FOR BETTER, FOR WORSE II
Thirty minutes has passed, time seemed to move fast after Carl called Avia, she was wondering what they wanted to talk about, the last she remembered was that he and Rita broke up. She took Carl off her mind so she can focus on her business meeting.
"What is your conclusion Mr Cruz?"Avia asked immediately they entered the conference room
"How many percentage can you give me? You can't rip me off my position knowing that is my only source of income"Mr Cruz replied sounding more professional
"That's the spirit Mr Cruz, 0.0001% every month on the total income the company make"Avia said leaving Mr Cruz surprised
"What if the company's income is just a penny?"Mr Cruz asked angrily
"Not under my reign"Avia replied confidently
"Is the percentage not too small for someone you are ripping off his position?"Mr Cruz's secretary asked looking down
"I don't discriminate, you are allowed to talk"Avia said coldly
"Mr Cruz has no other income except the company, he will literally go broke if you do this to him"The secretary said still not looking at Avia
"What are you worried about exactly? Your boss or his child with you?"Avia asked with seriousness sending shivers down to the secretary and Mr Cruz vein. Mimi looked at her before looking at her father, she stands up and leave angrily.
"Why did you have to say that in front of my daughter?"Mr Cruz asked angrily
"Supposed daughter, she doesn't know yet but I can tell her if you want and the percentage I proposed is because she begged for you, she cares about you so much"Avia replied coldly
"Where did you hear that nonsense?"Mr Cruz stammered nervously
"Deal or no deal Mr Manuel?"Avia asked not listening to his nonsense
"Deal!"Mr Cruz said signing the contract Avia passed to him, he signed it without reading the remaining conditions, he has been hell-bent on the money he gets. Avia signed the contract and gave him a copy of the contract, he leaves with his secretary angrily. Avia looks at them and smile at her victory, she sure do knows how to make people dance to her tune. She walks back to her office where Mimi is waiting for her angrily and tensed
"Hi best friend"She greeted
"Avia that caught me off guard"Mimi said trying to control her anger
"That's the plan, if I told you about it, you won't walk away from the conference room and your father won't sign the contract, he will use you as a weapon to get to me"Avia replied not looking at Mimi
"I know Mrs Cruz has not been all nice to me but he can't just betray her like that, she loves and respect him so much, he's her everything, gosh she doesn't even have a child of her own"Mimi said still trying to control her anger
"Their business, I've gotten what I wanted"Avia replied giving Mimi the contract, she collected it and read through it.
"Mr Cruz won't accept to this, how did you get him to sign this?"Mimi asked with surprise
"His weakness, all he cares about is money so he did not bother to check what he was signing as long as he gets the money"Avia replied not entirely saying the truth and not lying either
"That man just lost everything he worked for and all he cares about getting a percentage from the company's percentage"Mimi said still looking at the contract
"Greed is the beginning of a man's doom"Avia replied after sipping the juice on her table
"Who is going to be the new CEO of the company?"Mimi asked realizing she has been missing this part alot
"I'm still thinking, if Ms Hart was here, I would have asked her to handle it till I'm ready to take over"Avia replied not looking at Mimi
"I trust your judgement, I know you won't put anyone who is not capable"Mimi said sadly
"Talking about capable, I know the right person for this job"Avia replied and she call her secretary to send someone in.
There was silence between the two of them till a knock came from the door, Avia opened it with a remote control and a beautiful fair skinned lady in her late twenties, dressed in a black trouser and white shirt walks in majestically, she greets Mimi who was sitting on the couch before proceeding to greet Avia.
"Hilary, meet my best friend Mimi Cruz"Avia said introducing Mimi
"Nice to meet you Miss Cruz"Hilary greeted with a smile and Mimi nod
"There's this company I want you to work as a temporary CEO till I am ready to take over"Avia said looking at Mimi's reaction, she doesn't look happy neither does she look sad
"La' Cruz company, you will be working there for a month, I need you to do your best and prove to me that I chose the right choice"Avia added coldly
"Yes ma'am, when am I to start?"Hilary asked
"There's a board meeting tomorrow announcing the impeachment of the old CEO, I will like you to be there, bring the boss lady aura when you are coming"Avia replied taking a second look at Mimi
"Okay ma'am, is there any information I need to know beforehand?"Hilary asked
"Yes, everything will be forwarded to your email, study them and don't miss out. That's all for now, I will tell you the bad eggs you will eliminate from the company later"Avia replied ignoring Mimi's uneasiness
"Understood ma'am"Hilary said and Avia signal to her to leave which she did immediately not taking another look at Mimi or Avia.
"What's the problem?"Avia asked
"Why is one of your employee taking over the company?"Mimi asked controlling her emotions
"Because she's the best person for the job, there are no legal papers that consider her the rightful CEO to the company, she's a temporary and will only be there for a month"Avia explained and Mimi heave a sigh of relief
"Thank you for all you are doing to help me, I'm really grateful"Mimi said hugging Avia
"You are welcome"Avia replied with a smile
Avia continue her work for the day while Mimi watch her do it.
****
Mr Cruz called a meeting with the boards after leaving Avia's office, he arrived at the company few minutes later and the boards were there waiting for him. He asked his secretary who he is annoyed with to make copies of the contract and give it to the board members before he comes to the meeting room. Few minutes later, he entered the conference room and he could feel the anger of some of the board members.
"I've done what you asked, why are you all looking at me with anger?"He asked angrily
"Why shouldn't we look at you?"One of the board members lashed out
"You just sold my shares without my consent"Another board member shouted angrily
"Sold your shares? I've been at the Simpson company so how did I sell your shares?"He asked angrily and confusedly
"Stop acting innocent you old fool"Another board member shouted angrily
"Let's all calm down and discuss this issue"One of the board members said hoping they'll calm down
"Your shares wasn't sold, why are you interfering?"One of the angry board members lashed out. Mr Cruz stood there looking at them with confusion before his secretary asked him to check the contract with him. He read the other conditions, he hold his chest and fainted.
****
Mr Cruz woke up at the hospital, his wife and Mimi were with him.
"It has finally happened, I'm doomed"Mr Cruz said to his wife and Mimi walks closer to him
"Mr Cruz, how are you doing?"Mimi asked with concern
"How am I? I'm obviously not fine"Mr Cruz replied angrily
"Calm your nerves, explain what happened and how it happened"Mrs Cruz said controlling her anger
"That Avia tricked me to sign that contract"Mr Cruz said angrily
"Tricked you? How? You are a professional, why didn't you read the contract?"Mrs Cruz asked confusedly
"She tricked me"that's all Mr Cruz could say
"You keep shouting she tricked you, how?"Mrs Cruz replied with anger
"She did not trick you Mr Cruz"Mimi said emotionlessly
"What do you mean she did not trick me? You were there but did nothing"Mr Cruz shouted angrily
"I was not even there when you signed the contract"Mimi said sarcastically
"What do you mean you were not there?"Mrs Cruz asked looking from Mimi to her husband
"Mum, Mr Cruz is having an affair"Mimi said bursting into tears
"What do you mean?"Mrs Cruz asked confusedly looking from her husband back to Mimi repeatedly
"He's having an affair with Miss Jude"Mimi replied with tears
"Which Miss Jude? Impossible!"Mrs Cruz asked still looking confused
"I'm sorry Ruby"Mr Cruz replied sadly
"Sorry? Mimi explain to me"Mrs Cruz (Ruby) said as tears drop from her eyes
"They have a child together"Mimi replied wiping her tears
"No! That can't be, this must be a prank"Ruby shouted with tears still not believing what she just heard
"I'm sorry Ruby"Mr Cruz said trying to touch his wife
"Don't touch me you bastard"Ruby shouted spanking his hand away from her body
"Don't dare touch her, after all the love and respect she gave to you"Mimi said angrily pulling Ruby closer to herself
"She's my wife, you have no right to interfere in our matter"Mr Cruz said angrily
"You are the one who have no right to call her your wife or get angry. Now you've lost everything you've ever worked for, the company, the house, your shares, cars and everything you earned. You know why you were so blind and did not see all this conditions? You were hell-bent on getting 70% out of the company's earnings"Mimi said trying as much as possible to control herself
"Do you mean he did not read the contract?"Ruby asked looking at Mr Cruz
"I was not there when he signed it but we had to take thirty minutes break because of his offer, Avia was not ready to give him any money out of the earnings but I begged her to atleast 5% but she bargained to 0.0001% I did not know what her other intentions are but I was hurt when I heard about his relationship with his secretary so I left the conference room, it was unprofessional for Avia to bring it up but she was pissed his secretary was all about the percentage he gets from the company's earnings, I'm not justifying Avia's way of breaking the news or handling the situation at hand but he caused it, if only he was not hell-bent on the money he gets from the company"Mimi explained sadly. She's not pitying Ruby, she's just being human.
"After everything I've done for you Matthew, I sacrificed a lot for you, I gave up all I had so I can live a happy life with you, I accepted your family norms and culture even if I wasn't happy with it, I did literally everything you asked me to, I never for once said no to you, my answer was always yes, definitely, sure but how was I paid back? You just didn't have affair with your secretary, you dare have a child with her, after aborting many times just for you to have a better life. You are wicked!"Ruby said angrily and with tears. Mimi and Matthew looks at her, this is the first time she's speaking with so much range and hatred.
"I'm really sorry, if there's anything I can do to make it up to you then I will"Matthew said sadly
"Nothing Matthew, I won't ask for divorce because I remember my vow pretty well, for better, for worse. We will stay married till death do us apart but nothing like love between us not that there was one before, I will answer when I'm called Mrs but you are dead to me"Ruby said angrily and leave the room without looking back
"And I don't have a father anymore, you are dead"Mimi said and leave the room running after Ruby who was running. Matthew was left alone in the room with his thoughts.
MATTHEW'S POV
End time is near! My one and only support just announced me dead, gosh! That little girl destroyed my life within seconds, I won't sit back and watch her destroy everything I left my simple life for, I will pay her back in her own coins. Watch and see Avia Simpson
****
Mimi finally catch up with Ruby, she runs faster than her age.
"Catch some breath Mum"Mimi said immediately Ruby stops by the wall
"I want to be alone"Ruby shouted not facing Mimi
"I will leave once I'm sure you are fine"Mimi replied breathing heavily
"Why are you caring about me? I never treated you right for once"Ruby said still not looking at Mimi
"It doesn't matter Mum, Mr Cruz might have pushed you to do everything you don't want to do and it's understandable, love can be crazy sometimes. And if you didn't treat me right it doesn't dispute the fact that you gave birth to me"Mimi replied walking closer to Ruby who was crying
"What good have I done in my past life to deserve you? After everything you still consider me your mother"Ruby cried finally turning to look at Mimi who was also crying
"Everything will be fine Mum, it's a storm that will pass, I will try to talk to Avia, she's my best friend, she will accept as long as it is me"Mimi said comforting her
"Thank you Mimi as much as I want your help, I will love it more if Matthew figures this out by himself, he caused it so he should solve it"Ruby replied refusing Mimi's help
"Mum it seems you don't know the gravity of what has happened, you have nowhere to stay, the house is gone with the company, in less than twenty-four hours you will be homeless"Mimi said trying to let her know the gravity of what has happened
"We will figure it out, you don't stay in our house anymore so it shouldn't be a problem"Ruby replied coldly
"Mum please let me help"Mimi said sadly, she knows Ruby is about to blame her for their misfortune.
"Mimi, my family is fine and we will figure it out"Ruby replied trying to stay as calm as possible
"Fine, don't forget I'm your family too, I will love to stay with my family, I feel so stupid now going back to Avia after everything Mr Cruz has done"Mimi said trying to convince Ruby
"Let me be for a moment"Ruby said and Mimi leave without saying a word.
RUBY'S POV
Do I deserve to be called a mother? I never gave this girl motherly love still she treats me like one, that's not even the issue right now, I rejected her help, how am I going to save my family from this mess?Matthew will definitely be the end of me, he just didn't have affair with the skinny lady, they have a child together. I will have to take responsibility for the two of them now that Matthew has lost his job, where do I start from?
****
The day seems to pass by so fast, Mimi went back to the Simpson mansion, Avia was yet to be back from the office. Mimi ran out of Avia's office earlier after receiving a call from Miss Jude about her father's heart attack.
"Hello Miss Cruz, this is your father's secretary"She said controlling her tears
"Oh you bitch, why are you calling?"Mimi asked rudely and angrily
"Your father just fainted"She said bursting into tears
"What do you mean just fainted? Where are you?"Mimi asked panicking, he might have done the unthinkable to her but she does not want him to die just yet.
"The central hospital"She replied controlling her tears
"I will be there, call my mother"Mimi replied before ending the call
"What happened?"Avia asked looking at the worried Mimi
"He just fainted"Mimi replied with tears
"Control yourself, he won't die yet"Avia said as if reading Mimi's mind
"I will be back"Mimi said and leave without waiting for Avia's response.
Mimi walk into the Simpson's mansion subconsciously, she did not notice Madeline and Rhea's presence
"Hi Mimi"Rhea hugged her back to her senses
"What?"Mimi was startled
"Hey chill, I was just being friendly"Rhea said trying not to feel irritated
"Sorry, you startled me"Mimi replied apologetically
"It's fine, how was the day at work?"Rhea asked smiling ear to ear
"Great"Mimi replied trying to add the fact that she's sad and irritated
"Where's Avia?"Rhea asked checking if Avia was coming behind
"Is she not home yet?"Mimi asked surprisingly, Avia should be back now.
"We should be asking you Mimi, did you two have a fight?"Madeline asked sarcastically
"No, she went for a meeting so I was thinking she should be back already"Mimi lied
"Oh she's not back yet"Madeline said not noticing the lie in Mimi's word
"If you will excuse me, I will love to have some rest"Mimi said and left after Madeline and Rhea nod
"Something seems to be wrong"Rhea said when she saw that Mimi was out of sight
"She's probably tired, that Simpson building could be tiring"Madeline replied relatively
"When are you going back to work?"Rhea asked
"I should go back tomorrow, I'm just pissed at Avia at the moment"Madeline replied
"Go back, something juicy is happening in that company"Rhea said with a smirk
"Okay, will you be fine at home all alone?"Madeline asked worriedly
"Yeah Sissy, I might pay you a visit who knows"Rhea replied sarcastically and Madeline laughed.
****
Avia walk majestically inside the hospital room where Mr Cruz and his wife were, it was as if they were doing breathing competition, none of them was talking.
"Hello Mr and Mrs Manuel"Avia greeted sarcastically making Ruby scared to her bones and leaving Matthew surprised
"Are you shocked to see me here?"Avia asked after reading their reaction
"You little devil"Matthew shouted angrily
"Hey Mr Manuel, you are on a sick bed"Avia mocked
"Why are you here?"Ruby finally summon courage to talk
"Hi Mrs Manuel, I came here to check on the former CEO and owner of La' Cruz"Avia mocked
"Was this your plan all along?"Ruby asked angrily
"Take a chill pill Mrs Manuel"Avia said coldly
"There's no point talking to you"Ruby said hiding her fear
"Accept Mimi's help or I expose you"Avia said with seriousness
"What help?"Matthew asked cluelessly
"Ask your sweetheart"Avia replied with sarcasm
"I will pay the percentage of this month earning without earning first and that's all you will get from me"Avia said professionally
"I'm only giving you because of Mimi, don't get it twisted"Avia added before any of them could talk
"How do you know how much the company is going to earn this month?"Matthew asked with anger
"Still the same unprofessional Matthew, haven't you learn some lesson? Anyways it is pointless"Avia replied with humor in her voice
"Why should we accept Mimi's help?"Ruby asked hiding her millions of emotions
"Because I said so"Avia replied coldly
"Why should I do as you say?"Ruby asked angrily
"Goodnight Mr and Mrs Manuel, my regards to young Mrs Manuel"Avia said ignoring Ruby's words and left the hospital room.
"That piece of shit"Ruby cursed angrily.
****
The night seems to become fast after Avia's arrival at the mansion, she consoled Mimi who cried a little because Ruby rejected her offer.
"You are a good person"Avia said consoling Mimi
"I really just want to help"Mimi said with tears
"You know you are not obligated to help them"Avia said trying to stay calm
"I am, what if they killed me after finding out I have fortune?"Mimi replied sadly
"Okay fine, you are obligated to help them"Avia said seeing no reason to argue with her.
The night went by fast and the sun shine in the sky, Avia had woken up earlier to work, she was done dressing for the office when Mimi woke up.
"Good morning Miss Mimi Cruz"Avia greeted as she saw Mimi's eye open
"Good morning Avia"Mimi greeted back with a smile
"Green tea for a princess"Avia said giving Mimi the tea that was brought earlier
"Thank you"Mimi replied taking the tea from Avia
"Are you off to work?"Mimi asked after seeing how beautiful Avia dressed
"Yes, I won't be back late, I have a meeting this morning"Avia replied eating the snacks on the mini dinning table
"You look so beautiful, it looks like you are going on a date"Mimi teased and Avia smile
"I will be back by noon, get ready for a lunch date"Avia said as she was leaving the room
"Okay, stay safe"Mimi replied with a smile
****
An hour later, Avia is at the office waiting for the person she's meeting with, soon a call came in from the office line.
"Let him in"Avia said after listening to what her secretary said. She breath in and out making sure she's ready to face him, the door open with a card swipe, her heart beat faster than she expected.
"They are here Ma'am"Her secretary announced
"They? Who else is with him? Emmett?"Avia who already walked to the big window turning her back to the door thought. She finally turn to face whoever it is, she's not the type to be scared.
"Good morning Mr Gordon"Avia greeted as she turn around to see him, she was surprised to see Rita, all her hope which she didn't know she has was shattered within seconds, her face became cold immediately and she became professional.
"Let us be alone"Avia said coldly to her secretary who left immediately.
"I have other things to do so don't waste my time"Avia said sitting on her swivel chair, she did not bother to ask them to take a sit.
"Good morning Miss Simpson"Carl greeted and he sits on the swivel chair opposite Avia and he sign to Rita to seat beside him
"First of all, the professionalism isn't needed, we need to talk about the past"Carl said hoping Avia will accept
"For an unprofessional meeting, you have thirty minutes to spend"Avia replied knowing the professionalism can't work
"I won't use up to that"Carl said feeling relieved she answered.
"Good morning Avia"Rita finally greeted and Avia ignored her.
"Avia, I'm really sorry for hurting your feelings in the past, I can swear on my life that I did not know you had a thing for me, you were not clear about it so I was unable to figure it out, you even stayed away from me, at the long run, I fell in love with Rita, I didn't mean to hurt you"Carl explained sadly
"Avia, I was really hurt when I found out about the intimacy between you and Carl, I can't believe I dated the man my best friend loved or share intimate moments with. He did not tell me anything about you two and I accepted without asking you"Rita added trying to stay calm
"Your life doesn't revolve around me Rita, you don't have to tell me about your boyfriend before dating him, I am not angry at you because of Carl and I did not stop out friendship because of Katy, I only wanted you to know your life doesn't revolve around me."Avia replied calmly, she doesn't want to sound cold.
"I don't know if I should believe you didn't know my feelings for you because who would have intimate moments with someone they don't love? Probably you Carl! It's all in the past now and I'm not the type to dwell on the past. So what's the real reason you two are here?"Avia added coldly this time
"Katy is pregnant with my child"Carl break the news that made Avia gasp
"I never knew you were a full day jerk"Avia said after comporting herself
"She hypnotized me, everything happened so fast and I still can't fathom how or when it happened"Carl replied defending himself
"Katy seems to have a game she wants to play, she separated us on purpose, break I and Carl up, dated him and became pregnant for him"Rita added before Avia says something
"Katy did nothing wrong, she did not break whatever friendship we had, if our friendship was real then no one should be able to break it"Avia said catching Rita off guard
"Why are you two here?"Avia asked again knowing they are still beating around the bush
"He asked us to start our relationship all over again...."Rita said not looking at Avia
"....and she said she won't say yes until you accept our relationship wholeheartedly"Carl cuts Rita off
"I really don't want to laugh"Avia said laughing mockingly
"Out of my office"Avia shouted angrily, Carl and Rita stands up with fear
"Avia please calm down"Rita said trying to calm Avia
"You two have the audacity to come to my office to ask me about a relationship that should be long dead"Avia said angrily
"Avia..."Carl called but was cut off with Avia's slap
"I don't care about what you two do with your life, it is your life not mine! Stay away from me, I am happy without you two in my life. Go and date whoever you want to as long as the person is not related to me"Avia said angrily facing Carl who was looking surprised
"And as for you, is this the promise you made? You promised to stay the hell away from me, why are you here with your love affairs? Stay away from me and anything that concerns me. You are not my best friend or a relative, date Carl if you fucking want to, I couldn't care less. Just stay away from me and everything that concerns me."Avia said angrily now facing the teary Rita
"After this apology and slap then I don't think I owe you anything, I will date Rita and make her mine. Do whatever pleases you because this relationship is for better, for worse. We've faced the good side and the worst side so whatever you are bringing in is what we can conquer"Carl replied angrily
"Out of my office you shameless people"Avia said as calm as she could and they leave. Once Avia saw that they were out already, she looked for her antidepressant and couldn't find it, she slumped accidentally and became unconscious.