CHAPTER 6 TAKING OVER

GREYSON’S POV I didn’t plan on coming back. Not when my Aunt begged me to and certainly not when we had obligatory family dinners. I’m not interested in making alliances with anyone in my family circle because they’re untrustworthy, among other things. I prefer to stay at bay and watch things unfold in my favor as they usually do. So imagine how unsurprising it was for me to go through my mail and see a letter and document from my Aunt discussing and concluding the details of my succession. I just needed to sign twice, and the entirety of Miller Group would become mine. I didn’t, though, considering that big decisions like this should be carefully deliberated on before even thought of being implemented. Doing that would mean that I was responsible for protecting and leading the entire corporation. Don’t get me wrong; the responsibility itself did not scare me in the slightest, but I wasn’t interested in becoming the hottest topic in the media and gossip circles so early into the year. And so I waited until my Aunt grew so anxious that she had to call me to ensure the documents were delivered correctly to my residence. I told her they were and that I carefully reviewed them before hanging up. I had to think everything through, from what I would do next to how pissed Dylan would be when he found out and how I was going to handle the attention from the media. After careful consideration, I made up my mind a few days ago, so I signed the Godforsaken documents and mailed them back to her. She was so happy and overly excited, which irked me a bit when she took it upon herself to start planning things like my flight, where I would stay when I got back, and our next family gathering to properly welcome me back. I, of course, told her not to worry and that I could handle it all myself, AKA Lay the fuck off. She got my message loud and clear because she immediately switched topics and once again started gushing about how good it would be to have me back since a lot had to be done. This was because the seat at the head of the table had been empty for some time now after my Uncle's death. Although every other person assumed that it was probably because they were still deciding on who would be best to occupy the position, it was actually. After all, I had been putting off becoming an heir for the longest time for various reasons. At one point, I had suggested letting someone else sit at the center until I was ready, but they were all not having it, especially my Aunt. She kept persuading me to rethink my decision and finalize my answer since it would be crucial for the growth or destruction of our family. Being the wonderful man I am, I told her I would think about it and give them all a proper answer when I was finally ready, which she happily accepted. Why my Aunt dotes on me more than she’s supposed to? I don’t know for sure, but it probably has to do with the fact that she’s an attention seeker who finds people who aren’t drawn to her attractive. I didn’t have much interest in anything less than her, which made her take up the challenge of getting close to me by all means, but that failed miserably. Things are the same with her and her children, which is no surprise. She listens to and prefers her daughter, Lydia, to her firstborn son Dylan. Dylan, who is unfortunately related to me, is who I would call a classical sycophant with delusional tendencies. From what I see, he must view himself as the most invaluable prize of all time with his behavior. His lack of dedication and sloppiness towards his business ethics are among the many reasons his mother has never considered him for important work-related activities. He seems to dislike me a lot and tries as much as possible to show me whenever we regrettably meet at public events. I sometimes find his little antics amusing when I can’t seem to find them irritating, which angers him even more. Lydia, on the other hand, is probably the only person in the family who I don’t dislike as much. Not just because I see her as a strong and remarkable woman but also as a little sister in a way; her refusal to force me to like her, unlike everyone else, intrigued me enough to want to know what she was really about, and now that I do, I can’t help but find her outstanding, a trait which isn’t common in her immediate family. We do talk on the phone when we’re changed, which is rare, but she’s always so overly interested in my personal life when we do. She asks questions that do not concern her, which I ignore. What made me come back then? Two words: unfinished business. I won’t go too deep until I know all there is to know, but I’ll say this: someone will pay. Despite not telling anyone in the family I was back, I had to get to work as soon as I landed. This was very intentional, by the way, and since my Aunt had been talking about our merger with Vincleft, I decided to go there myself and see what all the fuss was about. When I discovered they were holding interviews for a position, I had to stay and watch. This project was too important to let just anyone work on it. The interviews started out slow and uneventful, with a little bit of cursing, crying, screaming, and stomping by the applicants until they got interesting. The moment she walked in, and I set my eyes on her, I could tell she was suitable for the job, not just because she was one of the most exquisite women I had ever seen but because she felt…right. That was the problem. She wasn’t overly dressed and powdered like a circus clown, which is not what I would say for the other women. She also wasn’t too boastful and confident like the bundle of eyesores referred to as men. She drew me in at first glance, so I drew back harder. I even had to cross-check to ensure she wasn’t the one on the résumé I was holding. I had heard about how beautiful she was from Lydia around the period she was engaged to my cousin. Still, I never actually believed that someone could be as immaculate as she was described until now. My attraction towards her annoyed me even more than it should’ve because how could I be drawn to the daughter of a fraudster, a coward? A girl I had heard all sorts of rumors about. I was never one to believe in rumors and judge people by what I saw in their behavior, but this time, something overtook me so powerfully that I did something I had never done before. I used her pain against her, just to hurt her, to make her leave so I could think again, something I stopped doing as soon as I laid eyes on her. I didn’t mean what I said because all those things were just baseless rumors which were inconsequential to my being. Do I regret it? Yes, and would I do it again? Yes. I wouldn’t take back my words because that would mean that I had to acknowledge her as just a woman, a woman I found entirely and wholly intriguing and who I believed deserved a position here. There was going to be no way in hell I would ever let her captivate me to the point of no return; I would make sure of that.