A Wife for the Billionaire
Chapter 49: RICHARD

Chapter 49: RICHARD

Remembering what was - could drag like a dead weight. Recollections of the past, like an anchor pulling one down to the darkest depths.

And of all times, I had to recall all these minutes before I faced the most annoying pricks on the planet.

If it was in my power, I would have canceled today’s board meeting. Too bad I didn’t have veto power.

It’s been two minutes since Vera delivered my father’s message. Two minutes that have stretched like forever with wraiths of times I wished to forget. Times I wished to erase.

Gathering the pieces of my broken self, I rose to go chair my board meeting. This wasn’t the first time, neither will it be the last, my past will always haunt me. It will always stalk me, like a shadow - always near, always present.

There’s this ridiculous notion about being broken. People assume one can be mended, that the pieces of one’s shattered self could mend with time.

But that’s a lie, a preposterous one in fact. Let’s take china for example. When it’s broken, can it really be fixed? And even if one tries, it will still bear cracks of its brokenness. Not to mention that there will be shards that won’t be recovered and so, there will be parts that will be incomplete. Parts that will remain unwhole because they weren’t recovered.

No matter the glue, no matter the adhesive, what’s broken can never be made whole again. It just can’t be fixed.

Once broken, always broken.

These memories of my life are times when I was broken. Different times that my fragile heart has borne the hammer of life. Different times that I’ve been shattered.

I’m so broken that if I hadn’t been destined to die young, I know I still won’t make it to old age. And that’s a fact.

When we are broken, we remain broken, even when another tries to fix us. And that’s why, we easily break again, because we were already broken.

Perhaps that didn’t make much sense, but I know what I’m talking about. I have dallied with girls who thought they could fix me, too bad they ended up needing fixing themselves.

"Get the files" I ordered Vera as I passed.

"Be right behind you, Sir" she answered, scrambling for the files in question.

Shaking my head to the right and left, I heard it crack as tension was released. I flexed my knuckles, each cracking in effect.

"Hey, Sir"

I almost jumped out of my own skin. My hands to my chest in relief, I turned to Cole Trail.

"You are still here."

It was a question, just a confirmation. I had totally forgotten about him.

He shoved his hands into his pockets, and looking at the floor, he answered,

" Yes, Sir. You... erm, told me to wait back, or have you forgotten?" Before I could even offer a response, he rushed, "Sorry, of course you haven’t forgotten, I didn’t mean it like that."

He was actually cute. The kind of sweet thing girls would break and trample on, gladly. I was glad, his position would have him far from my office. I don’t think I can stand his complaisance. It was just too easy, too irritatingly accessible.

He couldn’t even look me in the face, and why the hell was he apologizing for being right? Rationally, I was supposed to be the one apologizing for keeping him waiting all these time, but like I said... complaisant.

"It’s fine, you can go now. Congrats, the job is yours. You can start tomorrow, Harry will direct you on what, who, where, and basically everything you find yourself confused about. Have a nice day, Mr Cole."

" Oh thank you, Sir. That’s splendid, I will be here at 7am sharp." he eagerly replied.

I was already walking away so I didn’t offer a response or anything.

Vera caught up with me just as I was about to throw the doors of the board room open.

"Your competence is really commendable" I laced.

"My sincere apologies, Sir"

Eyes and subtle glares followed me as I made my way to my seat.

"Nice of you to finally decide to join us" Lord Thomas Grey spat as I sat.

"Good afternoon my Lords and the board." I greeted, then to the tall Lord with dyed black hair and vert eyes, "Forgive me my Lord, but you know there are actually those of us who do actual work, not wait around to collect shares and profits" I returned, earning a snare from the Lord in question and a smile from my father.

Without giving the chance to offer a retort, I clapped my hands and said, "Welcome, everyone. Today’s agenda includes our latest collection, production costs, expansion into the Asian market and other issues listed there on the docket in front of you"

"We’ve already wasted so much time, thanks to our chairman. Let’s just start with the collection. Who’s in charge of that?" Kane Grey, like his father, tried to get under my skin.

The heirs of the other families were always invited to the board meetings, to take part in its proceedings or to just sit and observe. Or to taunt and tease me to rage like Kane intended.

They all sat beside their fathers, Caden Day with his father, Lord Frederick Day. Kane Grey with Lord Thomas Grey. Hayes Manson with Lord William Manson. And of course, the beautiful Olivia Fisher, by her father, Lord Henry Fisher. She was his eldest daughter, and subsequently his heir because the Lord didn’t have any male offspring unless bastards of course.

Out of them all, I actually liked Olivia, she had been a friend while we were growing up and even now, we occasionally sit and talk. She was like a sister to me.

With a nod of approval from me, Rachel Lee, the talented, artistic and expressive Creative Director walked to the front of the TV set, "Thank you, my Chairman. Young Lord Grey, our new collection features innovative textiles and bold styles, perfect for the upcoming season."

As she spoke, the various designs of the soon to launch collection appeared on the screen. They were mostly a spin off from the last collection with a few modifications. The new designs that were featured were either from Rachel or her team of designers.

I had nothing new to offer. It seemed like my creative juice had run out, time and time again I tried sketching something new, something original, but no ideas or images sufficed.

"These look amazing, great work Rachel," Olivia commented, "but I have concerns about production costs. Can we discuss potential savings?"

"We’ve identified areas for efficiency improvements, Lady Fisher. I can walk you through the details." It was Samantha Brown, the brown-haired Operations Manager, who answered.

Just as Rachel did, she walked up to the screen and started speaking on the various methods devised with the finance department through technological advancements like AI towards cutting down our costs and at the same time maintaining quality.

As she demonstrated with the bar charts on the screen, I found myself thinking about something else, or rather... someone else entirely.

I was thinking about Sofia Blake, mind you not in a romantic way or that creepy way people do when they love someone. I was just thinking about our face off. How I had let her off too easily. Yes,I granted her the tour to spite Harry, but really had I actually punished her? Had I taught her about her place? Had I broken her as I had wanted?

Was I losing my touch? I thought.

"Chairman? Chairman??" Someone was requesting my attention. As I reeled myself back to the present, I realized it was Michael Patel, the Marketing Director.

"Yes." I answered, "Forgive me, I was simply lost in my calculations, so what is it?"

"Eh erm" he cleared his throat and continued,

"Lord Manson, asked about our marketing strategies? Insisting that we should create more buzz about the new collection, I asked if you or Dan Stan, the Press and Media Director, have been able to get Bogue to write about the collection?"

"Ah yes, I am right on that. There should be a mention of it in their next publication" I lied.

It wasn’t necessarily a lie, an idea had taken form in my mind. Since Sofia was in Anna’s good graces, perhaps I could find a way to use the twat to my own benefits.

"A mention of it?" Lord Thomas mocked. "Since when did we get mentioned, aren’t we always the frontpage news? Heaven knows what you did to warrant this change?"

He was testing me, poking at the bear to see what it would do.

I noticed my father’s gaze on me, he was waiting to see how I would handle the situation.

In fact, they were all anticipating my next move, and they are soon to learn what a terrific chess master I am.