Seeing my investment in Shimmers turn into a loss; my competitors meeting the mafias to take me down; my contract marriage turning into a negative point as my husband's girlfriend turned into an enemy had me question my ability to make decisions. Way too many problems to deal with in a single day. Walking through the balcony, I saw how tired Zearo looked and I didn't want to know where he was headed so suddenly.

Having so much on my plate already and Zearo remaining silent throughout the ride back home felt like I was driving my Lykan into a desert. Of course, I preferred driving alone, but when someone sat beside me and had a gloomy face, what would anyone expect me to do in that state? I wondered.

"What's wrong with you?" I asked, finally battling if I should meddle in his business or not.

"Nothing specific." He cut it short. He wanted to talk to me before, but I ignored him, as I had some other things to deal with. "You wanted to talk about something before. What is it?" I inquired. After spending so many days together, I started getting affected by how he had his expression, whether gloomy or happy.

"It's nothing." He said. I sighed and slowed down the car as I found a proper place to park it. I needed to sort things and needed some time alone. As he was not replying, I thought he wouldn't mind if I took a slight break.

"I'm taking a walk. If you'd like, you can join." I offered and waited for his reaction. Getting out of my car, I found him making his way toward me.

"Are you alright? Is your injury still hurting?" He asked, furrowing his eyebrows as wrinkles formed on his forehead. His sudden caring gesture shocked me and I stuttered for the first time while speaking, "No- no, I'm fine."

"Okay." He whispered.

"What is wrong with you? If you miss Lilly, then head back home. I will be back after some time." I said and saw a sudden change in his expression as his face lit up in the night as I mentioned Lilly.

"No, she must be sleeping. It's midnight already." He said dejectedly. He spent his entire day with me, even if that was just by sitting in the corner of my office and giving me company.

"Thank you for being there today.'' I thanked him genuinely.

"Uh-huh." He hummed and walked slowly beside me. The winter air gently grazed my skin, giving me a sense of relaxation as I felt the constant flow of stress relaxing. I watched as his face had a shadow and hair gently floating along with the wind. His hair tied in a ponytail and beard gave off macho look. His attire was also plain unlike how I wanted him to look. But that was fine by me. I wasn't going to push him to change the way he was used to living in.

I tore my gaze away from him and watched how gorgeous the night sky looked and how the stars twinkled, letting us know we weren't alone on the lonely path.

"You know, sometimes humans need shoulders to cry on even though they have the immense burden to conquer the world." He said, suddenly surprising me.

"What do you mean?" I asked, hitting the small pebbles on the road and taking the feel of the wind touching my skin.

"After I came to know your life, almost every single one of your people told me to take care of you and that you never learned to rely on anyone else when you are in trouble." He mumbled, and I looked at him, surprised.

"You don't have to heed their words," I said, dismissing the statement that he made about me. My people cared about me and that's the reason I had to bring him into my life just to show them I was alright.

"Uh-huh. If you say so." He said and I looked away from his gaze. The stars twinkled brighter than before and the wind whispered something in their language near my ear as if singing a song. It was soothing. Closing my eyes, I stood where I was and took in the wind that blew past me, and listened to the rhythmic melody it played as it touched my skin.

"Have you decided what to do with Samira?" I asked, still with my eyes closed, and heard him say, "Not yet. I need to talk to her before deciding something."

"You still think she'd not betray you?" I asked, flabbergasted by how deeply he believed her.

"Of course not. It's just that she has too much to lose if she betrayed me." He shrugged his shoulders.

I nodded, knowing his background. He might have had a hold on her weakness to tame her from time to time.

"I think we need to leave and you shouldn't be alone, walking carefree when you have a sword hanging on your forehead." He said as he held my hand, intervening me on my steps.

"What do you want me to do, then? Hide inside a closet because someone outside might wait to kill me?" I asked, raising my eyebrows, and he raised his hands as a sign of surrender, making me lift the corner of my lips.

*************

Days passed by and I heard nothing from Andersons or Luchelies. Agnes kept me updated about the deal between the two of them that was made but wasn't officially signed yet and I had a few days on my hand to change that. It was already the weekend, and I hadn't seen Zearo after that day, which counts to over seven days to be exact.

Early mornings, I woke up soon to work my ass off to compensate for the losses I suffered because of the Shimmers deal. Andersons and Co and D'Luka industries were reestablished, and I had a lot of headaches removing the unfaithful employees and partners. Getting back on track was a must, and we finally hit our first quarterly target, making the investors happy.

"So, people, after achieving our quarterly target, all I could say is we have another three quarters to work hard to get a proper return to the market," I said, clicking the pen on the table and getting back to my seat.

"Ms. D'Waner, it was a really pleasant experience to work with such a talented woman like you." One investor praised me and I nodded at him.

"More reasons for me to work hard to keep up with your good impression, Mr. Mathew," I said, smiling at him.

"Ma'am, we need to go to Andersons and co. The investors are waiting." Aria whispered, and I tightened my grip around the pen. That would be my first time meeting Suzanne, my father's wife after they knew I was alive. Samantha's daughter was alive. I wondered whether Gabriel Anderson will as well make his presence known.

"So gentlemen, I've got to go but contact my assistant if you have questions, "I said and paved my path towards the snake's den.

"How many investors are going to attend the meeting?" I inquired, walking past the employees of D'Luka industries. I found it immensely irritating whenever his name rolled out of my tongue but thought of gaining the trust of the investors before owning the company.

"Sixty, give or take," Aria said, flipping through the pages of her file and attempting to catch up on my speed.

"Woah, slow down! You might end up crashing a wall." I heard Anthony and threw the files at him. He drove me everywhere I went after the attack. My Lykan rested in the garage as they brought out the Rolls Royce without my permission.

"I might kill you if you hurt this one, even a tiny scratch." It was a limited edition black car, only fifteen in the entire world. It did not please me when they touched it, but Dima and Mia said I had to keep a high profile after achieving so much success, but I thought otherwise.

"I'm not touching your Lykan, so be grateful for that," Anthony said, letting me in the passenger seat. Fastening my seatbelt, I looked at the driver's seat, bent, and screamed. "What the hell!"

"My ears are going to bleed," Zearo said, shutting his ears.

"What are you doing here?" I enquired, and he shrugged his shoulders and said, "Dima asked me to stay by your side." He announced.

"Why'd she do that?" I wondered and closed my eyes, resting on the headrest of the seat.

"Because she knows you are going to meet your father and his family today," Anthony spoke from behind.

"And what help will you be for me?" I asked in a hushed tone so that Anthony wouldn't hear me.

"I also wondered the same." He said, clicking his tongue, and I rolled my eyes at his attitude today.

"Let's hit it," Zearo said as soon as Aria entered. I wished I would just disappear as he was going to damage my car.

"Don't worry, I won't harm your precious car." He said, winking at me and then swiftly making a left turn, shocking me.

"Awesome!" I threw my hands in the air, irritated by his stupidity.

*****†****†****

"What experience do you have about which you are so egoistic that you could handle our business better than us?" Suzane kept on bombarding me with irritating questions since the meeting started. It was as if she had the whole script ready to humiliate me.

"Much better than your husband, who let other people take over his company so easily," I said, pointing at Gabriel Anderson, who didn't bother stopping his wife from talking harshly with me. Sitting in the center chair, I had my anger in check, as I needed to teach her a lesson after she humiliated my employees.

"You are crossing your limits. Bringing matters related to your personal life into business is the childish and stupidest thing any business person would do." She spat and some investors agreed with her. I slowly stood up and clicked on the remote of the projector that started showing the progress.

"Yeah, right," I said, placing my palms gently on the table and bending a little. I looked at everyone in the room and smiled.

"Business is the only thing I'm good at. How would I betray myself by cheating on it? I will not explain my actions, but I'd like to know whoever wants to continue doing business with me and who doesn't." I said, walking past Zearo and Aria.

"If someone doesn't like the style I work at, I'm more than happy to buy their shares back," I said, flashing a blank cheque. "I am not stepping down from taking something that is rightfully mine." I looked Gabriel in the eye and made sure he'd understand what I was implying.

"Ms. D'Waner, you are disrespecting us." someone said, and I sighed.

"Hasn't everyone here been disrespecting me since the meeting started?" I asked and felt a pin drop in silence.

"I've proved my ability since the beginning of my career. My goals and achievements aren't hidden from anybody. Despite that, just because some lame people told you bullshit, you ignored everything I built from scratch? Degrading me and my employees?" I said, raising my voice. The audacity of these people to disrespect me had my blood boiling.

"Yes, she even won the best business executive of the year in the entire New York. We must be fortunate that she is in charge of this company now." One of the board members spoke, and I nodded at her, acknowledging her gesture.

"Besides, I don't want to work with people who don't believe in me. I will buy your ownership with a five percent increment than the market rate. You may leave." I pointed at Suzane and the few members who supported her. Because of Suzane, I had just Forty-two percent shares of the company. She held thirty percent shares, making her the second most powerful person in the company. My father was just a mere puppet, I could say after I watched him gazing at me the entire time.

"Huh? You think you can buy everything?" Suzanne butted again, and I just gripped my pen tighter, making sure I kept my attitude in check.

"So, the meeting is over. I made a few changes to the plans. Will circulate that to everyone who wants to continue doing business with me. If not, please feel free to contact my assistant." I said and walked out of the disgusting meeting without sparing another glance at anyone.

My heart constantly hammered so hard throughout the meeting as I was nervous. Nervous that it was the first time my father would see me present something. I had no conversation with him, so I wasn't sure how I would react if he talked to me.

Uneasiness crept through my veins, making me shiver as I saw a huge family portrait of The Andersons laughing in the middle of the hallway. His kids laughing beside him and Suzanne smiling at all three of them. I tore my eyes away from the horrific picture, wiping away the tears that threatened to fall.

I knew my eyes would have turned red as I suppressed my cry. Taking out the sunglasses, I placed them on my nose and pushed them to fit, hiding the emotions that were so clear on my face.

"That was intense," Zearo said as he sat in the driver's seat, getting ready to head home. I laid back, not bothering to reply to him. And felt the car moving. My emotions were all haywire, and I had to keep my actions in check before doing something I would regret later. Taking a deep breath, I slowly closed my eyes, shutting down the noise that Aria and Zearo made arguing with each other.

**†***†***†***†***†***

This chapter was hard! I was about to faint by the pressure I felt just by rereading it. *hides*

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