บท 3: Chapter Three
Ronald's POV
'The man of the hour! Mr weber! It's our pleasure to have you, sir, please have a seat.' The boss welcomed me into his office, rather too excitedly. I shook his sweaty palms, taking a good look at everything. It was clean enough.
'It's my pleasure. Let's begin,' I said, turning towards the boss as I took a seat. I took a look at the time on my watch. I wanted this to be over with as soon as possible.
'As you already know, the deal has been discussed. All we need now is your signature. So, if you can just sign here, you'll have full control of the company,' he pulled out the contract and handed me a pen, his hands quivering. This alerted me.
'Read it,' I said to one of my men
'There's no need to do that sir, it's just as we've…. we've discussed,' he stammered, urging me to sign it. I turned, glaring at him and his strained smile melted into terror.
One of my boys took the contract to read and before long, he chuckled, a low rumble of mischief and seriousness.
'Dead end boss, smarty here is trying to dupe us,' he said, throwing the paper. I watched as it floated in the air, falling daintily on my lap. 'You think he'll sign a contract without reading it? How stupid are you? Motherfucker', I slowly picked the paper from my lap, irritation evident on my face as I tore it into shreds.
I watched as he shook like a leaf, blown by the wind. I gestured to one of my guards, my eyes never leaving the boss. He was afraid and I loved that.
A suitcase was opened on the table in front of me and I pulled out my contract and a gun.
'Sign it,' I drawled, pushing the contract towards him and putting the gun on his head, 'maybe then you can keep your money and your miserable life. You're lucky I'm in a hurry.'
In an instant, his signature was on the paper. I picked it up to cross-check it and smirked.
'Goodbye. I don't expect to see you here ever again,'
The ride back to the mansion was a bore. I was already in a foul mood from the meeting and didn't want to take it out on anyone but my assistant told me that it was important: it had something to do with Abraham Moore, my godfather.
The assistant wouldn't say what it was and now I'm on the edge. I hate being put on the edge.
I unceremoniously drove into my mansion and walked inside. The sooner I was done, the better it was for everyone. I do believe I have an idea why he asked to have a meeting with me but then, it might be something else.
My fingers hovered over the screen before I pressed the call button, sending a call to Abraham Moore. My heart pounded as the phone rang, each second feeling like an eternity. It connected after two rings
.
'Good afternoon Mr. Weber, I'll pass the phone over to Mr. Moore'.
I took a deep breath as I waited to hear his voice.
"Ronald, my boy '' I heard his voice crackle. He struggled to put words together and his breath hitched each time he pronounced a word.
"What happened?" I asked, already dreading the answer.
"I don't think I have much time left Ronald. As per the merger I had with your family,' he paused as if indicating the direction of this conversation, 'you're supposed to get married to my daughter'', he pursued.
'I know that Mr. Abraham and I'll be sure to get married to her immediately you pass', I assured. I knew this day was coming, I was prepared for it.
'I know, I know, but I need you to promise me something else', he was immediately seized by a coughing bout and I waited patiently till he was calm.
"Anything," I said, trying to keep my voice steady.
' I want you to get married to Elysia now that I'm still alive', he urged, ' I want to be there when it happens'.
'I'm sorry Mr. Moore, I won't be able to come over for a wedding now', I confessed, nonchalantly. Yes, I'd known about the arrangement for as long as possible, I wasn't the least bit ecstatic or pleased about it. I was only doing it for my family, no more, no less.
'Ok, just sign the merger. You can have a wedding whenever you want. I need to know she'll be taken care of ', he insisted and my brows contorted in a frown. I couldn't refuse a dying man.
I had known about this arrangement for a long time, but it always seemed like something in the distant future. Now, it was here, and it felt surreal. "I understand," I replied nonchalantly. "I'll do it."
'Your lawyer should be in at any moment with the necessary documents. Just sign them and have them mailed back to us. Thank you, son', another bout of cough hit him and the call ended abruptly.
I immediately called Emma's number. The phone rang twice before she picked up.
'Hey, baby, I was about to call you. So I went shopping and-', she began cheerfully but I cut her halfway.
"Emma. We need to talk," I said, my voice more serious than I intended.
"What's wrong?" she asked, concerned creeping into her tone.
I sighed, trying to find the right words. "I... I have to end things between us."
There was a long pause. "What? Why did I do something wrong?" Her voice was a mix of shock and hurt.
"It's complicated. My godfather is dying and he wishes... he wants me to marry his daughter, Elysia. It was arranged years ago, and now it's time."
"Are you serious?" Emma's voice was trembling now. "You can't be serious."
"I am," I said softly. "I'm sorry, Emma. I've known about this for a long time, but I never thought it would happen so soon."
"I can't believe this," she whispered. "I thought you loved me, I thought you wanted a future with me? ME!."
"I did love you, Emma, I still do. I've never loved anyone like I love you," I admitted. "But I have to honor this. I can't go back on this. It's been arranged since I was a child'.
"Then why did you keep me? Why did you give me hope when there was none?', she asked and I went silent. 'Goodbye, Ronald," she said after a while, her voice cold and distant, and the line went dead.
Almost immediately, I heard the lawyer drive in and honk as if announcing the end of my relationship with Emma. I walked downstairs slowly, meeting him in the guest sitting room.
'Good afternoon Mr Weber', he greeted me and I nodded my head in response, putting out my hand to receive the contract.
I read the clause and they all seemed befitting to me- I couldn't say the same for her but I didn't care. This signature is going to be the closest to her I'd ever get.
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