Rose gasped, her eyes fluttering open as she jumped out of her covers.
A dream! it was all a dream!
Although the bedroom was dimly lit, one could still make out the cold sweats that trickled down her neck.
She felt fraustrated.
Twelve years. After twelve years, those 'dreams' never stopped coming. She thought everything was in the past, discarded to be submerged in the waves of time.
But.. why was fate playing such an heavy joke on her huh?
"Mummy?" a little boyish voice called out as the door parted open a bit.
Behind the tiny slit, was a pair of eyes that were filled with worry.
"Lex? is that you?" Rose hurriedly wiped the sweats on her forehead.
Why was he awake at this time of the night.
The door opened larger, allowing Lex to walk in. Although the room was dimly lit, a faint outline could be made.
Sleek black hair
Eyes as dark as obsidian that held a kind of allure in them.
A slender figure with an 'handsome to the fault' facials.
"I was reading for my test when i heard your scream" Lex climbed up the bed, placing his hands on his mother's neck to feel her temperature.
Damn! it was hot.
"You have a fever again? when would you start listening to me and take your medications huh?" Lex chastized.
Rose almost had the urge to laugh. How come her twelve years old kid behaved abnormally mature?
The way he spoke and acted befitted to the likes of an adult.
It reminded her of that man. Somebody she didn't want to remember, AGAIN!
"I'm okay. I just had a nightmare that's all. Besides, i don't feel feverish. It must probably be that the room's stuffy that's why my temperature rose"
"Okay" Lex didn't choose to bicker.
"Rest well mum, you have a busy day tomorrow" Lex gave his mum a bear hug.
* * *
The Next Day..
Noon, at Diego's Pizzary
"Waiter!" Rose, with an apron tied around her waist sighed after a customer called out to her.
Since morning, she'd been delivering orders. Her wrist was starting to hurt.
She moved over to the customer, it was a fat man reading a newspaper. He was dressed in an office wear.
- Preharps he just came here to grab a quick lunch.
Rose thought to herself.
"Hey! give me a large sized carton peperroni pizza, two cups of fries and your best dip" the customer relayed.
Rose nodded, about to go get the orders when her eyes mistakenly fell on the newspaper. A particular headline to be precise.
"TYCOON LADYS SWEETHEART LIAM SAMSARA ALLEGED IN A ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP WITH ACTRESS KELLY..(read more)"
Rose visibly shook as she read these words. Her heart began to pound faster, not in anticapation though.
Fear!
Twelve years. She thought she would never hear of him. He was just a bitter past she always wanted drowned away under the tides of time.
Was he aware that she ran with his child? Was he currently searching for her?
The panic and all made her give way. Her legs buckled as the tray she held fell to the ground.
"What the.." the fat customer gasped when he saw the waiter fall.
He instantly raised an alarm.
* * *
Rose woke up, feeling a little bit lightheaded. The smell of medicine pervaded her nose.
It didn't smell pleasant at all.
"I'm in a hospital?" she noticed the drip connected to her wrist.
Recalling the incident that landed her in this state, she laughed warily.
Even after so long, she couldn't let go of the fear she had for that man. Just the mere mention of his name, and she lost consciousness.
She'd probably die of fright if he stood before her in the flesh.
"You're awake? that's good!" she suddenly heard a sigh of relief.
Looking over, she saw her boss at the pizzarie seated at a bedside stool. A look of worry on his face.
"S-Sir! what are you doing here?" Rose got flustered, prompting her to hurriedly sit up right.
Too bad a searing headache stopped her right on track.
"Don't force yourself. Your body is quite weak" Boss Aitch helped Rose lie back down.
"I'm sorry for making you worry" Rose bent her head guityly.
"Nonsense! you are my staff and my responsibility!" Boss Aitch's brows flarred.
"I.." Rose was short of words.
It was rare to see a generous man like Boss Aitch in this wicked world. At the pizzarie, he always treated every staff equally and would buy them lunch and dinner.
And the best part was that he did all this with pure intentions, thus making every staff extremely loyal to him.
"Actually, i knew this was going to happen one day" Boss Aitch sighed.
"You have been one of my most hardworking staff. You have served me for seven years. Your tireless efforts have earned praises from both customers and staffs"
Hearing these praises, Rose chewed on her lower lips nervously. She had a bad premonition about this.
"But all these has to end. You are a lady and a single mother. I can't keep on suffering you like this"
"Sir! i'm not complaining!" Rose retorted.
Let it not be what's she's thinking please!
"After you get discharged, please don't return to the pizzarie"
* * *
A month later..
Rose stared at the slip in her hand, trying hard to resist the tears from dropping.
Just a few minutes ago, the landlord came, asking for rent.
According to him, pay up or scram. He was compromising. As for the rent, the total amounted up to a thousand bucks.
A thousand bucks! where could she find such a huge sum?
After she got sacked from the pizzarie, life had not been easy for Lex and her. Although Boss Aitch gave her the sum of a thousand dollars, the expenses were too much.
They had to pay for water. Do groceries. Lex's school fees. As for electricity, they had to skip that.
But still, it wasn't enough. She even had to do some part time babysitting gig. But all she got was peanuts!
Currently, all what she had was a hundred and fifty dollars. She was thinking of taking Lex for shopping. Today just happened to be his birthday.
She couldn't ignore this special day. That poor kid, she just owed him too much. She deprived him of his dad out of her selfishness.
So, she made a promise to shower him all the love she could muster. That was just the little way she could make it up to him.
"Mum! i'm ready!" she heard an excited voice say.
Standing before her was the twelve years old Lex. He was currently dressed in a tank top underneath a denim jacket and shorts. Although the jacket had some tears and the shorts faded, it couldn't hid the handsomeness Lex possesed.
"Alright, let's go" Rose smiled as she stood up.
The duo left the house, walking down the road leading towards a mall.
"Mummy, my legs are hurting" Lex complained sheepishly.
"Do you want a piggyback ride?" Rose teased, causing a blush to appear on Lex's cheeks.
"Mum stop teasing me. I'm not a kid anymore" Lex pouted.
"Hah. Just look at you blushing like a girl who got a date for prom" Rose's eyes went misty from the excessive laughter.
Suddenly, a black sedan drove by, it's tires rolling through a little quantity of muddy waters.
The muddy waters just happened to splash on the duo.
"Hey! watch how you drive!" Lex scowled angrily.
Unfortunately, the windows were tinted. The black sedon drove past, totally ignoring them.
"Mum! those people splashed us with muddy water. They couldn't even apologize!" Lex was quite angry at the unfair treatment.
"That's how those at the top treat those beneath them. If you want to earn their respect, be comparable or above them in status" Rose shook her head.
She was quite conversant with how those rich mandates behaved.
Meanwhile, inside a sedan.
"Chaffeur Ben, is there anything like someone resembling you in appearance? even if you both are not related by blood?" a twelve years old boy in a school uniform asked, with a bowl of popcorn.
Strangely, this boy had an almost perfect resemblance with Lex.
"Young master Rex, i do know of doppelgangers, but they won't be any perfect resemblance" the Chaffeur besides Rex replied.
"Hmm. Okay" Rex replied.
However, he felt puzzled inwardly.
A few moments ago, his chaffeur mistakenly splashed mud water on a mother and son pair. But that wasn't the issue.
What surprised him was that, the son was like a carbon copy of him. Same age, same hair colour. It was like seeing his own reflection through the mirror, except that he seemed to be just a few inches taller than his doppelganger.
"I wonder if he has this mark too?" Rex pulled up his sleeves, staring at the crescent moon mark on his wrist.
It looked like a tatoo but infact, it was a birth mark. No one knew he possesed this mark by birth, including his father.
They all thought he got it from a tatoo shop.
Meanwhile..
Rose and Lex browsed through the various sections of the mall. Cookies. Yoghurts. Sodas. They were everywhere.
"Do you like this one?" Rose pointed at a packet of chocolate waffles on a shelf.
Lex stared at the price tag and grimaced.
"Fifteen dollars? too expensive"
Rose didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Why was this kid to stingy with spending?
"C'mon. Don't be too reserved. It's your birthday okay?"
"Mum. All these waffles, cookies and candies are just miscelleanous stuffs. If i see what i really want i will let you know" Lex ran a finger through his hair with a stylish suave.
After another few minutes of exploration, they arrived at a toy rack. Lex suddenly gasped, his eyes trained on a particular toy.
It was a remote control fighter jet.
"Do you like it?" Rose asked Lex, who nodded solemnly.
His brows were tighned together seemingly in concentration.
Although Rose was puzzled at her 'mature son' strange interest in a toy for kids, she still grabbed it.
They went to the cashier booth and made their payments.
"Thanks mum" Lex smiled, after they got outside the mall.
That jet toy cost a hundred dollars to purchase.
"It's okay. Let's go home"
* * *
A black sedan drove into a huge compound containing a gignatic mansion like duplex.
The door opened, revealing a slim lady dressed in red bodycon dress and hills.
A butler rushes out of the house, bowing his head at the lady.
"Mistress Charlotte!" the butler bowed.
"Is Liam in?" Charlotte asked.
"Yes. He has been in his study for the past one hour" the butler replied.
"Good" Charlotte twirled her long artificial nails.
"Go get my luggages for me from the trunk" Charlotte began to catwalk towards the duplex.
Inside a Study room in the mansion..
Liam arched his brows in concentration as he stared at the report on his study desk. Besides him was his P.A; Angelo.
"Rosex corp has filed a case against us?" he stared piercingly at Angelo.
His eyes were cold. Poor Angelo. All he could do was nod.
"When did this happen?" Liam asked in a rather calm manner.
"Just an hour ago. According to them, we pirated their idea" Angelo explained.
"Pirated? what product?" Liam squinted. He didn't remember pirating any of Rosex corp's products.
Rosex inc was a big corporation that dealt with toys, music, entertainment, sports and recreational centers. They had a high market value of ten trillion, but that was just what the rumors claimed. It could be more than that.
Infact, Rosex inc was even somewhat superior to his Starimpact inc he belonged to. He didn't want to antangonize such an existence.
"Remember the newest edition of Fyns brand fighter jet we launched?" Angelo brought out a file from underneath the drawer.
Fyn toy brand was a subsdiary of Starimpact inc.
"Rosex inc has found similiarities. They believe that we copied their No limits brand fighter planes"
"And what are the other shareholders saying?" Liam raised a brow.
"They are angry with you for your rash decision of copying No limits brand. The sales rate has decreased by ten percent. And it hasn't even reached twenty four hours"
"Say what?" Liam was gobsmacked.
"That's not all. The court are in ruling of Rosex inc. favour"
"They even proposed that we pay a fine of seventy seven million dollars"
"Whaat?!" Liam shrieked.