Shatter His Hope

“Let him in.”

Olivia bowed her head and left the office after being told what to do. Ella who was standing at the other side of Eve’s table in front of her quickly leaned forward and whispered.

“Are you sure you’ll be fine?”

“Why do you ask?”

“I mean… we both know your past with Mr Hank. Are you sure you’ll be able to handle him in the same room?”

Eve burst out laughing.

“I thought that you knew me enough, Ella. Now that I think about it, you don’t know me at all because come on. I didn’t take this position to do child’s play. This is all business, understood?”

“I hope that’s just the case. I don’t trust that man one bit.”

“I’m not sure anyone does. Maybe except from his plotting mother and wife-to-be.”

Before Ella could say anything, the door of the office slid open and footsteps could be heard stepping forward. The click click of his shoe made the environment tense and the only thing that could be heard was them.

“Good day, Mr Gray. How is it going?” Due to Ella blocking his view, he could not see that it wasn’t Mr Gray on the chair but his daughter. How shocked he was going to be.

Ella looked at her boss and the both of them shared a knowing look before she stepped away from his view and quickly rushed out of the office. She didn’t let go of the chance to look at the man who just came in.

He was handsome. Too handsome to be their enemy. With dark hair and ocean-blue eyes. Sharp and defined jaw bone and his lips? Goodness. If he wasn’t their enemy, she would have been crushing on him by now. But meh. She’s not going to do that.

“You’re welcome. Take a seat please.”

“What the hell are you doing here?”

“Are you sitting or not?”

“I’m not. Where the fuck is Mr Gray?”

“Language, Hank. I’m not your wife.”

“You don’t have to remind me that. I want your father. Where is he?”

Eve sighed. Didn’t he see the news circulating everywhere? Sigh! Maybe he doesn’t understand things again. She stood up from her chair and crossed over to his side so that she would be standing face to-face with him.

She looked up at him.

“Since you don’t understand anything anymore, I’ll spell it out to you. My father is sick and undergoing treatment. I am taking over his companies in the meantime, get it? Now this makes me wonder, Mr Hank. Didn’t you see the news this morning?”

Noah ran his hands through his hair. He always checked the news every morning but today, he was too busy to check. How he wished he had done that. At least he would be prepared.

“What is the news about?”

“What do you think? Use your brain, come on. I’m not going to explain anything and if you really want this deal to commence, then you better be humble and drop that overbearing character of yours.” She said that in so much harshness and bitterness that made Noah’s eyes widen. He couldn’t recognize the woman anymore.

Turning her back to him, she walked back to her chair, her heels clicking. She was delighted that she looked her best today. In a greyish two-piece suit shirt and pants and a white corset around her waist.

“You’ve changed, Eve.” He didn’t mean to say that aloud but well, he just did and she happened to hear it.

Eve chuckled.

“No, I didn’t.”

“I can barely recognize you.”

Right. He could barely recognize this woman. She doesn’t speak like the Eve he knew a year ago. That Eve was meek and kind. She never talked back at him in this manner nor did she look in his eyes while speaking. Her smile? She doesn’t smile this way. That Eve was sweet and obedient.

“No, Mr Hank. I didn’t change. You just never knew me. Maybe if you had, you would have seen that.”

“That’s correct,” Noah said as he sat down on the chair astride her. “That’s very correct. I’m not that surprised though. Considering what you did to Melissa a year ago, this is just part of you. I’m n…”

A snapping sound made him pause to look at what was that. He stared at Eve’s hand.

“Haha. This pen is so light,” she threw the pen that she had snapped in anger to the waste bin before dusting her hands and turning back to Noah.

“How about we leave our past out of all of this? You’re here for the deal right? How about we talk about the deal so you can leave and stop bringing up bad memories that I don’t want to remember.”

Her emotions were threatening to take over and noticing that, she looked away from him and started searching for files on the table. There were a bunch of files and she searched through them for a particular one.

“Here it is.” Finding the file, she looked through it, and at some clauses, she frowned. This deal was going to benefit the Hank corporation the more. They were going to rise to the top once this deal commenced. She read everything and closed it.

The Gray’s corporation was not going to get that much from the deal. That means they were simply doing the Hank’s a favor. Why? Why did her father agree to this?

She looked at other files and deals that were on the table. Some of them were not even benefiting them at all. Gosh! Her father was too generous in all of these. Who tells him that being good pays these days?

Still looking at the files, she failed to realize that Noah’s eyes had not left her since she broke her gaze. She only realized that when his looks became strong and he asked.

“How have you been?”

That question caught Genevieve off guard and she found herself staring at him in awe.

“What?”

“I asked how you’ve been.”

Her mouth fell open in shock. This was the first time she had heard him ask such a question. Never for once in their three years of marriage had he asked how she was and if she was okay with anything going on. His question made her really think hard about the answer.

How has she been these past few months? Has she been fine? Was she happy leaving his home? Has life been fair to her? How did she even come this far?

For answers, she is happy that she left his home and everyone around him. At least she found out the kind of people that they were. She found out that she had no place in his home and all they had meant nothing to him. The first few months of leaving were hell for her. Just having to think about it alone made her clench her fist. She passed through hell before getting here but if given a second chance, she would do this again and again.

As for his question, it was too late to care.

She chuckled.

“Is this a joke to you?”

“What is?”

“I asked not to mention the past.”

“Asking how you’ve been is not mentioning the past, Eve.”

“Don’t call me that. It’s Genevieve for you so stop acting so informal with me. We’re strangers right now. Besides, it’s too late to ask if I’m fine or not. Let’s just get back to business.”

“If you say so then.”

She broke her gaze again and focused on what she was doing. Thoroughly reading the contents of the papers on her desk. After a while, her eyes fell on him again. He was staring at her.

“What?”

“Huh?”

“Why are you staring at me?”

“My eyes. I can use them to stare at anything.”

She laughed. This fucker.

“Here. This is the deal. Father mentioned reading it. We’ll have another meeting sometime again.”

“This is the only meeting we’re going to have concerning this deal. Think of whatever you have to think of now. I’m a busy man.”

Genevieve scoffed. This ingrate. He must be so delusional.

“Being an ingrate will get you nowhere. You know that, right? You should be grateful that I’m letting this deal go on. This is in my hands right now. I can cancel it and make it commence so I suggest you drop that attitude.”

“Eve. That’s not how it works. I’m going to read this and we settle everything now.”

“I made my decision already. I am being nice to you, Noah. I’m letting you have this deal even after everything. You do know that if I inform my father of our past, this won’t work, you know that, right?”

“Are you threatening me?”

“Of course not. I’m just trying to point out the truth to you. I wonder what father would say when he hears our history and how you treated me.”

“We’ll, he has to know your crime too.”

“Don’t be so dumb, honey,” she smirked. “He’s my father. He’ll listen to no one but me.” She wasn’t going to deny anything this time. If they say she did it, then that’s the truth. She’s not going to deny it anymore. Either way, they won’t listen to her.

“Don’t you dare? This deal is important to me.”

“That’s more reason you should be humble right now. What is going to happen when I go to my father and tell him everything from the first day I met you till now? I might add a bit more story here and there.”

“I can’t deal with you. I’ll see Mr Gray soon.” Noah stood up from her chair and picked up the papers before turning his back to her and walking out of the office.

Once he got to his car, he took his phone out of his pocket and placed a call to someone.

“Find out everything Miss Gray has been into since a year ago. I’ll give you a day to do so.”

“Yes, boss.”

He wants to know everything about her and how she suddenly became Miss Gray in just a year and how he doesn’t know about this. In fact, he was now overly interested in her life. Before now, he didn’t really care about her and what she did but now, he wants to know everything about her since she was a child.

Meanwhile, back inside her office, Genevieve burst out laughing as soon as he left.

“What happened?” Ella rushed in.

“Ella, you have to see his face after I threatened him with telling Father about us. He became all black. Well, he took the papers.”

“So when is the deal going to be signed?”

“Sighed?”

“Yes. We plan on having an alliance with his company, right?”

“We plan doesn’t mean we’re going to. I’m not signing the deal.”

“What?”

“You heard me right. We’re not going to be business partners. I just want to waste his time and make him get busy while I make my next plans which he definitely isn’t going to like.”

“What are you going to do?”

“You’ll see. What I’m going to do, he for sure isn’t going to like it and it’s not as if I care. I don’t give a damn about him. I told you, I’m not back for peace.”

Ella walked closer.

“Now I’m getting scared of you. You give me chills.”

“As it’s supposed to be. I know that the deal is important to him as he was to me so I’m going to give him hope. So much hope and then at the last minute, I’ll shatter it. I want him to feel all that I felt a year ago. He’s going to feel it all. Every single thing I passed through. It's time. I'm finally making a move. Watch out.”