CEO's Cat Lady [Complete]

Chapter 9

Just like what was expected of her that Saturday, Amy had to go back to the mansion of her half-brother to hear what he wanted to tell her. She hadn't been here in six months, but nothing too big had changed; its imposing façade remained unwelcoming to her presence. She knew that her brother was already in his study waiting for her.

She checked her watch: it was 8:30 in the morning. She was 30 minutes early, but it was better to be too early than to be late. Her brother didn't like tardiness, even if it was only a minute late. The maid told her that her brother told everyone that he shouldn't be disturbed because he had an important call to make, so she stayed in the kitchen where she got to talk with the cooks and the chef, the few friends she got in this place. Ten minutes before 9 AM, she said her goodbyes with the employees of the mansion and walked back to her brother's study. She was strolling down the hallway when she crossed paths with her aunt, the family matriarch and just below the authority of her half-brother who was the head of their clan.

"Amethyst, what are you doing here?" The 53 year-old woman sharply asked once she saw her.

Amy instantly halted and bowed her head to show her deference to her aunt. "Good morning, Aunt Esther," she greeted the older woman in a small voice.

The matriarch did not return the greeting and merely nodded as she inspected Amy's form from head to toe. Amy expected this move, so she made sure she would be presentable by wearing her short sleeved white Dior mini dress coupled with peach-colored pumps. She only had a pair of pearl earrings and a Rado watch as her accessories, while she completed the look with a dab of peach lipstick. Aunt Esther looked satisfied with her look because she did not say anything about it, so Amy proceeded to answer the older woman's question.

"I was summoned by brother," she told the matriarch.

"Why?"

Amy was tempted to shrug, but it would be frowned upon because it would be seen as impolite, so she just replied with a formal voice.

"He didn't say why, just that there's something that he wanted to talk to me about."

Aunt Esther opened her mouth to respond back, but right there and then, the door of the study opened and revealed her brother, Arthur Ledesma. When Amy saw him, she greeted him automatically in the most reverent voice she could muster.

"Good morning, brother. I'm here for our appointment."

"It's almost nine, so I looked for you." The stoic man answered as he looked at her with a hint of disapproval.

Shame quickly filled Amy's gut, so she apologized right away. "I'm sorry, brother. I'll be earlier next time."

The man did not look appeased, but he did not speak up anymore. Aunt Esther took the brief silence to butt in.

"Arthur, why did you call Amethyst today?"

The head of the clan then directed his impassive gaze to the matriarch, who met her nephew's eyes head on. Esther was the only one who was not scared of Arthur in this house, although all of the decisions, both in domestic and corporate affairs, were ultimately made by Amy's half-brother.

"I just want to ask about my sister's well-being, Aunt Esther." He then turned to Amy, who remained silent during the whole exchange. "Follow me to the study."

"Yes, brother." Before Amy followed Arthur, she did not forget to nod again to her aunt to politely signal that her departure. Her aunt, as usual, did not return the gesture.

Esther did not take her eyes off the backs of the two siblings as they were walking away from her. In her mind, she was counting the possible reasons why Arthur suddenly summoned Amy. It was worrying her because it could be a hindrance to her plans to sell the hospital behind his nephew's back, and what was more, she had even started talking to potential buyers, and one was so interested that he even offered to buy their old hospital for Php 600 million, way above its current value in the market.

But her niece's reappearance posed a problem for her because she was sure this was part of Arthur's ploy to focus more attention to the hospital. Esther could not see the benefit in it: the hospital contributed so little to their net income in a year, and selling it would bring more money than keeping it, but frustratingly enough, her nephew was holding on to it because of misplaced sentimentality.

She would need to stand by and try to find out what the conversation of Amy and Arthur was about, and most of all, warn her buyer regarding the move. It would be such a waste if the potential buyer backed down if he thought that they were being so stubborn regarding the hospital.

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Amy was seated in a couch, facing her brother who was currently taking a sip of his green tea. She had been cradling a cup of it in her hands too. As what her brother's taste commanded, the tea was made of the highest quality leaves and directly imported from Japan, and probably a testament of its superiority, she instantly felt zen as soon as she drank from it. She needed her calm nerves since she was going to talk to her brother, something that had always brought dread to her.

Once her brother put the cup down to the glass table in the middle, he turned to regard Amy in his cold, penetrating eyes.

"I want you to quit your job so that you can manage the hospital," the head of the clan said without preamble.

Amy inelegantly gaped at her brother's order… it was all so sudden. Remembering that her brother hated it when she made gestures that were unbefitting of a lady, she closed her mouth abruptly and voiced out her concerns.

"B-but brother… My only experience is being a head for the Human Resource department of a medium sized company. Are you sure you want me to manage the hospital?"

"I know that you only managed a small company," Arthur said with some disgust (which caused Amy to feel so little in the eyes of her brother), "but it's time for you to finally take part in the family business."

That was the time that Amy knew she had no choice but to quit her job, which, she might admit in some of her rare cases of sentimentality, was something that she genuinely enjoyed and felt passionate about. But there was no time for such frivolities, so nodding her head, she told her half-brother her answer:

"I understand, brother. I'll start preparing my resignation right away," she said in a bland voice.

"Good," was the only reply that Arthur offered.

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Amy was riding the cab on her way home when she remembered to check her phone for important messages regarding her work, but when she did, what surprised was the amount of calls and text messages she received from Trevor Schwarz's number. With her forehead creased, she read one of the messages, which was about the hotel heir asking if she was free this weekend. It was sent about two hours ago, when she was on her way to the mansion.

She quickly responded to the message, like how she did with the e-mails she received, and told the hotel heir that she was busy the whole weekend, something about "family matters." As someone from a high society family like hers, she guessed that Mr. Schwarz would easily understand how grueling clan matters could be. The hotel heir responded fast saying:

"Oh. I was under the impression that you were hiding from your clan. It would be interesting to know about your exact relationship with you family someday."

"It's not so much different from your relationship with your business partners, which in short, means it's boring and nothing to hear about," Amy texted back.

"I'll be the judge of that. So where do you want to meet up?"

Amy sighed. It seemed that this man was stubborn as f**k because what she said about not being available just didn't register in him, and it was true, because she had to prepare a lot of documents for her coming resignation.

"I'll be busy like what I told you, and besides, I don't do appointments outside business hours. That's not professional." She replied.

"It will be about business, Ms. Ledesma. I have a proposition to make that might benefit our families."

That gave Amy more reason to decline Trevor's invitation, for only the head of the clan had the authority to regarding those kinds of matters, so she told the hotel heir:

"You would need to consult my brother about that, not me, Mr. Schwarz."

It took a few moments before the hotel heir responded with a message that went: "I see. I would set up an appointment with your brother right away. I hope you could be present there."

She did not text Trevor after reading that, because it concerned nothing about her anymore. Whatever Mr. Schwarz and her brother could come up with, she would have no right to know about, unless her brother allowed it as approved by the protocols of their family. The hotel heir also did not message her again; he probably had gotten the memo finally.

Now, Amethyst had more pressing concerns that needed her attention, especially regarding her impending resignation at the company she had worked for these last five years.