Amari was reading a file that had been sitting on his desk since morning. When his secretary, Tucker, who had returned from a visit to a factory not far from the city center, knocked on the door of his office. The man entered and their eyes met, Tucker carrying a cups of iced coffee in his hand with a big smile.
"What's wrong with your face?" Tucker asked as he put the big cup on the table, sitting down on the sofa. Amari got up from his seat and moved to the sofa as well, enjoying a fresh cup of iced coffee.
"I've been in a bad mood since morning."
"I saw you come in to the office with your fiancé?"
"That's what put me in a bad mood."
Tucker raised both eyebrows at Amari's answer. He knew that Amari didn't like Jude, but he didn't know that it hadn't changed since two years ago.
"If you really don't like him, why are you still holding out to be his fiancée?"
Amari looked at him as if to ask 'Are you really asking about that?'
"Oops, sorry," Tucker held up both hands with a chuckle.
Amari sighed, "You know this business was in danger because of what happened to PACKAGE, right? Because of the finance team's actions, the company almost went bankrupt-"
"Yeah, and the Fothergill family helped you." Tucker interrupted Amari's explanation. Amari nodded.
Because of what happened eight years ago the company almost went bankrupt, but FOTHER PHARMA made an offer to help and eventually his parents' business returned to its original state. That's why his mother felt Fothergill's request to become White's in-laws is the best deal.
"The benefits of being an in-law are far greater than being a business friend."
"You conglomerates were terrible. I've often heard stories of loveless marriages like yours and Jude's, the most famous being Cross Dhurudatta and Sarah Campbell's romance, they didn't even have children until 10 years into the marriage." Tucker said, taking a sip of coffee in his own cup.
Amari had heard about it because both families were big news. Unlike the Dhurudatta family, the Campbells were purely a Mafia family, they didn't have a main company or anything. They only manufactured weapons until the Dhurudatta family took over almost 80% of their company.
"Ah right, I'm meeting with Joshua tonight."
Tucker's eyes rounded as he turned to Amari.
"Hey, did you tell Jude about this?"
Amari shook his head, "You have to do me a favor, please don't tell Jude's secretary about this."
Tucker sighed this time, he put the cup on the table. Since he was assigned to be Amari's personal secretary there were many things he did according to the contract he signed, including telling Amari where he was and what he was doing. Those reports were for Ashleen and Jude.
"Isn't this a normal meet up? You don't need to hide it, you just need to tell Jude."
Amari looked down, "I don't want Josh to get in trouble."
Tucker did not say anything else. He had been with Ashleen Aston White for 17 years, but to this day he felt Ashleen was too much for her only child. Amari was in her custody 24/7 even when he was in Australia.
No matter how far Amari runs and hides, his parents will always be able to find him.
The boy thought he had freedom when he was in Australia, in fact his parents were always watching him even from a distance.
Amari had never been close to the Alphas. His relationships revolved around Omegas and Betas. When he finished college, he was in a relationship with a Beta. Unfortunately, the relationship had to run aground.
Amari thought that his boyfriend had left him without news, but in reality his parents paid the man to stay away from Amari because they didn't like a Beta.
When his parents became seriously ill, they took advantage of it to bring Amari back to their home. Locking the boy up in an invisible prison, leaving him trapped in compliance. Amari was bound by his responsibilities to the company and is now bound by his engagement to Jude.
"I won't tell Jude's secretary about this, but you know he can find out from anywhere. I hope your meeting with the youngest son of the Dhurudatta family including questions about Campbell-made weapons." Tucker said again, looking at Amari who was now lying on the sofa.
He was already 29 years old but Amari sometimes acted like a child in his early 20s.
Preparations for Amari's official announcement party as the company's successor were almost complete, Tucker gave many updates on what would be at the party. Invitations have also been sent out, some families have already given reports on who will be coming to the party.
Amari read Cross' name appearing there. As he had expected, Joshua would not be attending the formal event. The day he met Joshua at the party was just a coincidence.
Amari went back to his work, finishing it quickly because he couldn't wait to meet Joshua. He didn't know why Joshua had asked him to meet, but he definitely wanted to ask him a lot of questions. Especially about the buyers of the Campbell-made weapons that he sold.
Amari and Joshua majored in different subjects when they were in college, but they met several times in the same class and did group work. Joshua was still the same to Amari even when they met for the first time again, he wasn't hesitated to greet him or pretend not to know him.
Amari's friends thought Joshua was cold, but in fact he was just clumsy. As far as Amari knew, Joshua wasn't good at small talk. He had always been like that since he was a child.
"Are you meeting Dhurudatta's youngest son now?" Tucker appeared from behind the door as Amari was clearing his desk of files, it was already 6:30 PM
"Yes, I'll be waiting at the cafe across the office."
Tucker held the door open to let Amari through.
"Jude and his secretary aren't here today, they're in the next town over. So I don't think anyone will be aware of your meeting," Tucker paused his sentence as the elevator doors opened, they went inside together, "but if he asks or anyone gives Jude a picture of you, you just have to be honest. You met the youngest son of the Dhurudatta family for nothing else."
Amari turned to Tucker who was staring straight at the elevator doors.
"I know, I know, I won't lie. I really only met him to talk anyway, nothing more."
Tucker shrugged his shoulders, "Yeah, yeah, I was just reminding you. You don't want what happened in the past to happen again."
Amari clenched his fists. The incident one year ago that made him stay away from all his friends because of Jude's actions.
"Amari, did you change your pod?" Tucker asked, he turned to Amari.
Amari raised his left hand, "Yes, Jude changed it this morning," Amari took out his phone, tapped on one of the apps and showed it to Tucker, "this app is a new technological development from FOTHER PHARMA, it's all good, something wrong?"
Tucker frowned, he sniffed around Amari, "I smell pheromones."
Amari sniffed his own body, "It's not my HEAT schedule, after all, the HEAT suppressant is just replaced. You probably just smelled it wrong."
Tucker nodded, not speaking again but he could faintly smell the sweet scent from Amari's body. The two parted ways in the lobby, Amari having his personal driver wait in the office while he went to the café.
It's 7 PM and Joshua coming from the front door. The man was wearing his all-black outfit with a black hat, he wandered around until their eyes met. Joshua waved his hand at Amari who was now frozen in place.
The man looked so handsome. He nervous.
Joshua with a big smile sat in front of Amari, "Did you order?" He asked cheerfully and Amari nodded, his throat feeling like it was choking. He still frozen in his chair.
Joshua turned his head right and left, "Are you alone?"
"Huh? Do I have to bring someone here?"
Joshua chuckled, "No, you've been surrounded by many guards ever since we kids. I guess at your age, your parents aren't what they used to be?"
Amari was stunned by Joshua's words. That's right, even his friends when he was at school and in college also distanced themselves from him a little because they felt uncomfortable.
"Ah, I wanted to ask you something so I asked you to meet." Joshua changed the subject so quickly that Amari now turned his focus back to the man.
Joshua was silent for a moment, his eyes then glancing in several directions. Amari looked up at him, the hat Joshua wore blocking Amari's view of the man's face.
"Joshua?"
Joshua turned to Amari and looked at him, "Amari, can you run?"
"Huh?"
Joshua quickly pulled Amari's hand, making the man surprised and immediately grabbed the bag that was beside him. Joshua ran while holding Amari's hand, the man took Amari through the back door of the cafe. Amari is still puzzled about what happened, he just running, but his heart was now in turmoil, either because he was running suddenly or because of the hand he was holding.