Love And Fate

★Thirty★

Everything was getting better, everything seemed to be in place. Serene had never felt at peace for so long.
Everything was going to become better, she knew there was nothing that could go wrong with what they had planned.
After she had talked enough sense into King, the night she saw him and Emily making out, King had changed.
He had changed in a more positive way and had finally decided to put himself first.
He had decided he didn't care anymore if his father was never contempt with anything he did. All his life, the boy had been docile, easily manipulated. He did everything his father asked him to do, he set the interest of others first, he always tried to please his father, but had nothing in return.
He claimed he was fed up of putting others first before his interest, especially his father.
He and Serene together had planned to fight his father and the Old Lady.
They had enough grounds and was sure it'd go well.
When Serene had told Ivan about the plan they had come up with, he had asked how he could help.

"Just stay home and recover quickly. I'll do the fighting, you just need to get better for us"
Serene had said to him, the joy that filled his eyes made Serene cry, she had never seen someone so happy, and he was so happy because of her.
It had made her feel more special and made her want to win the fight.

They were seated in the spacious living room, Emily sat between her parents, her head resting on her mother's shoulder. Oforiwaa took her daughter's hand in hers and rubbed it gently, her husband hand his hands clasped together and his gaze never left the barrister. Cassandra and Flora were in school.

The barrister shifted the glass on his face, making it drop lower on the bridge of his face. The barrister was a short plump man with hair greying. He had been the family's lawyer for as long as the family could remember, therefore, he was very much trusted and respected in the family.
Even the Old Lady showed him so much respect. He pulled a set of papers from his brief case, arranging them on the glass table in front of him.

He then looked up at everyone present in the room, King sat beside Serene, though his eyes never left Emily.
Lately, she had become more quiet, she looked sad always and barely spoke, and even Serene was worried about her.

The barrister cleared his throat and took a paper in his hand, preparing to read it to the hearing of the family.
He looked up again and sighed, he dropped the paper on the desk and spoke.

"There's no need to read directly from the paper, I'll share a copy for all of you to see what the Will says yourselves"
He paused looking at everyone, when no one spoke, he continued his speech.

"The Will states clearly that marriage was an option in the merging of the companies. Everything is in Miss Serene Addoo's hands, she could marry King if she wanted, or she could just approve to the merging of the two companies without necessarily marrying King. The Will also states that Serene is the sole owner of the Companies in the name her father, even after the partnership, she still had the upper hand.."

It looked like the barrister wanted to say more to what he had said, but he stopped himself, he took the set of papers from the table as he stood up and begun handling over the papers to everyone seated in the hall.

"So why did Grandmother said Serene would loose everything if she didn't marry King?"
Emily asked, everyone was taken aback, she had never sounded rude whenever she spoke about the Old Lady. She sat straighter, ignoring all the stares and focusing on the barrister.

"She did it for her own selfish reasons" Serene answered her, she glared at the Old Lady. The woman looked angry, her eyes stormed with rage, though her lips formed a thin line, she glared back at Serene.

"I did it to protect the family's legacy. You have no knowledge on how to manage a company." The Old Lady defended herself.

"It's enough Maa, it's enough. You've done enough, we know how you care so much for what her father, my brother had left behind, but you can't continue to control and dictate her life. She's old enough to handle things" Mr. Kay Addoo spoke up, he looked at his mother with a hard look.

"Fine! I'll not meddle in her life. You can do whatever you want, destroy the company my husband worked hard to build all you want!"
The Old Lady stood up angrily, she glared at Serene and then at her son before leaving the hall. Serene released a sigh of relief after the Old Lady had left.
She turned her focus towards the barrister.

"I know I'm supposed to take over the company when I'm twenty five, is that when the partnership begins?"

The barrister sighed at her question, he opened his brief case, searching through it and bringing out yet another set of papers.
He handed them over to Serene, the girl took it from him,a confused look replacing her once happy face.

"Everything you need to know is in there. If you need more clarification, you can always stop by office. For now, I'll have to take my leave"
With that said, he begun arranging back the papers into his briefcase. He left shortly after, leaving the rest with a loud silence.

Serene cleared her throat, turning to face King, a triumphant smile played on her lips.
King smiled back at her, a genuine smile that showed how happy he was.

Serene stood up and went to shake hands with him, she clutched the paper tightly like her life depended on it.

"You can come back for the bride price now, and here's the ring"
Serene pulled the ring off her finger dropped it in his hand and raced out of the hall.

"Where are you rushing to!?" King asked her as she left.

"I'm going to tell Ivan the good news!"