As the Locke Group came into view, Matthias’ face brightened with triumph. Meanwhile, Heather had no idea why he looked cheery. Could the agreement be that important to him?
She calmly followed him into the building after they had gotten down from the car. Ever since they assumed the mantle of a couple, she found that she no longer needed to fret about a lot of things. Having said that, the gray areas that existed in their relationship made her re-examine her plans to file a lawsuit against the Apple Gazette, especially when things were not as clear as they once had been.
They were the only two who occupied the elevator. As they went up the building, they were unusually quiet and while she stared at the floor numbers flashing in the elevator as they went up the building, his gaze flickered to her every once in a while.
The first person that Heather saw when she stepped out of the elevator was his assistant, to whom she did not pay any attention during her last visit since she had been in a hurry. Upon proper appraisal, she saw that his assistant was a doll-faced young lady with an endearing, unassuming demeanor—the way Myra had been when she was younger.
Heather noted the resemblance with mild amusement. She wondered where Matthias had managed to look for an assistant who looked so much like Myra. The younger girl had a pleasant look about her and unlike Myra, she had a bubbly edge to her disposition.
Heather looked away from the assistant and gazed at him meaningfully. His lips were curved up in the barest hint of a smile as he pulled the door open for her and said, “After you.”
He had been in a terrific mood since she saw him that morning, which made her uneasy. Her skin prickled as she tried to figure out the tricks he had up his sleeve.
The door clicked shut and she was unruffled as she strode forward to take the seat across from him. He lowered his head as he took the agreement and deftly slid it over to her.
Heather took the contract and as she scanned through it, she saw that the additional terms they discussed the day before had been incorporated into the contract. Basically, she could find no fault with the agreement. When she had consulted Mr. Presgraves yesterday, he did not seem to think the terms were problematic even after she had paraphrased them.
Seeing as there was nothing fishy or peculiar about the agreement, she put down her signature without any complaint. A small smile colored her face as she recalled the days when she had managed the European branch of Langston Group. She had signed her name with the same flourish back then.
Rising from her seat, she reached out to give Matthias a perfunctory handshake. “I look forward to working with you,” she said. The whole process of signing the contract was simple; it was as though there was nothing more other than the inception of a business partnership.
Matthias couldn’t help but admire this particular side of Heather; it was a practical move for them to draw out their partnership and state their terms in black and white. He would be sure to take good care of the special contract which they had just signed.
Each of them kept a copy of the contract and while that should have been the conclusion of this event, he noticed that she had no intention of leaving as she tapped her pen against the stack of paperwork in her hand. As such, he decided to start a casual conversation with her.
“Is there anything else I can help you with, Miss Langston?” he asked politely.
She shook her head at first, but after a while, she nodded. “Actually, yes, there is. What’s your assistant’s name?” At the thought of the young girl outside, she found herself remembering how Myra had looked back in their schooling days.
“Lara Locke,” he answered. Upon hearing that, Heather frowned and began to wonder at her identity. She had not been expecting the assistant to share the same family name as Matthias.
“Is she a member of the Locke Family?” It was aimless to ponder on something like this when she could directly ask him for an answer instead.
Matthias shook his head and chuckled as he answered, “No, she just happens to have the same family name, that’s all. She’s the only daughter of an ordinary, middle-class family.” He had placed emphasis on the term ‘only daughter’ to sound convincing.
Not wanting to dawdle any longer, Heather decided that it was time for her to leave. She straightened her posture and announced courteously, “It’s time for me to get going.”
He straightened his back as well and offered with the same air of courtesy, “Please, allow me to see you off.” As they were both stiff and formal, it looked like it would take a while before they relaxed around each other.
As she headed out of Matthias’ office, Heather deliberately glanced over at Lara. She had to admit that he had a rather acquired taste when it came to selecting his assistants. Where Nikolai resembled his younger self, Lara was essentially a replica of a young Myra. However, if she had to be honest, Matthias’ devotion to such details was perverse, in that it was borderline obsession.
After getting into the car, Heather made her way to the Stark Group to pay Myra a visit. At this point, the woman might as well make a home out of her office, seeing that she cared so little for her pregnancy and relentlessly threw herself into her work.
Heather had not shown up at Stark Group since she argued with Myra, which explained why her sudden visit took the latter by surprise.
Meanwhile, Myra’s head was spinning from all the work she had been tied up with all morning, which made her naturally surprised by Heather’s unannounced visit. Nonetheless, she was happy to see Heather and pleasantly greeted her.
Empathy flashed across Heather’s beautiful features as she appraised the tired look on Myra’s face. Pregnant women were supposed to stay away from caffeine and because there was a child in her womb, Myra was constantly fatigued.
Upon the sight of all the documents on Myra’s desk, Heather grew displeased and pointed out in irritation, “You do realize that you’re pregnant, don’t you?” She sounded like a strict parent who was about to lecture her child.
Myra pursed her lips and looked away in guilt. She didn’t know how she was supposed to respond to Heather’s unexpected chiding.
Assuming the solemn look of an experienced doctor, Heather went on to say, “You can’t afford to be a workaholic during your pregnancy. Think about the baby!”
“Heather, there are things in Stark Group that need to be resolved as soon as possible,” Myra answered wearily, although she lacked the courage to look at Heather. Myra feared that if she did, she would be met with a sharp look of disapproval.
“Isn’t there anyone else who could do the work for you around here?” Heather snapped incredulously.
Myra grew flustered at the sight of her friend’s darkened face. Tony told me the same thing yesterday and now I’m getting lectured by Heather. She didn’t even know what she had done wrong. As a result, she gazed at Heather with a resentful pout. It was bad enough that she was swamped with work, but to be berated by both her husband and her close friend made her feel worse.
Myra replied helplessly, “There are things that I need to do on my own.” Indeed, she would much rather peruse all the paperwork than to let others take up the task. After all, there was sensitive information contained in those.
Upon hearing that, Heather marched up to the desk and swept her gaze over the documents. Then, she said stonily, “I’ll take care of the rest.” She had always been the more efficient out of the two when it came to sorting through the deskwork.
Appreciative as she was, Myra was adamant that she needed to personally go through those files. With that in mind, she eyed Heather hesitantly before she slowly answered, “These are the company’s backlog work. I don’t know if…”
Heather was oddly insistent despite the reluctance in the other girl’s tone. “I could always ask you for help if I run into problems with the documents, seeing as you’ll be here.”
There was no way of changing Heather’s mind, so Myra vacated her seat and stepped away from the desk as Heather responded, “Go over to the couch and give yourself a break.” It was as if she had taken charge of the entire office.
Before long, Heather had her head buried in the paperwork. With a document in hand, she broke the silence in the room by saying, “I’ll be officially training under Langston Group from tomorrow onward, so I won’t be able to help you out with much for the foreseeable future. Let me do what I can to assist you today.” That was the way she had always treated Myra—with infallible altruism and kindness.
Although if she had to be honest, there had been days when she approached Myra with ulterior motives. However, she had made up for it with genuine friendship and affection toward the girl.
Taken aback by what Heather had told her, Myra asked, “What about your plans to start your own business? Why are you training at Langston Group all of a sudden?” Knowing Heather, she could not have voluntarily done so.
“This is all Blake’s doing. You know how he’s trying to set me up all the time and he asked me to train at the company in front of the whole family. It wasn’t as if I could reject this while Grandpa was in the room, so I had to say yes.” There was resentment in Heather’s tone and Myra could tell she was extremely unhappy about being forced into something she didn’t want to do.
Myra was well aware about Blake’s hostility toward Heather, but after hearing what he had done this time, she had to admit that he was an expert saboteur. Then, a sudden thought seized Myra. “I heard that your junior will be flying over soon to help you with your entrepreneurial plans. Won’t the training affect this in any way?” she asked worriedly. What if Heather can’t cope with all of this?
“Don’t worry, I can manage. Besides, I won’t be staying at Langston Group for long. Blake’s leaving me in charge of some major project and once I’m done with that, I’ll leave the company.” He had sent her all the relevant information on the project and at the thought of the same, Heather grew frustrated and quirked her lips in dismay.
Blake had mentioned that it was a straightforward project during dinner the other day, but after glancing through the paperwork, she realized that it was extremely complex by nature. It looked like he was trying to buy himself more time by making her struggle.
She was pulled from her thoughts when Myra pointed out mockingly, “Blake is really going all the way to make you suffer, isn’t he?”
Heather gave a rueful smile. “He’s twisted in his thinking. The way he treats me and Grandpa is borderline psychotic. He hates me, but he wants to defeat me at the same time. He also shares a weird love-hate relationship with Grandpa. I’m worried that he might do something bad to Grandpa one day.” Blake’s hostility toward her had worsened over the past few years, but thankfully, he had only acted out to spite Robert and he had not crossed any lines thus far.
“I don’t think he would. Didn’t you say that he respects Old Master Langston the most? He might be twisted, but I don’t think he would go so far as to hurt somebody he respects.” To a certain extent, Myra was an advocate for the existence of conscience in others like the kind soul that she was.
Heather smiled and said nothing. Indeed, she had been the one who firmly believed that Blake would not dare to hurt Robert. However, now that he held so much power in his hands and coupled with the worsening of his already unstable temperament, who was to say he would not go berserk and do something crazy?
“Don’t dwell on it and leave things be. You can’t avoid what has already been predestined, you know, but there are always ways to deal with it when it comes,” Myra comforted. After being friends for so long, it was natural for them to worry for each other and this time was no different.
“I know. Maybe Blake isn’t as menacing as I thought.” Heather wondered what it might be like for her to trust in someone—to keep the faith in spite of the disappointment.
Both women spent the rest of the day talking between intervals. Being the multitasker that she was, Heather was not distracted from the work at hand even as she conversed with Myra.
Intermittently, she would ask Myra for clarification, seeing as she was still largely unfamiliar with the various aspects of Stark Group. Nonetheless, given her natural ability to comprehend and absorb new information, her work was not hindered in the process.
Heather was able to make accurate judgments after listening to Myra’s description. Her decisiveness made her more efficient than Myra when it came to managing certain things at work.
“For a person who has just taken over Stark Group, you’re far too soft to command any real respect from your subordinates. There are probably those who don’t recognize you as the head of the company at all,” Heather chided, though not in an unkind way.
As far as she was concerned, Myra was not cut out for the battlefield that was the commercial world. She was far too tolerant with others and gave many second chances to those who did not deserve them. Judging from how morally bankrupt society was these days, it would not benefit her to be generous with others.
Conversely, there were more shameless and greedy folks who would take people like Myra for granted. Heather sometimes wished that Myra could be a little more ruthless, but when she finally saw exactly how brutal the latter could be, she began to wish differently.
