Rise of the Heiress
1202 Words
“Should we let them know?”
Wendy itched her hair, confused and feeling out of sorts. She hadn’t really planned on how to face her evil uncles.
“Not yet,” she decided, and Leo set down his phone.
“They will find out themselves, you know,” Leo told her, and she shrugged.
“I know, but at least, it will buy me some time.”
She stretched, yawning loudly.
“Wendy!” Leo exclaimed, laughing, and she blushed in shame, glancing at the two pizza boxes now empty.
“It’s the stress,” she said quickly, “you tend to get hungry when you’ve been through difficult moments.”
“Right,” Leo laughed, leaving the room.
*
Mark Williams dropped his phone with a bewildered look on his face, while Gabe Williams watched him carefully.
“Still no result?”
Mark nodded, “He or she must be really important to be kept a secret. Now, I regret selling out my shares. Who knows who it is?”
Gabe poured wine for them both and handed a glass to him.
“I don’t think there’s anything to be scared of,” Gabe said, “secrecy only means the person is one with high profile and if we tread carefully, we can get some more benefits from him, plus we still have the Anselm's, and Whitney's.”
The Anselm and Whitney family were also shareholders in the Rose group of companies.
“How is Leo?” Gabe inquired.
“He’s been acting a bit weird lately. Carrying out refurbishing plans on his house and bringing in women to his home. Never thought he was the promiscuous type.”
Gabe laughed, “perhaps he has finally found someone to move his cold heart. Have you found out who the female is?”
“Already sent someone to investigate. She moved into his home today, seems it’s pretty serious, whatever it is they have going on,” Mark replied, taking a sip of his wine.
Mark’s phone dinged at that moment, and he set down his glass and picked up his phone.
“Gotten information on her already,” Mark winked at Gabe, who was seated opposite him in his expensively furnished sitting room.
Mark unlocked his phone and opened the message. His eyes bulged out at the smiling photo that stared at him.
“What?” Gabe inquired at once, sensing something was amiss.
“Wha… how… how…” Mark stammered, still unable to believe what he was seeing.
Gabe sprang up and went to him. Snatching the phone from his hand, he also froze in shock at the photo.
“Wendy!” He shouted in disbelief, “I thought she was dead. I thought Cecilia had her killed!”
Mark laid his head against the chair, taking deep calming breaths.
“Cecilia fooled us,” Mark breathed out, “Leo fooled us. He must have known she was alive, he must have been hiding her somewhere. Cursed children!”
Gabe set down the phone with a hard slam.
“Come to think of it, Mark. What if she is the major shareholder? Why else would the major shareholder be kept a secret if it wasn’t that it was the niece we thought we killed?”
Mark only became more agitated upon hearing Gabe’s thoughts.
“Call Black sword,” he ordered, “anyone. We have to kill her now before anyone finds out. Send the assassins after her now.”
Gabe dialed a number on his phone.
“Go to Leo’s house. He has a female living in with him. I want her dead in an hour.”
*
Leo hid behind the curtains that covered the windows that looked down on his quiet street. He wasn’t admiring its beauty, rather, his gaze was focused on the black sedan on the opposite side and the two men lounging at it, smoking with their gazes fixed on his house.
His eyes narrowed, and he pulled out his phone and called a number.
“There are two men on my street, watching the house. Investigate them.”
Twenty minutes later, his phone rang.
“They are your uncle Mark’s men, they work for him. It seems he has been monitoring you for a while. Forgive my negligence, I should have known.”
Leo rubbed a palm down his face, infuriated.
“Then he must know about Wendy,” Leo stated the obvious.
“I think so,” the person on the other end replied, “I’ll send some men over to protect her. Call me if you sense anything out of the ordinary.”
Leo went back into his study after the call. She was still going through all the documents on the Rose group.
“You have been at this for a while. You should rest now,” he said to her.
“I know,” she yawned tiredly, “but I have to. I can’t hide forever.”
“Uncle Mark knows about you already.” Wendy’s head snapped up.
“I didn’t know he had men watching me.”
“This is bad, this is bad,” Wendy facepalmed, “what do we do?”
Leo’s phone rang at the same time the security alarm in the house went off.
Leo’s eyes widened and Wendy gasped.
“They’ve come for me,” she murmured. Leo yanked her up, and they raced down the stairs.
“What’s going on?” he barked into the phone.
“Some assassins were sent after you. I have my men on the ground already. Just hide in some place safe. They won’t get into the house.”
Leo led Wendy into the basement, into a secret room he had. There they could monitor the activities going on in and outside the house.
“Found them,” Wendy snarled, watching two masked men try to break into the house, “they must be amateurs because how can they use such an old-fashioned method?”
A smile crept up Leo’s face. At least, her sense of humor wasn’t affected. Leo’s men crept up behind the assassins and had them down in seconds.
“There are more,” Wendy announced, pointing to the footage that showed a single masked man jumping into Leo’s room.
“My room,” Leo said to someone on the phone. In minutes, he was also taken down. Less than thirty minutes later, the house was free of assassins, and the street free of the two stalkers.
“I will get some answers out of them, but meanwhile, keep Wendy safe. She must not leave the house.”
Leo cut the call and joined Wendy on the sofa.
“You’re safe… for now.”
She laid her head against his shoulder.
“I don’t intend to live like this. Tell me a fast and effective method to get rid of them.”
Leo smiled.
“Go public.”
Wendy’s eyes narrowed in confusion, “public?”
“Announce yourself as the new CEO of Rose group of companies and the rightful heir. They won’t be able to touch you, as any wrong move against you will reveal their dirty, dark secrets.”
- Writer
