Chapter 4: On-Going Bet

His phone rang and he picked it up as soon as he saw who was calling him.

He hummed to make the person on the other side of the line know that he would be listening so the person should start talking.

"Yow! Hello Mr. CEO!" The caller started teasing him. However, Xavier had no time to play along and so he dismissed him indifferently and asked, "Stop it. Why did you call?"

"I just miss you, bro. What's wrong with that?" The caller asked him.

"Let me guess, you're watching your brother making a scene at the company after you defeated him in the poker game last night, right?"

"How did you know?" Xavier asked with a crease visible on his forehead.

"I have my ways, cousin. I'm sure that he's fuming outside. Unfortunately, I wasn't there to see it myself since I witnessed how you defeated him last night. It was quite a spectacle. He was clueless that he was playing against his brother!"

Last night was the second time that he met him. The first time was four years ago and he still looked weak and pitiful. That's why it was easy to trample on him.

Xavier adjusted himself on the chair and said, "It's not my fault that he wasn't paying attention to who his opponent was. And besides, you tricked me."

"I did apologize for tricking you into playing. And hey! I gave all my winning money to you including your father's company. Isn't it enough?"

His cousin was the player last night but he said that he felt unwell during the last game and asked Xavier to be his proxy. The rest was history.

And Xavier earned a fortune last night thanks to him. But compared to his asset, the prize other than the company was a penny for him.

"Why do you call, Dylan?" Xavier's expression turned serious when he asked.

He had sternly told him to never call his phone during working hours especially when he was inside the company unless it was necessary.

Of course, he practiced what he preached.

Hearing his cousin dropping his name, he knew that he should be serious and stop wasting his precious time.

"Well, Grandpa knew that we met last night and so he asked me to call you. He was hoping that I could convince you to come home this weekend."

"Tell him that I'll decline his request," Xavier said with a sigh as he knew what would happen should he come back.

"Brother, are you still blaming him for what happened?" The man asked and Xavier did not want to answer this so he remained silent.

Xavier looked at the time and it was already five minutes, he should have ended the call now and proceeded with his job.

"Wait!" His cousin said on the other line.

"What now?"

"I was wondering if you already found me a sister-in-law."

"What nonsense are you talking about?"

"Oh come on! I know that you and grandpa have an ongoing bet. You have to bring a wife at the end of the year or else you'll have to marry one of the Fisher daughters."

As the topic of marriage was brought up to him, Xavier could feel his head spinning. He pinched the space between his brows to calm himself.

"So?"

"What so?" He spat which caused Dylan to giggle on the other line.

"Come on bro. If you have a hard time, I can help you."

"No thanks." Dylan was the mastermind behind why the public thought that he had a messy love life. Well, it kind of helped him in a way. But he did not want to take chances.

"Oh come on! Don't tell me you're still holding on to her. Dude! Come on! She already has a boyfriend! She seemed happy without you. So, can you forget about her and move on? Your life would be so much better." Dylan revealed something that only the two of them knew.

"You talk so much. If you're bored, I'll ask Uncle to find you a wife." He warned and Dylan screamed in horror on the other line.

"Xavier! Relax bro! I didn't mean it okay? Geez! I'll stop!" Xavier knew Dylan's weaknesses the same as Dylan knew some of his.

Dylan didn't like the topic of marriage. He still loved his freedom and was not ready for any commitments.

"Don't worry. I know you'll defeat grandpa without my help. I put my bet on you." After all, Xavier had never lost in any kind of game other than the love game.

Xavier ended the call after Dylan said that. He was not being rude. He didn't have anything to add.

He was born into a messy family and had to live an abnormal life given their set-up. Cold, messy, dark, and brutal were the best adjectives that perfectly described his life.

Therefore, he had no intention of dragging an innocent life into this mess. He was simply hesitant to hold someone else with his blood-stained hands.

As for the woman that Dylan mentioned earlier, he wanted to bury her together with his past but he couldn't.

What if he finally found the woman for him? Would he still think the same way? Would he be able to get over the woman he liked?

He got up from his seat and walked towards the floor-to-ceiling glass wall and looked down at the vehicles driving on the busy highway.

Never in his life did he imagine that he would step foot in his father's company or reach this level. His story was not the cliche rugs-to-riches plot. He was born with a golden spoon.

Despite that fact, he had to struggle and had to depend on himself at some point to survive. He was determined to prove that he was no longer the weakling who could only cry when he lost his mother.

He placed his thumb and index finger against the wall to size up the car below.

No wonder rich people strived to be more powerful than they were yesterday. Seeing them like insects on his feet when viewed from above made him feel good and he liked it.

And he had no intention of slowing down.

Meanwhile, after being kicked out of the company, Nikolai went back to the casino to gamble.

He was determined to retrieve what he lost last night including the company.

He didn't expect them to take action quickly. He thought that he could negotiate with them. Who told him to use his company shares as part of the bet?

He could not believe that he lost the company overnight.

While he was on the way, he tried calling his lawyers to think of possible lawsuits they could file against Xavier. He believed that he was being deceived. He was drunk when they signed the contract and he wanted to use this loophole to invalidate it.

Much to his disappointment, his lawyer was out of reach.

As he arrived at the casino he received a notification from the bank that his loan application was approved.

And so, he had more funds to use now. He was confident that he could make some profits today.

If he came short of cash, he still had their family trust fund and his mother. He was confident that his mother would lend him money.

No mother would ignore their son that long.

As he went inside, he called his remaining secret ally in the company and asked him to take action.

Meanwhile, Zarah looked at the piles of documents on her table.

Rather than giving her those petty tasks, Elliott means business. With the sudden change of management, they had to make sure that the transition would run smoothly for the next week.

Zarah thought that those were all the documents she had to review. Much to her surprise, three boxes were lining up and waiting for her.

"A lot is still waiting downstairs. We're going to be busy starting today and for the next four weeks. I advise that you'll keep yourself healthy as our work requires a lot of our stamina."

"Thank you for reminding me, E. Don't worry, I came prepared." She said which stunned Elliott.

"What did you just call me?" He asked her.

"Oh! I'm sorry. I'm so used to calling people by a nickname rather than calling them by their real names. Just like Olivia and Trixie. I call them Liv and Trix."

Zarah felt like apologizing because she thought Elliott disliked the nickname.

"I'm sorry, Elliott."

"No! That's fine. I'm just a little surprised. That's all."

In his thirty-one years of existence, no one had given him a nickname like that. He had no complaints about it though. He liked it.

"Okay."

Zarah and Elliott went back to business and focused on the piled-up documents on their tables.

Most of the documents were project proposals waiting for the CEO's approval. They had to review them for any errors, made some comments return them to the respective department where they came from.

Others were business proposals from prospective clients while the remaining documents were reports coming from the subsidiaries under Stevens Group.

Lunch break came. Unlike her fellow interns who utilized the whole hour for lunch to talk to their new friends, Zarah ate her lunch inside the office in five minutes.

To make sure that the room won't smell of food she sprayed an air freshener to defuse the odor.

She used the remaining minutes for her thesis.

Her hands were prancing on top of the keyboard at an astronomical speed. Anyone who would witness this would surely drop their jaws in amazement.

At five in the afternoon, she was ready to pack up and call it for a day. She thought that Elliott would also be going home.

However, he was still busy reading the papers piled on her desk.

"Oh, are you done?" Elliott asked which caught both Rupert's and Chris' attention.

"Yes. Can I go home? I have to drop by the hospital after work."

They saw that there was no more pending paperwork on top of her desk and it came as a surprise. They were impressed at how fast she finished her work. Alas! She was even better than them.

"No. A memo was released today that everyone should render two-hour overtime hours starting today." Rupert said and showed his screen to everyone.

"What?!"

"I'm sorry to disappoint you Zarah but that's how CEO Lockhart runs a company. We're already used to his style." Rupert added. Xavier was very particular, passionate, and well-driven when it came to business and so his employees should be the same.

Then was he going to bring his practice here at Stevens Group then?

Obviously, the answer was a big fat YES!

"If you have an important thing to do, you may file a leave from your immediate supervisor," Rupert said while pointing at Elliott.

Zarah still had to go to the hospital for her daily visit. However, she knew that should she leave now, everyone might say it was unfair.

Therefore, she decided to stay.

"No. I will do it." She said with a small smile.

"Then okay! How about we have dinner together?" Rupert and Chris invited the two of them.

"I don't think that would be ideal?" Zarah said as she was unsure whether to agree or not.

"Why not?" Elliott asked her this time.

"I'd rather go alone." Afraid that they might misunderstand her, Zarah continued to explain, "I'm comfortable eating alone as it's less time-consuming than with other people."

"Okay. However, you should join us next time." Rupert and Chris took it as she was shy to join them since she had not warmed up to them yet. So they didn't pursue the matter yet.

"Elliott, you coming with us man?"

"Yeah. Sure." Elliott said and looked at Zarah, "Are you sure Zarah?"

"I'm fine, E. You may go with them. I'll lock the office before I head out."

"Okay." Elliott didn't stay long and left with Chris and Rupert.

***