Taming The Heiress

Chapter 8: First Day

(XAVIEN'S P.O.V)

Matapos ang libing ni Zaino, nandito na kami ngayon ni Felix sa opisina ko sa Dawson Foundation.

He claps, "How impressive, dude. That Zara really is the next successor of Mavros." Saad nito.

"Sino pa nga ba? Eh siya nalang ang naiiwang anak ng Chairman." Kibit balikat kong sagot.

"Have you seen the looks of her stepmom? She seems really not that happy." Saad ni Felix.

Sino ba naman ang magiging masaya kung ang anak sa labas ng asawa niya ang magiging tagapagmana ng lahat ng ari-arian nila? Pft.

But earlier when Zara called to the stage, I saw something in her eyes, she doesn't seems happy with it. I smirk, don't worry Ms. Mavros, once I take over your company, you will no longer feel that way.

I press the speaker from the outside para tawagin si Jared.

"Yes, boss?" Tanong agad nito ng makapasok sa opisina.

"I want you to gather informations all about Zara Mavros, what she love and hate. And give me her strength and weaknesses." Utos ko kay Jared.

"Man, that girl is definitely someone you shouldn't underestimate." Hirit ni Felix.

"How can you say so? Did you met her already?" Tanong ko.

"Hmm we bump into each other earlier." Sagot nito.

"Let me guess, sinungetan ka niya ano?" Nakangisi kong tanong.

He chuckled, "Yeah maybe." Sagot niya at nag kibit balikat. What's with his answer? Weird.

Anyways kailangan ko ng kumilos, kailangan kong gumawa ng paraan para mapalapit kay Zara.

Umupo ako sa shivel chair habang si Felix ay cool na sumandal sa table ko,

"Don't you have any work to do in your firm, man?" tanong ko.

"I have, may pupuntahan akong client sa prisinto mamayang 5:00 PM, I still have an hour." sagot niya at nag hikab.

"Is your client innocent or not?" nakangisi kong tanong.

"It doesn't matter if it's a yes or no, my job is to prove him innocence after all." sagot niya. Natatandaan ko nung kakatayo lang niya ng law firm, there's a rich thug who wants him to be his lawyer, ang kaso niya ay attempted child rape, the thug confess to Felix that he did attempt to rape the child but he wants Felix to prove that he didn't. Tandang tanda ko pa non kung paano siya nahirapan ng husto sa panahong yun.

Bigla kong naalala na may mga pi-pirmahan pa akong pending for approval na mga documents kaya pinihit ko ang side drawer sa table ko para kumuha ng stylus pen, there I saw my old planner.

"I didn't know that it's still here." tugon ko at kinuha yung planner, sabay ng pagkuha ko dito ay ang pagkahulog ng isang picture na nakaipit yata sa planner ko.

Natigilan ako ng makita ko sa sahig ang litratong nahulog. Iniyukom ko ang mga kamao ko. It's me and...

"Is this Nyla? Hey dont tell me you still keep your pictures with her?" tanong ni Felix at pinulot ang picture.

Agad ko namang binawi sa kanya yun,

"Tsk of course not! Give that to me." tugon ko and I crumpled the photo.

"Dude, it's been three years. Come on, just forget about her." seryosong payo sa akin ni Felix.

Napaiwas ako ng tingin, "At sinong nagsabing hindi pa ako nakaka-move on, Felix? I already did." sagot ko.

Nyla... The only woman I ever love in my entire life. Three years ago, we were about to get married, but then she suddenly cuts off our wedding and broke up with me.

Napangisi ako ng mapait, that woman... She choose herself over me.

"By the way, is marrying Zara the only way, Xavien?" biglang tanong ni Felix kaya napabalik ako sa realidad.

"Marrying her is the most secured and efficient way." sagot ko.

"Then what will happen next after your marriage? After you get everything you want from her?" tanong ni Felix.

"Xavien, you knew that your marriage with that Mavros is possible once she fell in love with you. At kapag nagtagumpay tayo, masasaktan mo siya ng todo. You're aware of that, aren't you?" dagdag na tanong niya.

Hindi ako agad nakasagot. To be honest hindi ko pa napapag-isipan kung anong gagawin ko kung sakali ngang pakakasalan ko siya.

A loveless marriage just to get what I want isn't that bad right?

I sigh at nilapitan si Felix,

" I don't know. Let's just talk about it kapag nandiyan na." saad ko at tinapik ang balikat niya.

Kasi ayaw kong mag salita ng tapos.

~

Time check: 7:00 PM

Kasalukuyan akong nag lalakad na palabas ng Dawson Main Building dahil pagod na rin ako throughout the day.

Nang nakababa na ako sa 1st floor, sumalubong sa akin si Jared na parang may planong puntahan din ako.

"Sir." Bati niya sa akin at nag bow ng kaunti. Napansin kong may dala siyang brown envelope.

"Did you find out what I asked you earlier?" tanong ko.

"Yes, sir, here it is." Sagot niya and he handed me the envelope.

"Let's head down to my car." anyaya ko sa kanya at nagpatuloy sa paglalakad.

Nang makapasok kami sa kotse ko pinalabas ko muna ang driver ko para kami lang dalawa ni Jared sa loob. Binuksan ni Jared ang envelope kung saan ang laman ay tungkol lahat kay Zara at binasa sa akin.

"Name: Zara Hadleigh Mavros

Age: 24 years old

Degree: BS in Business Administration - Financial Management

Skills:

- Good communication skills

- High IQ of 130

- Good in analysis----" pag babasa ni Jared sa harapan ko pero nag signal ako ng stop sign sa kanya.

Kinuha ko ang papeles at tinignan agad ang kahinaan niya.

Napakunot ang noo ko ng makitang blanko ito.

"Weaknesses, none?!" hindi makapaniwalang tanong ko.

"I'm afraid to say there's none, sir. Aside from what you knew about the Mavros Family, her only weakness is that she's an illegitimate child of the Chairman, and her stepmom and sir Zaino mistreats her, but I think it doesn't apply to her now that she's the new successor." paliwanag ni Jared.

Napatingin ako sa skills at achievements niya, sh*t I didn't know she's this good. Above average din ang IQ range niya unlike Zaino na sakto lang na nakatungtung sa average. Most importantly she's capable of running a business, and I think she's knowledgeable enough to run the Mavros Group without any problem.

Mukhang mahihirapan talaga ako nitong agawin sa kanya ang Mavros ah.

"Jared." panimula ko after reading her informations.

"Yes, sir?"

"Get a private investigator, let him follow Zara's everyday move starting next week and report it to me." utos ko. I need to find out if everything written here is true about her, kung may boyfriend ba siyang tinatago sa media, or totoo bang wala talaga siyang kaibigan kahit isa man lang.

" Got it, sir." pag sang-ayon ni Jared.

Everything must be perfect before I start getting her attention.

~

(ZARA'S POV)

*one month later*

Today is monday and it is my official appearance in Mavros Group's board meeting this morning. Nakahanda na rin ang opisina ko malapit sa opisina ni Dad. Last week ako officially nag hiatus bilang aktres with the help of Dad, as he promised everything went smooth for me to climb up as the Deputy Chairwoman of Mavros.

About mom? Of course nakatanggap ako ng maraming pangungutya galing sa kanya. She still can't accept the fact that I'm going to inherit the whole company and Zaino is no longer here.

Because I have no one to trust in this field of work yet, I decided to hire my personal assistant Jessi to be my secretary from now on. Nang makarating ako sa entrance ng Mavros Group, nakaabang si Dad sa akin sa gitna habang maraming reporters sa kung saan saan. Syempre my first day of work will be historical for everyone. My name #ZaraMavros has been consistently in number 1 all time trending for more than a month now in all social media platforms.

Dere-deretso akong pumasok at sinundan si Dad at nag tungo na kami sa board meeting kung saan nandoon na ang lahat at kami nalang ni Dad ang hinihintay. Nagsi-tayuan ang lahat para batiin kami at nakipag shake hands din ako sa ibang malapit lang sa kinaroroonan ko.

"Please take a seat, gentlemen." saad ni Dad.

Sinenyasan ako ni Dad na ipakilala ang sarili ko.

"Good day, everyone. You all might actually know me but I still want to introduce myself properly, I am Zara Hadleigh Mavros, your Deputy Chairwoman, nice to meet you all." pakilala ko.

Tahimik lang ang lahat, base sa facial expression nila, parang hindi sila masaya na ako ang successor ni Dad ah.

"Do we need to introduce ourselves to you, Miss Mavros?" tanong ng lalaking kasing edad ni Dad na malaki ang tiyan.

Matalim naman ang tingin ng iba na parang sinasabi nila sa mga tingin nila na wala silang planong kilalanin ako as their new Chairwoman.

It seems like I need to show them who's the superior here.

"No need. In fact I already memorize all your names and personal informations, Director Cruz. You've own two percent in Mavros Group right? By the way, how's your son? I heard he caused a drunken incident the other day? Is it true that he harassed a girl in a club?" nakangisi kong tanong at nagulat ito.

"W-What are you talking about, Miss Mavros? O-Of course not!" nauutal niyang saad at todo deny na hinarap si Dad.

"Oh is that so? Good to hear it then." Nang aasar kong sagot.

"Gusto niyo po bang isa-isahin kong tawagin ang pangalan niyo and tell you something that might interest everyone in this room? I surely heard a lot of controversies before entering the meeting." dagdag ko pa.

Umayos naman ng upo halos lahat at napayuko.

They dare to act up like that infront of me huh?

Umupo na ako at nag simula na ang meeting, may mga proposals na ini-discuss ang mga team leaders about their projects at seryoso lang akong nakikinig sa mga sinasabi nila.

"What can you say about their proposals, Zara?" biglang tanong ni Dad ng patapos na ang meeting.

"By the way, I find something odd about the budget plan of ZM Department Store..." panimula ko at may tinignan na file sa iPad ko kung saan naglalaman ng importanteng impormasyon tungkol sa kompanya.

"It's stated here in the chart that you are given 35 million budget last month, how come the released supplies last month was only worth 20 million? Where's the 15 million?" tanong ko.

"There's no corruption here in Mavros, right? I hope you won't disappoint me, gentlemen." tugon ko. Bakas sa mga mukha nila ang pag aalinlangan.

"Chairman Zack, is it okay for me to handle the budgets in our Department Store?" tanong ko kay Dad.

He smiled na parang masaya siya na nag seseryoso na ako,

"Of course, darling." he nodded.

"Then from now on, lahat ng expenses at releasing of budgets ng ZM Dept. Store ay dapat dumaan sa akin. We must take an action now before mabihasa ang mga magnanakaw. Understood?" saad ko in a bossy tone.

"Y-Yes, Ms. Mavros." pag sang-ayon nila. With that, I smirk.

~

Matapos ang board meeting dumeretso na ako sa office ko at pinag aayos ang mga ibang kagamitan ko, ayaw ko namang plain lang ang designs at interiors ng opisina ko kaya dapat pagandahin ko talaga to.

*FAST-FORWARD*

6:00 PM ng mapagdesisyonan kong umuwi na and call it a day.

Nag aayos ako ng sarili at niligpit ang gamit ko when someone knock on my office door...

*knocking*

"Come in." pasimple kong saad.

"Congratulations on your first day, darling."

Napatingin ako sa pumasok at nakita kong si Dad.

Ngumiti ako ng kaunti, "Thank you, Dad."

"How about a dinner at home tonight, Zara? It's been a while since the three of us including your Mom have dinner together." Pag anyaya ni Dad.

Hindi ako agad nakaimik, can I refuse?

"I-I don't know Dad. S-Shall we?" naiilang kong tanong.

"Okay let's go then, I'm sure your Mom will be happy to see you." nakangiting tugon ni Dad.

I fake a smile, happy, my foot. Pag iinitan na naman ako nun.

I can't believe Dad is so slow-witted to not notice how mom treated me whenever he's not around all this years. He must really love my stepmom no matter how nasty her personality is.

But why did you make a mistake and have me instead, Dad? Hays.

~