“What in the world…” Gemma was rendered speechless by the insanity she had just heard. “Why the hell would such a rule even exist?”
The elderly lawyer had no definite answer to that, because it was not he who had written the will nor had he set the rules that his granddaughter was finding absurd. He could only hypothesize. “The old man didn't want his bloodline to go extinct. He had to set some rules, and you are lucky that he did not specify that you must have a son before inheriting his estate.” Gemma sighed when she imagined that such a thing was possible. She had not known her grandfather when he was alive, because her family was yet to find her when he passed away. From the tales she had heard about him from her parents and grandmother, she knew that setting such an absurd rule did sound like something he would do. Even so, it still made no sense when she thought about it. “But I'm a wIt had been several weeks since Mia learned the truth about the past but it was not in the slightest bit easier to bear. It was still hard to imagine that the woman she had hated all her life was also the one who had saved her life. She had not had the courage to tell Carlos about it. Maybe he already knew the truth but kept it to himself. It was probably one of the things that would become clear with time and she was not willing to pry into them before they naturally unfolded. It made her feel guiltier because they were growing closer by the day.They had agreed to be friends but spent a lot of time together, doing things that friends definitely wouldn't ever do—not that she was complaining.On Friday evening, she went to his office as soon as she clocked out. This was how it had been for weeks. He would either seek her or she would seek him, every day. They would either have dinner together or he would drop her off. On weekends—like today—they would coo
Wendy had her eyes shut when he opened the bathroom door."What's the result?" He asked.She didn't intend to tell him without playing a guessing game with him, which he quickly found out. Luckily, it was only a two choice option."Is it positive?" He asked hopefully. She shook her head.His mood dimmed in the slightest but he still asked, "Is it negative?"She shook her head, and he was baffled. Was she going to make him have a gazillion options even though it was a question of yes or no?He tried again. "Were you unable to take the test?"She shook her head to that too, and he was about to ma
Gemma arrived home at midnight, and she was just about to make her way into her room when the living room lights turned on. A smile slowly settled on her face. Of course, some idle creature had found out about her absence and had the audacity to wait for her return, and was probably preparing to interrogate her.She turned on her heel to face the man who was sitting on the white couch, a newspaper in his hand which made her wonder whether he could read in the dark. It was Noah, her brother-in-law—or rather, her former brother-in-law. He lifted his head to frown at her with a pair of black, angry eyes. "Where were you?"She paused for a heartbeat before she burst into peals of laughter. She shifted her bag to her left hand and closed in on him, her high heels clanking softly against the marble floor with her every move. "Since when do I answer to you, Mr. Black? This is my house and I can come and go whenever I feel like. Else, are you going to tell me what to do in
"Why is my breakfast not ready?" Gemma demanded Sofia who was cleaning the floor the following morning."I was busy cleaning the house." Sofia gritted her teeth as she wiped the beads of sweat from her forehead. Aside from making them go to sleep so late at night and making their sleep restless, they had to wake up at 4am to start working at their designated posts. They were even much earlier than the mansion's servants who were required to wake up at 5:30 am! To be exact, they were allowed to sleep as much as they wanted as long as they were done with their morning chores before Gemma woke up.The woman was unnecessarily gentle to the servants who didn't even deserve it. Why was it that when it came to them, she treated them so harshly?Gemma looked down at her. "Cleaning the house? That's no excuse for you to not do your work on time. Where the hell is Olivia?"As soon as she spoke, Olivia exited the kitchen running, flour covering her hai
Sofia's hands trembled as she held the bowl closer and closer to her mouth."Use a spoon if you want." She instructed as though giving permission to a child, and Sofia shook her head to continue holding the bowl to directly drink from it.Gemma watched her in amusement. "What is it? Why can I eat it but you can't, huh?""It's…" Sofia's eyes started to well up. "The ingredients are so expensive. I can never afford it.""It's okay. You can have it." Gemma gave a kind smile, but Sofia felt so spooked that the bowl slipped from her hands."I'm sorry, it fell by mistake." She apologized with her hands still trembling. She met Gemma's sharp gaze which scared her so much that she didn't even realize that she no longer had to eat the poisoned soup."Such a lowly trick." Gemma sneered."It wasn't…" Sofia tried to defend herself, only to shut up when the woman stood up and landed a slap right on her cheek. It was so painful that she alm
Cora asked one of the shareholders out, a man who looked to be in his early thirties.They met out at a restaurant, and she had dressed up in a business outfit."You must be Miss Aguilar" A man asked as he sat opposite her on the table whose number she had sent to the shareholder making Cora frown. This man looked nothing like the description of the man she was supposed to meet. He had round framed spectacles and looked more like an assistant."My boss does not wish to reveal his identity." The man explained, sensing her surprise. "My name is Darrell, I will discuss the deal on his behalf.""I see." She took out the proposal she had prepared. "Is he willing to sell me his shares despite that?"Darrell placed his own proposal on the table. "That, he is. But these are his conditions.""Thirty billion for twenty percent?" Cora was rendered speechless. "Why don't you simply rob a bank?""My boss doesn't want to do that, whic
“What in the world…” Gemma was rendered speechless by the insanity she had just heard. “Why the hell would such a rule even exist?”The elderly lawyer had no definite answer to that, because he had neither written the will nor set the rules that the late Patriarch Arnaud's granddaughter was finding absurd. He could only hypothesize. “The old man didn't want his bloodline to go extinct. He had to set some rules, and you are lucky that he did not specify that you must have a son before inheriting his estate.”Gemma sighed when she imagined that such a thing was possible. She had not known her grandfather when he was alive, because her family was yet to find her when he passed away. From the tales she had heard about him from her parents and grandmother, she knew that setting such an absurd rule did sound like something he would do.Even so, it still made no sense when she thought about it. “But I'm a woman. I do not continue anyone’s bloodline.”
"Cora, are you busy right now?" Gemma asked her friend over the phone."Not too busy for you. You know I always have time for you." Cora responded sweetly.Gemma smiled gratefully. What would she do without her? "I'm going to Scarlet Bar. Meet me there, okay?"She hung up and went to the bar, where she ordered wine. Since she was a VIP member, she had a private chamber reserved for her on the first floor, which had a one side view of the entire place. She twirled her wineglass listlessly as she watched a few young women on the ground floor, wearing almost nothing as they danced for the men enjoying drinks. Her attention was quickly drawn to a girl who looked young, she had probably just reached adulthood. She served drinks on a table of four men, who gazed at her with lust written all over their eyes as she poured them the drinks. Her movements were clumsy and she was trembling. Just as she finished and was about to leave, one of the men grabbed her hand.&