Illicit Affair (Published With Etluxocpub)

2 - Dumbfounded

*i'll try to keep this story in English as much as possible 

I could not understand why this asshole is boring a hole in my forehead. I feel so disgusted with the way Zander looks at me. What's wrong with him? As I'm observing him, I cant see a wedding band on his fingers nor a sign that he was wearing one. As my mom kept chattering away, my brother called my attention.

"Noelle, you could have told us that you were going home?" Connor told me sulkily. "We could have fetched you from the airport!"

"And foil my surprise, no way bro!" I answered him. "I arrived yesterday and went straight to my condo in Makati." Another surprise to my family and all attention was back to me again.

"What did you say?" my mom said hysterically.

"Why mom?" I smirked as I asked my mom. "I had my unit few months back as I was planning to surprise you all. And besides, me and my boyfriend have to have privacy, so we acquired our condo."

I can see Zander in my peripheral view fuming as his grip on the spoon tightened. I couldn't help but smile widely and showed my diamond ring for them to see.

"We got engaged before I flew back here, as my boyfriend is kind of possessive. He knows my past so well because I didn't keep it secret from him", I told them, and surely Zander's eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

"My baby." My mom wailed as she looked at my ring.

"Noelle, what's the meaning of this? Are you nuts?" Connor asked incredoulsy then looked at his best friend. It seems that my brother and his best friend are up for no good. They are up to something and I have to know about it.

Then suddenly Zander called our attention back and he stood up to excuse himself.

"Ma'am I have to go now as I have a meeting to attend in a while. I don't want to be late" Zander bid farewell to my mom and just tipped his head to me as he left the table tight-lipped. My brother followed him and they discussed something as they went out of the house.

As we finished lunch, my mom dragged me to my old room and started to ask me a lot of questions, but before that she told me about Zander's plan for takeover of the company.

"Zander has been a delight of a business partner and we plan to sell to him our company share so he can be appointed as CEO. Your brother has other plans and he is now on agribusiness in Pampanga." My mom told me.

"Oh really". I faked my smile as I wanted to hear more from my mom.

"Yes, Zander has been a pillar of support to us, especially when your dad left us." My mom tearfully told me. When my dad passed away due to a sudden heart attack, I wasn't able to go home because I was wrecked that time. It was at that time I was nursing my heartache with the knowledge that Zander was getting married. I cant go back to that time because I was hospitalized due to severe depression. Unknown to my family, I went home when I got out of the hospital to visit dad that one time.

I cried with my mom as we both reminisced how good a father he is to us. He was our strength and light and now he is gone, the company is suffering a lot of losses. My brother is not into business, he is more of a countryman just like my grandpa – my mom's father. I've known it for a while now that our company is suffering losses from missmanagement and misinvestments. All the while I was studying in America, I kept an eye on how our business was doing back home. I build a business paradigm that is globally competitive at the same time and has an appeal to the masses. Gone were the days when it is only the rich who went on vacation. There were the days when it was only the rich who went shopping. People in all sectors of life are enjoying luxury one way or the other. This is thanks to the influx of big offshore companies investing in the philmarket.

With this in mind, I know that I can successfully bring our company back to its own glory again even without Zander's help. I'll show that ashole that i a force to reckon with. He is in for a lot of surprises as i will start the ball rolling and he will be bedraggled at the end of it. I'll show him a good show. He taught me how to be ruthless, he taught me how to be cunning. It is thanks to him that I am what I am today.

"Mom, as much as I want to agree with you, but I just can't let an outsider take hold of our company. I can buy your company share at fair market value. With yours and my shares combined, I can have 49% share and that is enough for me to be appointed as president/CEO." I told my stunned mother. "I can pull our company from its state now and return it to its full glory like before when dad was still with us."

"But princess, Zander holds around 30% of the share and your brother is planning to sell his share to Zander." His mother told him abruptly. He was shocked at how much share Zander had accumulated. "and other board members have great trust in Zander and it would be easy for him to accumulate the last 7% if he was able to acquire your brother's share."

This ashole is getting on my nerves right now and it's just my first day here. How can he be like this? A sparrow has now turned into an eagle, creating havoc in my family. I have to convince my brother to transfer his share to me. I can't let Zander get hold of something that is mine. Our company must stay in our family.

"Princess, you have a way to get all the share in our company, all you have got to do is marry Zander and convince him to let you manage the company" his mother's statement shocked him. This is unbelievable. How can it turn out like this? How cunning has Zander become? I wont let you win this time, Zander.

"I thought Zander was married already?" I asked my mom.

"Oh no princess, he was never married. He was waiting for his first love to go home" Noelle was dumbfounded by what he heard.