When you speak of this country's economy and business, only two companies are considered at the top, L'Empire and CGC [Chan Group of Companies].
The rest were nothing compared to those two. These two companies had been wrestling with the country's business industry for years and had maintained a sophisticated battle until now.
L'Empire being one of the top was venerated by most. It was a corporation composed of blood relatives who had maintained power and wealth throughout time.
Patriarchy was religiously exercised in this family, and such belief had brought a serious quandary to the L Empire's elders at present.
On the surface, it seemed that this empire was full of strength and somewhat limitless. But behind its brilliance, there was a threatening frailty they considered a curse. Through the many decades that had passed, this family struggled to produce heirs. To them were born only a few healthy children.
Being a family that had a strong belief in male dominance, having children, specifically a male heir, was a life-or-death situation.
Manuelle Lagdameo, the president of L'Empire, was envied by everyone in his family. Aside from being lucky to have three children, born to him was the only male heir in the present generation of the Lagdameo's. Such heir had strengthened his power and control over the Lagdameo's family business.
Darryl Lemmeul Lagdameo was the only male heir of the Lagdameo clan and the future of L'Empire. He was the envy of not only his relatives but of any elite family in this country.
The child was not only well groomed but was also gifted with exceptional intellectual and social ability. If every eighteen-year-old child in this country were enjoying their senior high school days —Darryl on the other hand, was already in his last year in college, making his own money outside the L Empire. He was rumored to be financially independent at the age of eight, left home on his sixteenth birthday to make a name for himself, and had been making remarkable achievements since then. These rumors, combined with his undeniable achievements, made his succession to the L'Empire a highly anticipated event.
Even Chan Corporation was dreading it, fearing it would be their ultimate downfall.
But then again, as the old folks said, to have everything is a sin, and not everything you see on the outside is the same as reality. So to say, in Darryl's life, the reality right now is knocking him off the four-cornered wall of the Marble Mansion inside one of the estates of L Empire, where his family resides.
"Look at this stupidity!" Manuelle screamed angrily at his own son in his home office, as he threw a couple of pictures at him.
He was waiting for this moment, the moment he could scowl at his son for making such stupid scrapes. The moment he could lecture him and tell him how stupid and frustrating his ideologies were and this mistake right here was a product of it.
Darryl was not shocked at all. The moment he was told to appear in his father's presence, he knew something like this was going to happen. His father was very dedicated to finding mistakes in him so that he could tell him that the path he was taking was not the path that was destined for him.
This father-son predicament had started long before Darryl started dreaming. He dreamed of becoming an engineer, one who was capable of building glorious infrastructure. He dreamed of creating a legendary masterpiece —an infrastructure that held great significance in this country. One that had a very beautiful story behind it.
Just like the temple of Merra located in the south of this county, built by an old man above the grave of his most beloved dog who saved his life; The Statue of Poseidon, built under the ocean that has become home to fish and reefs; The wall of Kagong that had been built decades ago by unknown men whose legendary stories had been passed through generations – Darryl wanted his masterpiece to be as legendary as these infrastructures. He wanted his masterpiece to have a story, a story everyone could talk about even after his death.
He wanted to draw everything he visualized in his mind with his own hands. He wanted to sweat out a whole lot under the sun while making the most anticipated masterpiece of all time.
However, being a Lagdameo heir would only allow him to make decisions and let others carry them out in an office building— particularly in L empire corporate center hiding away from the sun. As much as he wanted to be a free soul, his blood simply rendered this dream hard to achieve.
He knew he could not escape the destiny brought about by his blood. Yet, he refused to let go of his dreams that easily. That was why, at his sixteenth birthday party, he lured his father into agreeing to his proposal; He would only accept the L Empire's presidency once he was finished making his masterpiece.
His father consented, knowing such a child could not be held back and gave him only until his 25th birthday to fulfill his dreams. When he reaches the age of 25, he must abandon everything he has planned and assume the presidency of the L'Empire.
"How can you be this careless! Having an affair with a random girl! The public and media are going to tear down our business' image because of your mess! You should have done better than this!" The father continued, seething in a pool of anger.
Darryl, who was curious about his father's unruly behavior against him, scanned the pictures that were scattered on the floor. His heart skipped a beat when he saw pictures of her and him together.
He recognized those pictures immediately, how could he not?
Those were pictures of him kissing her in the canteen. Pictures of them strolling hand in hand in the busy city streets. There are numerous photos of them hugging—him topless and many more. Even their picture at the bus terminal when they smiled at each other was there. The picture of her face smiling at him was so alluring that he couldn't help but pick up the glossy paper.
"The Chan Corporation can use this against you! You should have considered how this could harm your reputation! And what happened to you and the Chan Corporation's heir? That Collet? Weren't you two getting along well ?" Darryl remained unconcerned as his father continued to lecture him.
He was focused on the picture in his hand, his woman's picture. It had only been three days since she rode that bus and left him. He felt sober thinking about her. He hadn't anticipated how lonely it would be without her.
"Lemmuel! You know the Chan Corporation is dreading your succession to the presidency over the empire, and that is why they let Collet come back home! You know pretty well they are using her as bait, so we can have a merger with them! ..." His father was becoming exhausted from his outburst, so he sat on his desk chair and started to light a cigar.
"...We are going to take advantage of their plan and their bait. Go and marry their heir. Certainly, a woman cannot lead a business, so she can be as good as an accessory. Once you marry her, everything that she owns will be yours too. That's when we will take over the Chan Group of Companies." The father laid out a plan for him.
"Father, I am not yet the president of L Empire. We had a deal, so I'm not going to talk about business until then." Darryl simply answered, still holding the picture of her in his hand.
"Yes, we had a deal, and the only deal we had was that you pursue your dream and not pursue some random, unsuited girl. So, it's either you forget this girl, or I shall forget our agreement!" The father continued to place emphasis on every word he spoke.
Darryl suddenly became furious upon hearing those words. His father knew how important that agreement was to him. His legendary masterpiece! His dream! His father was really going to use that dream to control him.
"So, it's either you choose this girl, or you choose your dream," Manuelle concluded confidently, hoping that his son would not disappoint him. This son of his seemed to be very dedicated to his passion; one silly girl cannot ruin his bright future or the future of L Empire.
His son was his greatest ace card—unfortunately, this ace card was very witty. He even tricked him into agreeing to his terms. But agreeing to give him liberty only made his son's value skyrocket to its highest extent. Giving him independence only proved his proficiency and capability in becoming a successor to the L'Empires' throne.
This son of his, no matter how much their ideologies clashed, was very important and valuable to him. Darryl was his only son and the only male in this generation of the Lagdameo clan. He must, at all costs, be protected from any distractions.