Versailles Series Book 9: The Lawyer [COMPLETED]

CHAPTER 47

E N T E N G

The gala was moved a week later. Our bank's data breach has been the talk of the town for the entire week but I think we have weathered the storm. We have adjusted our company's cybersecurity infrastructure with the help of Winter's company. We cleaned up the security department to rid of the people who had lapses in their jobs.

There was still tension in the air during the event but as the night went on, the people of the company celebrated the milestone. While the breach dented our reputation, Enchong has helped devise plans to recuperate. The other company on the other hand started losing customers and is now bleeding money. We are still one of the most trusted and secure banks in the world and I believe the people are giving us another chance to prove that.

I looked around the room to look for my mother. The last time I talked to her, she told me she would come but she wasn't there. I glanced at Enchong who stood beside me. We look like every inch of the identical twins we are known for. Tonight is his inauguration and I feel nothing but pride and happiness for him. Because of the incident in the company, I realized that maybe, I don't really belong here.

"Where's Mom?" I asked him.

He shrugged. "I told her I'll pick her up but she said she'll come on her own."

"I tried calling her but she hasn't answered."

Our focus shifted to the podium when our father went and started talking on the microphone.

"I have built this company from the ground up. It was not an easy journey for me and the people who helped me build this empire. I never thought we'd reach this phase. The Asian market is a challenging market to enter especially with the competitors who have already built their reputation and brand here. But I believe that the company still has something to offer that these companies don't. With the new leadership coming in, I see a brighter future ahead for the company. I want to thank the people in the company for keeping us running. Also, I want to acknowledge my two sons." I looked at him. I felt a squeeze in my heart as he looked at me with so many emotions in his eyes. A first. I would have thought he was only looking at my twin until he started speaking again. "Laurent, thank you for helping us with our recent predicament. I knew you had it in you to step up for the company. I am proud of you." Enchong clapped my shoulder but I just drank the sparkling water in my hand. "As all of you know, I am retiring from my chairmanship and I have chosen my other son, Lawrence to take over the company. If I could appoint both of my sons, I will. But if there is someone who I trust my son with, it's my other son. I am lucky to be their father."

He proposed a toast for us and Enchong was asked to give a brief speech on the podium. As people crowded to my twin after his speech, I decided to go out of the function hall and get some air. I glanced at my phone to check the time when I saw a reminder a few hours earlier. Date Night. Yes, it was another Friday night and I haven't removed the reminder I set every Friday for the past weeks.

She hasn't sent me any message and I haven't initiated anything too. I am itching to ask how she is doing but after the things I've said, maybe silence and distance from me is what she needed. I'll visit the office next week and I am not sure how I will react once I see her. Now that everything is fixed and I have come to terms that Enchong is the one made for that position, I can't help but think about our last conversation. How she woke up happy and smiling and the next thing I knew, she was walking out of my life. I opened up the video of her drunk playing with the stray dogs. She looked so carefree like she didn't have any worries. Her smile was so beautiful it lit up her entire face. I don't deserve her and her love for me.

"Enteng."

I looked up from my phone and saw my father walking towards me. I pocketed my phone and leaned on the railing.

His eyes dropped to my hand that's not holding my usual glass of bourbon. "Since when did you stop drinking bourbon? I even bought you your favourite brand."

"I stopped drinking alcohol for weeks now, Dad. Or months. I just don't feel like drinking at the moment." Or in the near future. Maybe until I flushed out Hera of my system. If. "Shouldn't you be inside with Enchong? Celebrating with him? After all, you have tailored him to become like you since he was born."

My father looked uneasy, probably sensing the tension emanating from me. "He can handle that on his own. He has to wear bigger shoes now." His eyes looked at me tentatively. "I want you to know why I didn't pick you as my successor."

I crossed my arms and smirked at him. "Humor me. Say something I never heard yet."

His cheeks bloomed in colour as he shifted his weight between his left and right foot. "What I said back there was true, Enteng. I am proud of what you have accomplished. Hindi dahil hindi ikaw ang pinili ko ay mababalewala lahat ng iyon. I saw how you grew up as a man. I always thought that you don't treat things seriously. You have always been a happy-go-lucky kind of guy. People around you saw you as someone who is reckless and unconcerned and they don't think you're fit for the job."

"Didn't my work prove enough how wrong those were? Wala ba akong karapatang patunayan ang sarili ko? Why are you depriving me of the chance to change your impressions?"

"You did." He cleared his throat. "You may not believe me, but I had an epiphany when your twin was missing. I was wrong to stay trapped in my old ways of thinking. You have proven your worth a long time ago, I just didn't want to admit that my initial impressions were wrong." He sighed deeply. "But the decision has long been decided. Enchong was always meant to be my successor. If only I could give the both of you that position, I would."

I scoffed and shook my head. Turns out, drinking sparkling water or bourbon doesn't change the bitter taste in my mouth and numb the pain in my heart. My father never believed in me. In what I can do. Even in what I have already done.

"Nothing you say now will change anything, Dad. Enchong deserves the position, don't get me wrong. What I am fighting for here is that I am not the reckless playboy billionaire son you and your board made me out to be. I am more than that. I didn't know why I let my world revolve around your approval when there's so much out there in the world that's more worthwhile." I remembered I was looking for my mother earlier. I haven't seen my parents together for a while. They usually appear together in these events. "Where's Mom anyway? Shouldn't she be here by now?" I glanced at my watch.

Dad exhaled heavily. "Your Mom...she wants our marriage to be annulled."

I felt my world stop. "What?" I thought I didn't say that because I heard another voice behind my father. Enchong was standing with the same shocked expression on his face.

"Our marriage has been on the rocks for a long time. We thought living separately would fix us temporarily."

I grabbed his collar. "What the hell did you do to her?"

Hinawakan ni Enchong ang kamay ko. "Let's not do it here, Enteng. There are people inside who could see us."

I let go of my Dad. "I'll talk her out of this." What is my mother not telling me?

"It's too late. She has already filed the petition. The first hearing will be tomorrow."

What is happening?