Kate took a moment to steel her nerves and wear a blank expression heaving out a long shaky breath. Then she finally got out of the car and looked up at the tall building at level eight she knew was the Leons' Asthel branch office -- a place to work and make money, but for her, at the moment was an inferno she was going to walk into willingly.

"I still have that pocket knife inside my bra, Kate," Ellie said with a swagger. "Don't you worry, girl."

Kate gave her a side glance. "Then you better remove it now and leave it inside the car, the security is quite tight over there at the front gates, and you'll be suspected as a murderer or a terrorist." She gestured towards the security guards, checking people with metal detectors.

"Holy potato!" Ellie gasped. "But I surely don't look like a murderer or terrorist, do I?"

Kate shrugged. "I don't think they'll consider your good looks if you're caught with blades and knives."

"I better leave my lifeline in the car then," Ellie muttered, fishing out the knife in question from her bra while the man passing by gave her a leering look, and she threw it back inside the car.

And together, the girls set out for Alex's office. Kate's nerves were calmer now. The little complication about Ellie's knife back there had to be thanked for that.

Ellie looked very uncomfortable now that she lacked her weapon to defend herself and Kate from the suspect manic Alex Leon. At one point, when they were coming out of the elevator and reached level eight finally, Ellie began cursing Victor for sending them to check out the sample of their next order.

"Victor just trusts us so much, Ellie, and you know he's stuck with that cranky Mr. Hathaway; otherwise, he would have himself come for this," Kate said with patience.

"It would have been better handling Mr. Hathaway knowing I had my knife to poke his eyes out instead of encountering the manic Mr. Leon," Ellie grumbled. "And I can clearly see you would have preferred that too," she said the past bit softly, worriedly, glancing at Kate's face.

Kate kept her eyes firmly focused on the woman behind the desk as they reached the waiting area outside Alex's office.

So, even Ellie can notice.

It looked like Kate wasn't that expert on wearing an expressionless mask after all.

Or it was probably because Ellie worried, and some people, despite how crazy they are, have this intuition to read waves of emotions. It's eerie, and it's appealing all at the same time.

They sat waiting across the room after the secretary told them that Alex was stuck inside the office in an eleventh-hour urgent meeting.

Seconds turned to minutes. The secretary, a slender brunette, seemed like a nice woman, a considerate person to have staff bring them some beverage. Ellie was a happy camper gulping down the cream cookies with careless abandon while scrolling through her phone.

However, Kate was the exact opposite. Now that she was sitting idly, she couldn't help her nerves from becoming a rickety mess again.

Only while waiting do we realize that having to wait is one of the most challenging things to go through.



--

"I'm glad that my only daughter and you're in a relationship, but that is as long as you don't make a wrong move, Leon."

Alex sat taut in his plush leather chair—circumstances made which a punishing surface with jutting out needles. His eyes were stoic, looking at the old business tycoon Nolan Ashworth's smirking face across the desk.

How was he to tell Nolan that he and Maya were, in fact, not in a relationship?

Who knew that his old lover from college would happen upon him as a drunken one-night stand right after his wife broke his heart and then proceed to set her father hounding after his ass to force him to tie the knot!

It was just his bloody impossible luck!

So far, after coming to Asthel, Alex had dutifully ignored Maya's calls and even put a full stop to those calls by smashing his own damn phone against the wall and commanding his secretary not to direct Maya's calls to him. He already had too much in his mind, like - Kate making a grand reappearance in his life and torturing his freaking mind day and night.

"I think, Mr. Ashworth," Alex began carefully. "There's a huge misunderstanding here. Your daughter and I—we're not in any relationship. Maya is a good friend of mine and no more than that."

Nolan Ashworth's smirk didn't disappear at that, and it was wickedly curved. "The blunt and, in some cases, derogatory articles in the tabloids say the otherwise."

Alex shifted a little in his chair, and suddenly his negative feelings about this spiked further. "You know how they always like to gossip."

Nolan Ashworth lifted his chin thoughtfully, leaning back into the chair. He pinned Alex with a sharp look. "Gossips always begin with at least a flicker of truth, Leon, as little as it may. My daughter is not someone you're going to use and throw away depending on the whims of your mood," his eyes glinted. "She's my daughter, not your ex-wife."

That made Alex jerk. "Excuse me!" he snapped.

Who was he to say something like that, knowing nothing of what had transpired in actuality? Indeed, Ashworth was trying to rile him up and was bloody successful in it.

Ashworth just chuckled at Alex's outburst. "I don't deprive my daughter of what she wants, boy; she wants you more than she's ever wanted anything else."

"You can not force me into anything." Alex was seething at this point.

"Then I can surely rip apart more than half of your family businesses," the threat ringing clear in Ashworth's calm tone, his expression still collected as ever. "You already know that, don't you?"

"You had a deal with my father," Alex gulped back the growl in his throat. "I still have a year."

"But the debt is great, and loops are there according to my advocates," Ashworth said. "You know well that I have got the power to ruin you."

At that moment, Alex wanted to awaken his dead father from the grave, take his place, and breathe no more. For it was only fair for the person himself to deal with the issue he had created and not the generations that were to arrive.

Unfortunate was the day when his father had to take this impossibly massive debt from Ashworth after suffering from a significant loss in business.

It also didn't help that half of the businesses Leons owned were nearing bankruptcy. Rumors were that Alex became more of a drunkard Romeo than a competent businessman after the wife's mysterious departure.

"I've also the power to do the contrary. My daughter is the lucky charm that you need. The sky shall be the limit, then. Think about it, Leon."

Alex glared at Ashworth's retreating back as the old bastard walked briskly out of his office with an air of confidence and wickedness surrounding him.

He took a moment to cool off. However, the stress still boiled underneath his skin, knowing he was so close to losing most of his family businesses.

Exhaling a colossal breath and clenching and unclenching his fists several times, he took up the phone receiver and told his secretary to send in Victor, who was waiting for a while outside.

But when he looked up, his schooled expression slipped off quickly. It was just his fate that Kate looking as cool as a cucumber had to be the one walking in.

--

Absentmindedly, Kate flipped through the magazines on the tea table before her.

Ellie grumbled beside her. Kate saw Ellie's face quickly turning a light shade of green.

"Hey," worriedly Kate asked. "Are you alright?"

"I think I ate way too many cookies." Another grumble sounded. It came now from Ellie's stomach. Suddenly, Ellie dropped the phone from her hand on top of the magazines Kate had been surfing.

And a flabbergasted Kate and Alex's secretary across her desk watched Ellie run across the room towards the washroom.

Kate hoped this didn't turn out to be a super upset stomach. After all, they needed to leave the Leons dynasty at some point.

A man in his late fifties walked out of the office, a smirk at the corner of his lips. He stumbled to a halt while passing by Kate, a look of surprise crossed his face before his eyes glinted with ire. The old man stormed away, leaving Kate in confusion.

Now, who the hell is that? And what the hell is his problem with her?

But the incident was utterly forgotten when her eyes fell on the top cover of one of the business magazines. It was Alex's face that drew her attention. Ellie's phone was resting right beside his face on the cover, hiding the topic beneath it. Kate's hand, on its own accord, reached out and removed the phone, revealed was a woman's photo conjoined to Alex's.

Her heart did a painful lurch.

Kate felt like she had seen that woman before. As her eyes followed down the article, she realized who it was - Maya, one of Alex's old college flings, now a supermodel.

So, they're back together.

The article's first few lines said just that with juicy words about the couple.

So, he's moved on.

Kate might have fallen into a pit of colossal numbness. There was nothing else, just Alex, and there was just Maya, and their togetherness mocking her now pale face.

The secretary had called for her then. Kate had looked up to see the worry on the secretary's face. And it triggered the black hole awake inside her again, the mass of monstrosity sucking in every emotion she possessed.

She crossed the distance to the mahogany door of his office. Alex's face, cold and glaring, greeted her then.

So, the man demanding that she has cheated on him... has actually cheated on her instead. 

It made her want to laugh, made her so want to laugh bitterly.

~

Mr. Leon the dumba** is actually on his way to bankruptcy!!! Lol... Celebration? ;D  

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Take care until later.
Lots of love,
Lara.

IMP NOTE:  Once again, I'm not a professional writer. This story is cliche, consists of dramatic scenes, and most importantly, I know I make grammatical or other mistakes. I've been warning you of these since the beginning. 
So, despite knowing all this, whoever will still decide to bash or bully me -  I'll have no other choice but to MUTE them (I've already muted some, which was my last choice). I would suggest my fellow writers use the mute button as well instead of letting some internet bullies break your spirit. 

I'm a positive and friendly person, I'm imperfect, and I don't support spreading negativity. But some people here on Wattpad are doing just that - I've checked those profiles I've muted and their comments on other writers' works, the same rudeness! 

Live and let live, everyone. Let's encourage our friends to know that they're not perfect because no one's perfect, after all.