The Counselor » gxg [UNEDITED]

20.

Author's Note:

Honestly, I can't help but to smile from ear to ear while writing this chapter.

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You would also encounter another two unfamiliar names in this chapter, so I will already enlighten you on who they are:

- Hanalei Lee (portrayed by: Lee Hyunseo a.k.a. Leeseo)

- Zoe Zuleta (portrayed by: Female Reader)

*****

After 4 years...

3rd Person's POV (Narrator)

For the past four years, Maurice has been disconnected from her parents. The rest house that she originally bought as a place where she can occasionally stay to unwind became her home along with Alexa. Like what she expected, she would be undergoing the same fate as her sister. She can no longer access her bank accounts which her parents knew about. With that move from her parents, she knew that her rights for inheritance were most likely stripped off by now as well. She saw all these coming, so she secretly moved a decent amount of money in a different bank account secretly before she did what she did back in her supposed engagement party. She did not want Alexa to live such a miserable life with her.

She used some of the money for her studies, specifically to get a master's degree in Finance to enhance her analytical skills and enrich her knowledge about the market. Then, she used most of it in buying a commercial space and starting her own business upon assessing the interest of the locals in investing in stocks. What held them back was their lack of knowledge and time in observing the trends, so this drove Maurice to establish 'Alegrice' which is a stock brokerage firm. Maurice's prediction that a business having this nature would boom in this area was right. Their service was in demand among the folks. 

Despite the success of her business, Maurice did not become complacent about financial security. Aside from being the Chief Executive Officer of Alegrice, she works part-time as a professor in a state university to slowly replenish her personal savings. In the same state university, Alexa works as a full-time professor. For extra income, she still offers counseling service but now, she also offers tutoring service for students who were struggling with their psychology research outside the university where she was working. She did not want to be a burden to Maurice. However, there is another reason why she has been striving.

They both had a lot on their plates, and their time for each other was scarce in spite of having each other as colleagues and living under the same roof, especially these days.

Today is their fourth anniversary but it doesn't feel like it is. Both of them had to go to work. What made it worse for Maurice is that Alexa seemed to lose track of the date, and she did not even greet the former a 'happy anniversary' before they go on with their routines. This greatly made Maurice upset.

Maurice sat down on the couch in the living room, still dressed in her large cuff white sleeve shirt and brown dress pants. Due to what happened earlier this day, she doesn't feel like going anywhere else after she finished teaching the sections that she had to meet. Soon, she felt her phone her phone buzz. She took it out and checked the sender's name. It said: 'Baby ♡'  so she quickly swiped her phone open to read the message.

She was hoping that Alexa has realized what day it is, and that she would be greeting her at least through a text message. But then, it wasn't the case. Maurice frowned upon reading the content.