by Rina Kent
“Yeah, but we don’t have that. What’s the next best thing?”
“I’m not even sure where you’re going with this. Is this another one of your crazy ideas?”
“Focus, mate. What else but a hunter can kill a wolf?”
“Spare me the suspense.”
“Another wolf.”
“Another wolf?”
“The only way to bring Jonathan down is to use Ethan.”
“Really?”
“Why do you think Jonathan is so against the idea of you going to Ethan? He knows that if you have Steel Corporation’s support, he won’t be able to touch you. In a way, we’ll be under Ethan’s protection, and he’s known to take great care of small businesses and even their lawsuits.”
“You think?”
“I’m kind of sure.”
“Kind of?”
“The fact that he insists to know where you’ve been in the past keeps throwing me off.” She takes another sip of her coffee. “Why don’t you clear that up?”
“I don’t owe him anything.”
“You don’t, but if it can clear a misunderstanding, do it. It’s better not to be on his radar at all.”
Problem is, I think I already am. I screwed it up yesterday and I’ve been flagged by Jonathan whether I like it or not.
Besides, what misunderstanding could there be? Jonathan and I always lived in different worlds. Hell, his nineteen-year-old son doesn’t seem to know he has an aunt.
We have that much distance between us, yet he acted as if it never existed.
“So?” Layla urges.
“What?”
“What are you waiting for? Call Ethan.”
“Shouldn’t I give him more time to think about it?”
“More like forget about it. A man like him must receive a hundred company offers per day. Okay, that’s an exaggeration, but you get the idea. Hit it while it’s hot, mate.”
I hide my laughter at the way she talks. Being brought up as the youngest girl after four older brothers turned Layla adorably tomboyish.
“What are you laughing at?”
“You sound like a street thug.”
“Suck my D.”
Layla is the type who always wants to curse, but she refrains out of respect for her religion, so she either uses initials or spells the words out.
“You don’t have a dick, Layla.”
She makes a face, then claps her hands. “Come on, no time to waste. Get your designing mojo.”
“I’m nervous about this one.”
“That’s what you say every time and you knock socks off. Now, off to work.”
My heart warms at her words. Layla believes in me, even when I don’t believe in myself. She’s the best friend and partner I could’ve wished for.
It’s due to those facts that I protect her from my past. All she knows about me is that I’m an orphan — which is far from the truth.
I stand up and hug her. She awkwardly pats my back. Another thing about Lay? She doesn’t like hugs or being touched in general, but she puts up with me.
“Thank you,” I say, pulling away. “You’re my ride or die.”
“That was your hug for the week.” She waves on her way to the door.
“Suck my dick, Lay.”
“You don’t have one.” She throws over her shoulder, laughing.
As the door closes behind her, I pull my phone out and dial Agnus. He picks up after the first ring.
“Morning, Agnus.”
“Morning.”
“Listen. I’m sorry about leaving that way yesterday. I was wondering if I could get Ethan’s card? I think I lost mine.” Because of the brute Jonathan.
“There’s no need.”
My heart falls. Does this mean it’s over? Were they offended that I left yesterday?
“I was going to call to schedule a meeting between you and Ethan in your company. He wants to visit and consider an investment. Let's say, tomorrow at ten?”
Oh. God. He’s considering an investment. Jackpot.
I try not to sound so excited as I say, “That would be perfect. Thank you.”
Screw Jonathan. I’ll follow Layla’s advice. If I have Ethan, he won’t be able to hurt me, even if he tries.
Or so I think.
7
Aurora
Today is the day.
Ever since we found out about Jake’s betrayal, Layla and I — and everyone else in the company — have been working so hard to reach a day like this one.
Investors. Legitimate ones — not the others who backed away after a walk in the factory or in the offices.
Whenever I take them on a tour, I feel so vulnerable. In a way, I’m opening my home for strangers who might not like it. And they don’t. Most of the time.
Ethan is different.
He hasn’t shown any sign of displeasure as Layla and I take him and Agnus to the factory and talk about our plans for the upcoming product’s launch.
Agnus remains expressionless as usual, but Ethan questions us about certain parts he’d like to understand better.
Our offices aren’t extravagant. We occupy a modest building in London’s industrialised area, but it’s enough for the administration and the factory. We were thinking about expanding before the whole shitshow with Jake went down. Now, we’ll be lucky if we get to keep this building.
By the time we’re back to my office, I’m about to explode with anticipation and nerves. I touch my watch, then drop my hand so it’s not perceived as a nervous gesture.
When I woke up this morning, I took extra care of my appearance. I wore my black pencil skirt and pressed white shirt with a black ribbon. My hair falls on either side of my shoulders and I even put on the red lipstick again. There’s something powerful about looking the best I can; it fills me with a much-needed burst of confidence.
Even Layla put on a dress, which she usually only reserves for special occasions, and that says something.
The two of us sit beside each other as Ethan and Agnus occupy the sofa across from us.
Ethan is reading through Layla’s marketing plan for the new launch, taking his time between pages. Agnus scrolls through our online store on his tablet.
Layla squirms beside me. Although she’s never been the nervous type, I can almost see the anxiety halo surrounding her head. Like me, she realises this might be our last chance.
If we don’t get this, H&H will have to close down and we might have to hunt for a corporate job that we both hate so much.
And worse, we’ll let our employees down.
We have Mr Vincent, our French silent investor with eleven per cent of the shares. We only met him a few times at the beginning but never after that. He’s a private man and barely comes to England anymore. We could offer him more of our shares for investment, but Layla and I are leaving that as a last resort. She and I own forty-five per cent each and we already used twenty per cent each to cover our last loan.
Sweat covers my back, gluing my shirt to my skin, and there’s nothing I can do to make it stop. It’s like my body is being pushed back to that flight or fight mode.
No. This is different. I’ll never go back to those times.
“I must say.” Ethan neatly closes Layla’s organised plan. “I’m impressed. And I’m rarely impressed.”
Both Layla and I release a breath at the same time.
“Thank you.” Layla smiles.
“I’m kind of surprised Agnus here didn’t snatch you as soon as you were out of university. He gathered the best of the best in our marketing department, and they could use a tip or two from you.”
Layla grins. “That’s because I’d already started my own company.”
“My miss.” Agnus nods.
“Aurora.” Ethan faces me.
“Yes?”
“I believe the two of you complement each other really well. The designs are unique and Layla needs to get out of the box to find your special customers.”
“I believe so, y
es.” That’s why Layla and I rarely have any disagreements. We’re not rivals; we complete each other.
“Let me ask you something.” Ethan stares between the two of us. “What made you start designing watches?”
I could give him the generic answer I always give. Like how it’s my passion and my art, and while it is, that’s not the entire truth.
Ethan is the type who can detect a lie and I don’t want to seem dishonest in front of him at such a sensitive time. He might take it as disrespect and that’s the last thing I want. So I go the vulnerable route.
Because the situation we’re in requires we become vulnerable. “When I was a child, my sister bought me a present. My first watch. I loved it so much, and since I didn’t have such pretty things, I hid it and studied it at night when I was about to go to sleep. Then I started thinking about how it was made and why it was made like that. It became my passion, and over time, I realised that was what I wanted to do.
“Whenever I sit down to design, I recall the awe I felt when I looked at my first watch. I recall my sister and the happiness she brought me, and I strive to recreate that sensation. I want people to feel happy when they receive one of my watches.”
“The art of time,” Agnus recites our slogan.
“Exactly.”
Layla touches my arm and I smile, trying not to get caught up in the memories.
“Your sister is…” Ethan trails off. “Alicia, I suppose.”
My eyes widen. He knows, too? “But…how?”
“It wasn’t that hard. Except for the eye colour, you’re a carbon copy of her, Aurora.”
I knew Ethan and Jonathan shared a history, a bloody one at that, but I never thought Ethan was an acquaintance of Alicia’s.
Everything starts to fall into place. My gaze trails to Agnus. “Is that why you approached me?”
“I’d say we approached each other.” Agnus remains completely unaffected.
Layla and I exchange a worried glance before I focus back on Ethan. “Does this mean you never intended to invest?”
“I have thought about it. I believe that your company can have a bright future.”
“Really?” Layla and I say at the same time.
“Absolutely. I’ll pay the bank’s debt and provide a budget to boost the new product’s launch. Agnus will send you the contract and details about how we perceive our partnership.” He stands. “Until then.”
A wide grin curves my lips as I shake his hand. “Thank you so much.”
“We won’t disappoint you.” Layla shakes his hand next.
“I have no doubt.”
I clear my throat. “Would you have invested if you hadn’t figured out I’m related to Alicia?”
Layla pokes me in a reprimanding kind of way. I know what she’s thinking — that we already got the deal, so why bother ask that? However, I need to know. Call it my worth or pride or whatever.
“Probably, but it would’ve been too late by the time your file landed on my desk. Let’s say your acquaintance with Alicia, and also with Jonathan, quickened the process.”
“Jonathan?” I ask low. What does he have to do with this?
It’s taken me everything not to think about him today. There’s always that small voice in my mind telling me I poked the lion and he’ll come after me.
I know it’s paranoia, but I can’t stop thinking about it.
Damn him. I was doing just fine before meeting him again. Which was my fault for barging into his son’s wedding, but it’s not like I had a choice.
“Yes, Jonathan.” Ethan’s lips move into a predatory smile. “He won’t like it.”
Layla raises her brows at me as if saying ‘told you so’.
The rivalry between Jonathan and Ethan must run deep if they keep getting at each other’s throats. No idea how they allowed their children, who are their only heirs, to get married. Surely they know they’ll inherit their dads’ companies someday and both will probably have a full merger.
Not that I should care. As long as I have my investment, I don’t care what two kings do in their kingdoms.
The door barges open and Jessica runs in after several men. “Sir, you can’t go inside…”
My breathing shortens at the men crowding my office.
Scratch that. It’s not even about all of them. Just one man holds my attention prisoner and refuses to let go.
I can feel the blood draining from my face as I get trapped in the hurricane in Jonathan’s grey eyes.
The anger and disapproval there is so tangible, he doesn’t need words to express it. It’s like a deep, hollow well that will suck you into the unknown.
He stands at the front of four men, all of them dressed in dark suits, looking like they’re out of a corporation show.
Though Jonathan’s also wearing a suit, he manages to stand out compared to them. His larger-than-life presence conquers the air and confiscates all the oxygen. Suddenly, my office feels so small and suffocating.
I poked the lion and now, he’s come to devour me.
“Sir, please…leave,” Jessica, my assistant, tries again, throwing me awkward glances.
Even in her tries to be stern, she can’t ignore the intimidation factor Jonathan has brought with him. Like a warlord out for a battle, all peasants need to bow down upon his passing.
Jonathan’s gaze strays between me and Ethan as if we’re annoying rocks in his shoe. The complete disregard on his face shoots bolts of discomfort down my back.
This is why I hate him so much. He has the ability to rattle me after the endless years I’ve spent stabilising myself.
His next words paint my entire world black. “I’m the last one who should leave. This is my company now.”
8
Aurora
“This is my company now.”
I must’ve heard something wrong, because I think Jonathan said this is now his company.
“What are you talking about?” I meant to snap, but my voice comes out small, fearful even.
Jonathan motions at the men with him. “My lawyers will give you the acquisition papers. I bought the stocks you used as collateral with the bank.”
Layla and I take the papers with unsteady hands and study them. My eyes bulge as I stare at the bank director’s signature beside Jonathan’s.
“But he said…” Layla swallows. “He said he’d give us time.”
“Your time is up,” Jonathan continues in his haughty voice that I wish I could mute or, better yet, throw it and him out the window.
“Still,” I compose myself, even though my heart is about to leap out of my throat. “Layla and I have ninety per cent of the stocks. We only used twenty per cent each for the bank’s collateral. If you acquired forty per cent of the shares, we still have fifty combined.”
Jonathan smiles as if he expected me to say that. It’s a weird one, his smile. It always feels like a declaration of war and a promise to crush. Like he wouldn’t willingly smile for any other reason.
“Correction. You both combined had eighty-nine per cent of the shares. Now, it’s forty-nine.”
“It’s still more than your forty.”
“Who said I have forty? Harris.” He motions at the man beside him who’s holding a tablet and a black document on which ‘King Enterprises’ is engraved in bold golden letters with a crown on top.
Harris, a lean man who appears prim and detached, adjusts his glasses with his index and middle finger and offers me the folder. I open it the fastest I’ve ever done anything in my life.
The world starts to blacken as I see the signature beside Jonathan’s.
Lucien Vincent. Our silent investor.
“I’ve gotten in touch with your third investor and he transferred the whole eleven per cent of his shares to me. I now have fifty-one per cent and own H&H.”
“Mr Vincent can’t do that,” Layla whispers to me. “We signed a contract.”
“We did.” I jerk my spine, facing Jonathan. “The transfer of Mr Vincent’s
shares is null. We signed a contract that he can’t sell his shares unless he speaks to one of us first.”
“Or in case of bankruptcy.” Jonathan’s words feel like a whip to my back. “Which is the current situation. The transfer is completely legal. Certainly, you can fight a few years in court if you feel entitled to, but you won’t win, so you might as well save your efforts and finances.”
My mouth opens, then closes again. No words would come out, even if I tried to speak.
God.
Oh, no.
I can’t believe I lost the company this way. How? Where did I go wrong?
Blaming it on Jake is useless. He might have stolen from us, but I’m the one who trusted him when I shouldn’t have.
“You manipulated the bank director, didn’t you?” Ethan speaks for the first time since Jonathan came in. His expression has lost the triumph it gained when we shook hands earlier. “You must’ve switched banks for one of your subsidiaries that has a significant net profit to said bank to make the director agree to sell the shares.”
Jonathan smirks with pure sadism. “One step ahead of you, as usual.”
“I wouldn’t light fireworks yet, Jonathan.”
“Always a pleasure to crush you, Ethan. Needless to say, your investment in H&H is declined, effective immediately.”
Ethan steps in front of Jonathan, and a clash of gazes erupts between them. It’s like two Titans gearing up for a fight.
“This isn’t over.”
“It is,” Jonathan says in that high and mighty tone. “Now, if you’ll excuse us, I need to have a meeting with my employees.”
Did he just call us his freaking employees?
“We’ll meet again, Layla. Aurora.” Ethan returns to us and shakes Layla’s hand, then offers his to me. I take it, even though I’m dazed and unable to keep up with what has just occurred.
Agnus nods as he and his CEO leave the office with the same confidence they walked in with. Jonathan follows them with a gaze so dark, it’s like he could set them on fire by merely looking at them.
Layla and I are left in the presence of Jonathan and whomever he’s selected to bring here with him.
