Chapter 9

CHRISMITH is standing in front of the door of Nica's office and thinking if he should continue to walk in. "Will you come in, Sir?" Rose asked the young man when she noticed him in front of the door. "Ah, yes!" He immediately knocks on the door and when he heard the signal of the girl from the inside, he walks in while Rose is in the back following him. "Ma'am, Mr. Yuchan is already here," Rose said. "Thank you, Rose. You may go." There was a coldness in Nica's voice. She standstill with her head bowed a little, not minding her visitor. "What do you want?" Nica spoke without any trace of emotion. The anger she had last night has not died yet. She does not have the mood to speak to others. Chris sat on the vacant seat in front of the table even though Nica did not give him an invitation. "I just thought of dropping by since you are here in your company." Nica shrugged her shoulder as a reply to Chris to make him know that she is not interested in why he is here. She knows that he visited her because of a business matter. She has had to go meet him — the opposite of now's situation — but, she refused to take the action. "If the coat is the reason why you are here, I'm sorry to say but it is in the laundry shop right now. I-I will let my secretary send it to you." She remembered the coat that Chris lent to her. "Are you okay?" Nica looked at Chris with a shocked face because of his question. She did not know if she heard him right. "I heard what happened last night and.." "Why did you ask me instead of my sister?" She cut him off. Nica sniggered when she saw the reaction on his face as he gazed at her. "Stop staring! I don't need your sympathy!" She said angrily. She did not like those eyes that shows pity for her. "What happened to your face?" Chris held her cheek, but Nica slapped his hand away from her face. "Stay away from me!" Nica shouted. She prefers to see him angry and insult her than to receive those pity from his eyes. "Did you put cream on it?" Chris is still concerned, ignoring what she said. Even though she covered her face with make-up, the bruise on her left cheek is still visible if you look at it closely. "Did she hurt you?" Chris persistently asked, but Nica just keeps on giving him glares. "Stop trying to concern yourself with my affairs. Believe what you want to believe in, I do not care. We're not really close, so stop bothering me and stop acting that you care for me because I'm not buying it, it's not effective." She raved. She dislikes him. Chrismith sighed instead of being offended by what she said. Mr. Rodriguez is right, his daughter is hard to please. He suddenly remembered something Nica's father told him. "It is all my fault why she became like this. I cannot control her anymore and I think the only thing I need to do is to make her come back to what she was." Chris stood up after he recalled what Don Alfonso told. He let his eyes roam around the office while his hand is inside his pocket. "Did you know already? This company is going to be bankrupt soon." Nica threw a razor-sharp glare at him. "It's not funny!" "This is a serious matter that you have to know." Chris carefully watched the reaction on the girl's face. She was suddenly nervous when she saw that the young man was serious. She quickly averted her gaze from his thin lips and lowered her head. But instead of erasing the naughtiness on her mind, it became even dirtier when she stared at his strong and hard biceps. She wanted to mention why he is only wearing polo, but, of course, she could not. "Explain!" She commanded him as she struggles to look into his eyes. She feels various emotions by thinking that her mother's company could be gone. "A large amount of money was lost in the funds of this company. They do not know where it went.
Your father asked my dad for help and he agreed, however, he gave one condition." "Impossible. How did that happen? I did not even take any money!" She panicked and Chris showed her the documents. "Is there any other way?" She asked Chris when he said that he had to marry either Janice or her to cover up the situation and not alarm the stockholders. "I mean, an investigation should be conducted first." "Too late," Chris only answers before turning his back on her. He does not want to see her being so weak because it might fully awaken that strange feeling he never expected he would feel. "Are you one of those who want to pull us down!?" She accused the young man, her voice was full of anger. Chris smiled when the ferocity returned to the girl's voice. "Damn it! You will not succeed!" She angrily threw the paper at the young man. It hit his back. "Ahhh!" Nica lost her mind because of anger when Chris completely turned his back on her. "I hate you all! Chris just shook his head and leaned his back on the closed door. When the surroundings became quiet, he approached her secretary and asked her to clean the mess inside Nica's office then left. "I will not let you succeed in your plans!" Nica whispered to herself as she watched her secretary pick up the papers scattered on the floor reluctantly. Alfonso watched his daughter, sadness was registered on his face. He stayed for a minute in the doorway and waited for Rose to finish cleaning. He believes that Nica would never rob the company. But, there is no other solution to the problem they are facing now, it would be less difficult if the news will not be brought to light. Nica's eyes were lifeless when she saw him standing in front of her office. "Whether you like it or not, I will have your sister marry Mr. Yuchan to save the company and also to protect your name against people who want to destroy you." "This is my company! I am the only one who has the right to choose what I want for this company!" "Then, marry him." Don Alfonso challenged Nica to marry the young man. "Are you serious?" She laughed sarcastically. It is true that she wanted to destroy the relationship between Janice and Chrismith, but she never considered marrying him. "You have two days to decide," Don Alfonso said and turned his back on his daughter. Out of anger and resentment, Nica went straight to her favorite place. Even though the music is loud, her father's voice is reigning her head. "The share I hold in this company will be given to the one who will marry Chris. Mr. Yuchan will take over in this company as the new C.E.O." Nica swallowed a glass of wine when she imagined the smile of victory of her stepmother and sister. If she let Janice marry the young man, she will lose the chance that the company will be completely hers. Her mother's family founded the company but her father grew it. "Do you really think that I'm very weak and stupid?" She asked as she stared at the wine glass she was holding as if that was the person she was talking to. "You can only take everything from me when I die!" if only what she was holding is a piece of paper, it might have been crumpled because of the tightness of her grip. She stared at the glass angrily, as if her problems were its fault. If the waiter had not come, she might have thrown it and there would have been more trouble. "Ma'am, our Big Boss told us to close early." Nica frowned and glared at the waiter. "I have money to pay even if I run out of food and wine here!" She shouted so the waiter could hear her clearly. She also noticed that there are no other people inside, but it is still too early for them to close. "You are drunk, Ma'am," said the waiter, and the nervousness was obvious in his voice. The lady is weighing on him, add his boss who called earlier. He said he would be there right away. He has no idea why their boss was furious when he told the news that their certain regular customer is probably drunk now. "Give me more wine and you won't close while I'm still here!" The waiter scratched his nape, the lady surely is drunk because she was gesturing her hands. "It will be the last one, promise!" like a child, she begged the waiter when he insisted on not giving her any more alcohol. "Boss will get mad for this," the waiter complained and was forced to give another bottle of red horse beer to her. She wanted to try another wine and instead, that was what he gave to calm her down. It even made her fall asleep. "Where is she?" Chrismith asked his staff after entering the bar while walking around. "There, Sir!" The waiter pointed out the location of the person he was looking for. Chris's forehead furrowed when he saw no one at where his staff was pointing at. "I think she fell asleep." He scratched his forehead. "Fuck. You let her sleep on the floor?" Chris angrily scolded the latter when he saw her body on the floor with her head resting on the chair. He did not waste time on listening to the staff's explanation. He quickly approached the lady and carry her. He wanted to cuss when she did not even react. He could not quite imagine that she could be taken advantage of if she got drunk somewhere else.