Thanks to Amber’s visit to Tom’s house on his birthday, Stephanie was able to get a grip of herself even though she sulked over it for days and didn’t take a step out of her room. All her works were transferred to her mails and she worked over them at home.
She had been working crazily for three days that she didn’t even realize that she didn’t take her bath for those three days. It was when she stood up to stretch herself and her eyes fell on her disheveled hair that was all across her head and shoulder. A loud scream escaped her throat as she scanned her full body in the mirror, she was a stinking mess and that was what she hated the most in the world.
Anything dirty irritated her the most, she can’t stand them no matter how little it is and seeing herself that dirty, rough and messy got her surprised, pissed up and disappointed in herself. She wanted to forget him but was hating the fact that she had to fall into such a mess because of a man, her pride was hurt.
The fact that she had to wait for years beside him when she lost the chance to be his made her cover herself with regret. She didn’t give him the chance to love her because she thought he was not her league and he might be someone without any position and inheritances, she wouldn’t want to lose at both sides because her father might kick her out of the house if she insists of loving him whatever way he turns out to be.
One thing she felt would be the perfect state to carry her blames and regrets was her youth. She trained her mind to believe that things turned out that way because she was still so young to understand what she wanted back then and now, it is too late even though she was willing to go extra miles for Tom, he already had another person by his side.
“I better get rid of this mess first” she muttered to herself, running her fingers through her hair to discover that all her scalp was filled grease.
She screamed at the black jelly substance amidst her fingers and also stuck under her nails, they were so irritating and annoying. With a speed of light, she rushed to the bathroom to soak herself in a bath for hours. Music was blaring from the built-in speaker because she was trying her best to avoid any situation that would cause her to remember both Tom and Amber. She might be losing him but she still have enough pride to not lose herself.
Humming of the hair dryer filled the room as she tried to get rid of the water and it was so loud that she didn’t realize that her door got opened by someone. The sudden sound of the person’s voice made her heart jump and the dryer dropped from her hold within a flash making a shattering noise everywhere.
She turned in anger to whoever it might be but she swallowed her already prepared stinging speech because it was the head maid. One thing she had learnt as she was growing up was never to disrespect her because the father gave her so much authority over the house, so much that she was allowed to take any step without consulting him because he always trust her decisions which was always right, every single time.
Even though she swallowed her speech, her expression still gave her anger out. She was already on the edge so flaring up the head maid and hearing a whole session of lecture from her was definitely what she needed at that point. A faint sigh was the only protest she could give before turning back to face the mirror.
The head maid picked the dryer silently and fixed the little crack at the joint line to close it back before stretching it to her. “You should manage this for now, we will get you another one in few hours” the head maid said to her calmly and she was left with no other option than to just heed to her words.
She rarely comes to her room so she kept wondering what her visit meant this time around and was about asking her when she spoke up.
“Your father is on his way with some important guests which I was told will be your fiancé so we are to dress you in a presentable way” the head maid announced to her and she rolled her eyes.
She needed not to be told that it was Joseph and Chairman Holland she was talking about. On several occasions, she had made sure to behave rudely towards Joseph but he was adamant to her surprise. He would only tell her to stop trying hard to make it obvious that she’s trying to make him give up on her.
He has been friends with her older brother for years she couldn’t remember but they have been very tight in their friendship that some people calls them twins most times. The way they blended was not fazing to her because she knew deep down that they could only stick that way because both of them loves to oppress people.
They were both feared by many when they were in high school and her own brother, Charles’ behavior only got worse. He kept doing extremely bad and disgusting things but no one was talking him out or he just chose not hear. She wouldn’t lie if she says she doesn’t know about her sexual harassment issues he kept having with people but no one was bold enough to come forward to expose him or even call the police to arrest him, he was way out of their league so much that they knew it would only be a messy fight with no win on their sides.
“Why are they suddenly coming to the house at this hour? Can’t I use the office as an excuse, I really don’t want to see any of them right now or even discuss what they have in mind” she requested and the head maid shook her head before giving an answer that her dad already called the office to stop every works coming to your table and direct them to the vice president instead.
That revelation didn’t sit well with her, she was furious that someone as corrupt as the vice president will be overseeing so many projects and requests she has to be meticulous and thorough with without making the right decisions like she would.
“Tell them that every requests meant for me should be on hold, I will attend to them when we are done with the meeting” she instructed and the head maid assured her that she will do like she had asked.
She was dressed neatly, simple yet elegant before her father arrived with the guests and she moved to the sitting room to join them. They discussed about the benefits of their marriages while making both of them sit through the whole discussion without being asked if they liked whatever was going on or had something to say.
The two adults kept ranting on about how their relationship would become a source of envy to others without specifying the people they were talking about in particular. Finally, innocent Tom came to the picture and what they kept saying broke her heart, he was really hated by his family without knowing all they had been plotting.
They went on to run about how he was only a stain to the family’s blood line and how Joseph has to fight for things he naturally owned. The moment she was fed up with the insults, she wanted to skip but they were so swift at changing the topic that she only gave it a rest.
Chairman Holland motioned to Charles and asked if he has a fiancée but he only smiled while shaking his head that he doesn’t have one.
“We should look for one, you both are at the age of marriage” Chairman Holland declared and their father agreed.
After talking about various things for hours, they finally talked about the position at the company which was the sole aim of their meeting.
“As long as we remain friends and In-laws, there is no reason why the shareholders wouldn’t heed to whatever you tell them. We just have to announce the engagement right away whenever he is done acquiring the investment in Holland Chemicals. We also have to move discreetly because I know that no matter how calm Tom might look on the outside, he is surely looking for ways to solidify his position or even expand it the more” Stephanie’s father pitched in and Chairman Holland grabbed it immediately.
“Like you have said, I have tried to study Tom but he doesn’t seems to be having any ulterior motive. He’s so busy with Shellhouse mall that he’s barely seeing anything. We just need to shock him before he realizes what is going on and shrink whatever his company’s worth so he would lose a hold on the group itself” Chairman Holland remarked and they applauded each other for a thorough preparation.
“I doubt Tom is someone that will allow himself get ousted easily though” Charles stated but Joseph only chuckled a bit as he responded with, “Don’t worry, I already prepared a way to chase him out completely” to the surprise of everyone.