Alex POV
Attending meetings has always been my biggest challenge, but it seems like for a businessman that has many clients and board members, it’s not something that I can avoid.
My eyes are on Ariel as the meeting is going on because she’s just so beautiful that I can’t bring myself to get my eyes off her. I don’t know what this feeling is, but for some unknown reason, I feel so excited when I’m around her. I know you would be shocked when I tell you that I have always known her even before we met at the hospital that day. To cut the long story short, I know she lives with my brother, I know she’s carrying his child, and I’m aware that my brother is having feelings for her. It was all my doing anyway, so how the hell am I not supposed to know about it?
“Are you here at all, Mr. Dante?” One of the board members calls my attention, and I tilt my head to find everyone staring at me with blank expressions on their faces. Honestly, I’ve not really heard anything they’ve been saying, because I’ve been busy staring at Ariel.
“I’m sorry, I was so captivated by her beauty that I couldn’t stop staring,” I see no reason why I should lie to them when my reason for drifting away is so much worth it.
“Are you kidding me?” Max, who is just sitting beside me matches my leg, and I glare hard at him.
“She’s really beautiful, but can you please stay focused for now? We need to get this meeting done with as soon as possible,” One of them says to me politely, and I shrug. If he’s being this polite, then why not? I glance at Ariel who wouldn’t stop glaring hard at me like she would devour me once we’re out of here, and I wink at her before I turn my face away.
The meeting finally comes to an end, and I breathe out in relief as I watch everyone leave the hall one after the other.
“What the hell was that, Alex?” Max snarls at me angrily once it’s just the three of us in the office, and I roll my eyes sarcastically. I was expecting that reaction anyway.
“What happened?” I raise my eyebrows sarcastically as I don’t know the stunt I just pulled moments ago. It’s crazy but was also fun anyway.
“Don’t you fucking give me that look, you jerk! You fucking humiliated us in front of those people, are you kidding me?” He scoffs as he runs his fingers through his hair, but I roll my eyes at him sarcastically.
“Do you think staring at Ariel is humiliating?” I ask him, and he scoffs.
“Just shut the fuck up, bastard!” He snaps at me, and I scoff.
“Just stop making a mountain out of nothing, Max. They didn’t complain about it, and besides, Ariel is worth the stare. She’s really beautiful,” I cup my cheeks and pout my lips at him, knowing that he hates it so much when I do that.
“You’re losing it, Alex. Just get the hell out of my company, and don’t you dare show your face here again unless I send for you,” He snaps at me before he turns and starts walking away with Ariel. I stare at the two of them until they are out of my sight, and I can’t help the pang of jealousy that fills my heart at the sight of them together.
“What the fuck is wrong with me?” I smack my forehead and groan angrily. I shouldn’t be acting like this, considering that it was not a part of the plan, but I can’t help falling for her. She’s pretty, fun to be with, and she’s everything any man would want in a woman.
About to stand up from the chair, my phone suddenly starts ringing and when I see my dad as the caller, I roll my eyes angrily. What the hell does this man want from me, please?
“What is it, dad?” I ask hesitantly after I answer the call.
“Let’s meet,” He replies to me, and I sigh briefly.
I finally leave the company and drive to the place where he asked me to meet him. I hate seeing this man, and I bet you wouldn’t want to know why. At least not now.
“Make it short, dad. I need to attend to something,” I say to him when I arrive at the spa where he asked me to meet him. I wonder why he chose the spa of all places. He’s in the VIP section where he’s getting massaged.
“Where are your manners?” He grunts at me, and I roll my eyes.
“You didn’t call me here for that, did you?” I ask him sarcastically, and he scoffs.
“So, how’s it going? What’s the latest update?” He asks, and I sigh briefly. I don’t know why my dad wants to do this to my brother when he gave birth to us. I don’t know why he wants to use me as his tool to get what he wants.
While growing up with Max, he has always been the best brother anyone would ever ask for. Every moment spent with him was everything I cherished so much. Everything started going bad after the death of mom when we just turned eleven and nine years old respectively, and Dante’s empire was willed to him. I was never bothered about it because I knew he would treat me the same as always, but dad became the devil.
He poisoned my heart against my brother and told me that I had to fight for the company. I didn’t fail to heed his advice, and soon, things fell apart between my brother and me, and the rest was history.
“What did Max do to you?” I yell at him angrily as I spring up to my feet. I’m just tired of this whole nonsense. It was all his idea that we set a woman up for Max, and my girlfriend, Alicia was the only one available then. He promised nothing was going to happen, but Max eventually got married to her, which spiced my hatred for him. Seeing him with the only woman I have ever loved, made me so sad, and guess what? This man told me that I needed to take all the properties from him if I wanted my woman back. It’s so disgusting that I don’t even want to talk about it.
“I’m doing this for your sake, Alex,” Again, he tries to sound convincing, and I scoff.
“You are just greedy…”
“Do you think I’m doing this for myself? I am fighting for you, dumbass. I am doing this for your sake. I just want you to have a good life, and get to save your mom from that monster!” He snaps at me, but there’s no way I’m ever going to believe that. It hurts whenever I think about what my dad is making me do to my brother who never did anything but love me wholeheartedly. I feel like a monster, keeping the truth from him, but what can I possibly do when this greedy man keeps telling me that I need to do this if I want to take my mom out of that deadly place she has been kept for years? Yes, you heard that right. My dad told me when I turned eighteen that I was not born by the same mom as Max. According to this greedy man, he was in love with my mom, but got married to Max’s mom for her money instead. I know this is a bit rude and harsh, but I blame my mom for not letting him go even after she knew that he got married to another woman. I mean, what kind of love was that?
He said that when he brought me to Max’s mom when I just turned two years old, he told the woman that he adopted me from the orphanage, and she agreed to take me as her son. No woman deserves to be treated like that, and I really wanted to expose him, but knowing that my mom is still alive somewhere, suffering in the hands of the powerful politician that married her forcefully for years. I need this power if I want to see my mom…