Chapter 10: The First Fiancée
1412 Words
The morning after Lucas's birthday banquet, Theo woke up with a headache not from alcohol nor from stress but From Obunga.
His phone had been ringing for nearly five minutes,, Theo groaned and finally answered."What wrong can't I have peaceful rest?"
Obunga sounded unusually cheerful,, That alone was suspicious "Good morning, Chairman." Theo immediately became suspicious. "You sound happy."
"I am."
"Why?"
A brief pause,, Then came the answer. "Because today we're discussing your fiancées."
Theo slowly sat upright,,,"My what?" "Fiancées,,,hope you haven't forgotten about the fiances according to Mr silver's will."
Theo stared at the phone,, he had already forgotten about the two fiancee's, she didn't pay more attention to them before "Please tell me I heard that wrong."
"You didn't sir."
Theo closed his eyes. "No." Obunga laughed. "The conversation hasn't even started." ,,, "No.",,, "You don't know the details.",,,, "No." Mr obunga man sounded amused. "Chairman",,,, "No.",, "Would you at least listen?"
Theo sighed heavily annoyed ."Fine." Obunga immediately seized the opportunity. " chairman silver arranged agreements with two powerful families many years ago." Theo already disliked where this was going he was tired of listen to the same narrative over and over.
"Continue."
"The Cooper family." and "The Harris family." Theo rubbed his forehead,,, The names sounded familiar as he had encounter someone with similar surname.
Then realization struck. "Wait." ,, His eyes widened,, "Layla Cooper?",,, "The very same.",,Theo nearly dropped the phone,, The cold, arrogant woman from the Executive Club? ,,the same lady who constantly looked at him like he was suspicious ?
That Layla Cooper? Obunga continued calmly, "And Wendy Harris." Theo leaned back against the headboard,,, "I refuse to say so." The answer came instantly.
Mr obunga signed,, "I expected that."
"Good.",,,," but the problem is that expectations don't change reality." Theo groaned.
"This is ridiculous." Perhaps it had made sense decades ago or Perhaps it had made sense for older generations,,, But arranged marriages? In modern society?Theo wanted no part of it.
Especially after Naomi,,, The betrayal still lingered, His trust wasn't something easily to rebuilt overnight. The idea of marrying a stranger sounded absurd. Obunga finally softened his tone. "No one is forcing a decision today."
Theo remained unconvinced. "That's exactly how these situations begin." Mr Obunga laughed again,, "Just meet them.". ,,,"I'm not interested.",,, especially as he had clashed with one of them
"Too late chairman."
"What does that mean?"
Then Obunga delivered the bad news,, "chairman backing down now means your giving up on the inheritance" Theo couldn't speak because he didn't want to return to his past.
Several hours later, Theo sat inside a luxury café near the business district ,He had chosen the location because it was quiet, private and peaceful.it was a perfect place to clear his thoughts, Unfortunately, fate apparently disagreed.
The moment he stepped outside after finishing his coffee, he heard a familiar voice,, " well, well,who do we have here" Theo froze Slowly turning around.
And there she was. Layla Cooper, beautiful, elegant,,Today's outfit was simpler than her appearance at the Executive Club ,she wore a fitted white blouse, dark business skirt that was perfectly matched with black sexy stockings and Minimal jewelry.
Yet somehow she still attracted attention from everyone nearby,, Her confidence alone was enough. Theo sighed. "You again." Layla folded her arms. "That wasn't exactly a warm greeting."
"You started it." A faint smirk appeared,, Interesting,, Most men became nervous around her.but Theo became more sarcastic. The difference was oddly refreshing and irritating.
"What are you doing here?" she asked. Theo shrugged. "Existing." Layla blinked, Then laughed unexpectedly,, The sound surprised both of them.
Theo looked amused, "You do know how to laugh." Her eyes narrowed immediately. "Don't get used to it.",,"Too late I have already."
The conversation should have ended there, Instead, it continued,,One comment became another. One challenge became another. Within minutes they were arguing again Like two stubborn people incapable of agreeing on anything.
"You have terrible taste in coffee." Theo stared. "Excuse me?" ,,"That blend is objectively terrible.",, "There is no such thing as objectively terrible coffee.",, "There absolutely is."
Theo shook his head. "You sound ridiculous." ,,"You sound uninformed." Several nearby customers watched with amusement,, The pair looked less like strangers and more like old rivals in love battle.
Eventually Layla sighed."This is pointless." ,,"Agreed." Another pause followed,, Then she asked casually. "What exactly do you do?" Theo immediately became cautious. "Why?" ,,"I'm curious."
Theo laughed, "There it is.",, "What?" ,,"The famous curiosity man." Layla raised an eyebrow. "You make that sound dangerous." ,,"It is."
Her expression sharpened slightly,, Because Theo was correct, Layla was curious and curiosity usually meant investigation, Research, Information gathering,,, and that was how she operated.
After their encounter at the Executive Club, she had already ordered a private investigation, The results arrived yesterday and according to the report... Theo was completely ordinary, poor orphan, A university student, A delivery rider, Part-time bar worker, Nothing impressive , powerful or special,, Which made absolutely no sense.
Because none of those things explained what she witnessed at the Executive Club, Powerful people had treated him with extraordinary respect, Club executives had practically bowed, Someone was hiding something and Layla intended to discover exactly what.
She studied him carefully, the simple clothes.The relaxed posture. The calm eyes. Nothing matched the image of influence,, Yet her instincts refused to trust appearances. Theo noticed her staring. "What?" Layla immediately looked away. "Nothing.",, "Liar."
The accusation annoyed her because it was true, Theo laughed And somehow that annoyed her even more.
Over the following week, Layla's investigation intensified ,,Additional reports arrived , background checks and surveillance. The conclusions remained unchanged.
Theo appeared completely average, Financial struggles, Modest lifestyle, No significant family connections, political influence or visible wealth.
The information should have reassured her Instead, it frustrated her because her instincts still insisted something was missing,,,Something important.
Late Friday afternoon, fate finally provided an opportunity. Layla had arrived at Apex Heights Holdings for a business discussion.The Cooper family always maintained several partnerships with the corporation ,, even though Visits weren't unusual.
As she exited a conference room, she noticed movement near the executive elevators.A familiar figure that resembled Theo, What was he doing here? The executive floors were highly restricted to even managers, Ordinary visitors couldn't access them, Employees below senior management couldn't access them.
Yet there he was, Walking casually through one of the most secure sections of the building.Layla immediately stopped,Confusion appeared,, or might be here to apply for job because He absolutely shouldn't be here.
Without thinking, she followed,, Maintaining distance, Observing carefully,,, Questions raced through her mind, Perhaps he worked here secretly or he knew someone important.
Her thoughts stopped abruptly, Ahead, another man approached Theo, A man Layla recognized instantly,,, General manager James Obunga, One of the most powerful corporate leaders in the country, The acting head of Apex Heights Holdings.
Layla expected many things, What happened next wasn't one of them, Obunga smiled, Then personally opened a private office door For Theo, not just casually but in a respectful way
Layla froze, The world seemed to stop moving, Her heartbeat accelerated, Employees nearby lowered their heads respectfully, toward Theo,, The scene shattered every conclusion from every investigation, report, assumption and piece of logic.
Nothing made sense anymore,, Theo paused briefly before entering, For a split second, his gaze shifted. And landed directly on Layla, Their eyes met Shock flashed across her face.
Theo noticed immediately, Then the office doors closed immediately,, Leaving Layla standing motionless in the hallway, Silence surrounded her.
Her mind replayed the scene repeatedly, Obunga's respect, The employees' reactions, executive floor access ,One horrifying possibility slowly emerged.
Impossible, Absolutely impossible, Yet she couldn't ignore it, Because suddenly every strange event connected together.
Layla stared at the closed office door, For the first time in years, certainty abandoned her completely,The poor orphan, delivery rider, The ordinary university student.
None of those labels fit anymore, And if they weren't true... Then who exactly was Theo? Inside the private office, Theo sat down heavily.Obunga looked amused. "You saw her?"
Theo sighed.,,"yeah Unfortunately." Mr Obunga laughed,,Outside the office, Layla remained frozen, The woman who always had answers suddenly had none,For the first time in her life, she felt genuinely shaken, because her investigation hadn't uncovered the truth.
It had concealed it and somewhere beyond that door waited a secret powerful enough to destroy everything she thought she knew.The first crack appeared in Layla Cooper's worldview.
- Writer
