time, my parents worked hard to build this company for me before finally giving it to me, so I will not allow their efforts be in vain”
“I understand,” Morris whispered. He really didn’t care about anything else right now, he was just glad that the company was now in his hands and he had a long deadline to grow it to the level he desired. He was simply desperate.
Holding a second document in her hand, Patricia glanced at her husband “Before I can hand over this company to you. You have to sign this legal document which is proof that by all means, no matter what happens, George will be the heir of this company when he turns twenty-one. He would still be learning from you as time goes by. But the moment he becomes Twenty-six, you have to hand over the company to him finally”
“Oh, that’s fine. That’s fine. He’s our son anyway” Morris answered quickly, desperation clouding his sense of reasoning. Getting the company was more important right now. He would think about his decision later on.
“Also, Even though the company is in your name, I will still be the chairwoman and every new employee or board member you decide to hire must be verified by me first” Patricia shifted the legal document and a pen over to Morris’s side for him to sign. “My lawyer has gone through this, the moment you accept it. It is final”
Morris in his desperation rushed to pick the pen and signed the document. If allowing her to verify every person that worked in the company was what she wanted, then she could have it. All her requirements so far were good enough, for now. He would find a way to convince her to change anything he didn’t like in the contract later on. He knew she would listen to him. She loved him. That was his advantage.
“Finally, You have ten years, Morris. It’s part of the contract” Patricia muttered firmly. “Ten years to double the profit of this company. I’m not asking for too much, ten years is a long time. If you fail to do that within ten years, I have every right to take my company back from you. You won’t be able to say I have not tried my best as your wife.”
Morris chuckled “Of course. Don’t worry about that. Ten years is a long time. I’m going to scale this company’s profit to the highest number ever and make it the fastest growing company in the country”
Patricia smiled at him, choosing to trust that he would do his best and grow the company for the future of their son, George. And maybe he would see how much she loved him, and love her in return.
Unaware of the darkness behind her hasty decision, she willed her company over to him.
And from the way things would turn out, it seemed she had willed her life over to him too.