Secret Affair

Regrets

At the Alvarez mansion, Richard was sitting and having a chat with his acquaintance. Lucy was having a good laugh recounting how Richard's grandson had been too scared to contradict everything she said. Richard only listened and nodded his head, he had heard the story countless times and was enjoying listening to the incident again. He was pleased that the method his old friend's suggested had yielded the desired result, even though his grandson had refused to come home. Six years ago, he had ridiculed the boy mercilessly, telling the boy he was hopeless and would not stay in school because he lacked the patience to do so. He knew his grandson well and understood that only by daring the boy would he acquire an education or do something meaningful in his life. He also tried to get involved in his life and hired different people to be in his life, but Ryan was way too smart and tended to figure things out quickly. In the end, Richard decided to leave him be and give him room to make his own mistakes and possibly learn from them. Even if he left him, he had his eyes on the boy at all times. Sometimes, when things were too quiet, Richard sent little troubles his way just to see how he would deal with the situation. Ryan might have thought he was avoiding having to work for the old man and HUM Medias wasn't one of Alvarez's until Ryan decided to join and work for them. Now the media company belonged to Richard, although Ryan was not aware of this. Richard was proud of his grandson's achievement thus far, and although he was still aloof most of the time, he at least treated the people around him a little better than before when he thought the whole world revolves around him. Richard could not wait to hand over the reins of his empire to him, but the boy was adamant and would rather buy the company's shares instead of having them handed over to him. The irony of it all was that, although Ryan thought he was buying the share, and it may seem that way, the money would inadvertently still belong to Ryan at the end of the day, so that means, he was buying the company for himself by himself.

The landline on the table suddenly began to ring and Richard picked it up, listened carefully and replaced the receiver. He looked at the only other person in the room and informed her about what he had just heard.

"He just moved into the penthouse," he said with a smile. Richard was a little worried the boy would forfeit the price since he wouldn't accept the job offer, but he had asked for the penthouse, now that he had finally moved in, it meant he was ready to start living in luxury again.

"I didn't think he would live there," Lucy commented,

"Me neither, I thought he would rent it out and use the money to buy more shares," said Richard. "I guess he wants to impress his girlfriend," he said quietly,

"That girl is not good for him Rich, you know that," Lucy warned.

"Do you think I don't know that? He would never listen to anything I say," Richard said,

"I can talk to him."

"I'd rather you didn't, he would know of my involvement at once," said Richard. He wanted his grandson to make the right choice, but he also knew he would never be there to always tell him what to do. If he chose to be with someone and said he was in love, he had no intention of interfering.

"Are you going to give back his car?"

"No, he has the one he got with his own money."

"And I thought your grandson was stubborn," Lucy said, eyeing the old man, "Are you saying it was okay for him to move around in that jalopy and even park it in the garage of ALZ?"

"What is wrong with the Mitsubishi Mirage?" Richard said defensively. He knew his grandson very well. Even if he decided to give him a car, the boy would refuse it. He had refused a lot in the past year.

"Seriously?"

"Well, he bought that with his hard-earned money, you can't possibly be suggesting that I give him one of my expensive cars," Richard said and Lucy could only shake her head. "Look, the boy is a little proud, even if I decided to give him back his Mercedes, he would probably sell it or return it," he said with a sigh, "Let me just enjoy the fact that he moved in one of my facilities,"

"I will never understand the dysfunctionality of your family. I am glad I never had kids." Although Lucy had talked non-stop about her children when she took Ryan home, the truth was that she never had any. She got divorced twice because of this fact and just decided to get married anymore but raise livestock instead.

"But you kept calling and bothering my grandkid," Richard grumbled. He was unhappy that he couldn't do the same but depended on information he got from people he sent to watch him and ensure he didn't get in trouble.

"I don't call him, he calls me," Lucy said proudly. After the boy left her house that day, she didn't think he would talk to her ever again and was surprised to see his call about a month later. He had called to thank her for her hospitality and even told her a little about school. Lucy didn't remember giving him her phone number until the boy said he got it from the farmer close to her house.

"I think you should start going home now," Richard said playfully, but his jealousy was unmistakable.

"He will come around, Rich, just give him time," Lucy said more seriously.

"I know I pushed him away, and I probably deserved this, but I miss him," said Richard. He was afraid his grandson might never visit him, and he longed to tell him how much he missed having him around. At the time he sent him away, he thought he was doing the right thing, but right now he wished he was a little lenient with his restrictions.