As Mikhail wiped her tears and sweat, he could not help but remember his old self while looking at Belle. He knew that sympathy is not in her books but even so, he could not help but feel it for her.
***
She was lost for six months and during those times, her great grandfather was only the one who looked for her non-stop. He liked the young Belle because he knew that she is a hardworking and diligent young girl. Her father Billy and her step-mother did not bother to look for her and even spent their time abroad with Lilith.
Billie knew that Lily was the one who threw Belle into the forest but he did not care. If he knew that Belle could be a threat to him, he would have not brought her along that time and just left her with Michele. It was his biggest regret.
She came back with different temperament and she seemed to be more quiet than before. She looked at her so-called family with indifference but it's a mask of hatred towards them. She wanted to let them know how much she suffered that night but it's not the right time yet.
They will have their own retribution.
Belle requested his grandfather to move out from the ancestral house but the old man rejected it firmly.
"No. You're not moving out in the ancestral house. You have no right to demand anything. Prove to me first that you are worthy of being a Yang!"
These words were her motivation and her driving force. She strived harder than she was before and did not care about her father and step-mother. Often times, she spent her afternoon learning the ins and outs within the company at the young age of fifteen. She familiarized all of the things in the company and how the cruel adult world forced her to mature in the early age.
When she was in the first year of her college, their company was in the brink of bankruptcy.
She learned it when her grandfather called her to his study and informed her about her father's bankruptcy.
"Grandfather, how come? I mean, the company is quite stable now and the turnovers is quite large. We are about to be listed as a first class in the industry." Belle would not believe the news because it's too sudden. She's monitoring their stocks in the stock market and it had been increasing in the past few months.
The old man looked at Belle with a grim face but he was not angry with her. His anger is for his idiotic grandchild named Billie Yang.
"I know but your father lost a billion dollar investment in a casino. He was outplayed by his investors and they wanted to pull out their investment in the company. That imbecile!!!" her grandfather was so angry that he was trembling. He gripped his cane so hard that it's enough to crush it to pieces. Belle looked at the old man. She could not offer her knowledge without any compensation.
"What do you plan to do grandfather?"
"You're up for the challenge?" the old man asked her. She on the other hand did not quite get what was the old man was talking about. She kept her silence and let the old man explained things to her.
"I will entrust the company to you and you will have your freedom after that. How about it?" the old man knew that Belle was quite suffocated in the ancestral house. He knew that Billie did not care for her and that ungrateful vixens was also giving her a hard time.
"Really?" Belle could not help but feel happy about her grandfather's proposal. She could not wait to have her own home. It's okay as long as she escaped her step-mother's plotting. She could not get any more happy learning that she could have her freedom.
"Yup. I always follow my promises. So, are you up for the challenge?" the old man asked her again.
"Give me five years, maximum and I will bring the glory back to our hands." Belle said confidently. The old man patted her shoulders and left Belle before going to the Yang Empire.
News surely travels fast as walls have ears in the ancestral house. Billie heard it and it made him mad. He was dead set on making Belle back out from helping the company.
"It's only mine. No one else could touch the company. It's my company!! How dare she...!!" he clenched his fist and threw it to the wall. His hands bled but it did not seemed to hurt. He stormed the entire household just to find Belle and make her pay for eyeing the company. His company.