Five years later.
Seth smiled as he walked through the early morning traffic in the lobby. He greeted co-workers, nodded to the security staff and headed for the elevators.
As he rode up to his floor his mind wandered back over the past five years.
After his family had stormed off they had cut all ties with him. All except his sister. She kept trying to worm her way into his life by creating problems for him to fix. The worst one had come about a month after that meeting.
Seth had received a frantic phone call from his sister's new husband, telling Seth to get to the hospital. When he and Lucias got there, Clark had told them she had haemorrhaged and he insisted it was due to the abortion.
Lucias had been sceptical, as had Seth but they followed him to his sister's bedside nonetheless. Apparently, according to Clark, she was in a medically induced coma right now. Seth had suggested speaking to the doctors, Clark had told them not to bother, as he already had.
Lucias wasn't buying into any of the drama and slipped away. He managed to find the doctor and discovered that Lisa had come into the ER with a fever. She had the flu and was in overnight as she was dehydrated but that was all.
Lucias had stormed back into the hospital room and called her out on it. Seth smiled when he remembered how good his acting had been.
---
"Seth!" he rushed in, looking worried. "The doctors just stopped me and said that the bleeding is too severe right now so they'll have to operate. It's very likely that her womb will have to be removed as well as some of her spleen!"
"What!" Seth had shouted believing the lie.
"What!" Clark also called out.
"Yeah, I know but it's the only way to save her life. Mr Hollins, this surgery is necessary but very experimental and expensive."
"Expensive?" Clark stuttered.
"Yes, as her husband you will need to pay for the surgery before she has it otherwise it can't go ahead. The doctor said it could cost at least one hundred thousand dollars."
---
Seth chuckled to himself when he remembered how white Clark had gotten as he stammered. It hadn't taken long for Clark to break and he admitted to it all being a lie. Lisa had shot up and angrily shouted at him.
Lucias had explained the truth to Seth and they had left. She made several more attempts after that. Showing up at events she wasn't invited to and trying to use their names to get in, showing up at their home and insisting their parents had thrown her out.
She even claimed that Clark was abusive and she feared for her life. The police were involved with that one, she'd spent a few nights in jail for wasting their time. Seth had felt sorry for Clark after that.
---
"Good morning, Seth!"
Everyone in his department cheered as he walked through. The first few weeks had been tough. At first, it was his confidence or lack of it, but everyone had been very welcoming and genuine. He'd expected them to be overly familiar with him since he was married to the boss but they seemed to genuinely like him.
Though a few of the other managers had made that comment, that he had only gotten the position because of his marriage, Seth had soon proved them wrong. He'd instantly gotten stuck in and had generated some lucrative design concepts with his team.
The final event, the one that had been really trying, was his sister showing up whilst he was at work. He had been in the meeting room with his team when she waltzed in.
---
"Seth, there you are!" she cheered.
She was dressed up as if she was going to an event and he sighed in frustration.
"What do you want Lisa?" he asked. "I'm in the middle of a meeting."
"Oh that's ok, I doubt it's important, I mean why would it be?" she scoffed.
Seth could feel his cheeks burning as he noticed several of his staff whispering.
"Besides you have a rich husband now lil bro, why would you need to work?" she laughed.
"Seth asked you what you wanted, say it or get out!" Mandy, Seth's personal assistant, demanded.
Seth felt a little braver with her help so he turned to his sister and waited.
"Are you going to let the help speak to me like that?" Lisa demanded.
"She's my assistant, not the help Lisa and yeah I am," he growled.
"Look, Seth, I know things have been rocky between us but I'm trying here, you know to make amends. I admit we've both done wrong and I want to put the past behind us."
"We've both done wrong?" he had asked with furrowed brows. "What exactly have I done wrong, Lisa?"
"Well … you … well you … erm … well you stole my future husband. I mean I was meant to be the one he married wasn't I?" she grinned smugly as the whispering got louder.
Seth took a deep breath as Mandy looked at him with concern filling her eyes. He stood and the room went silent.
"Yes, Lisa that is true," the whispering started again. "But if you remember, you originally thought you were going to be marrying his father and you promptly ran away and married your B-list boyfriend. So, to save our family's business I stepped in and married Lucias."
Everyone gasped but Seth continued not losing his nerve.
"Then when you realised who you were meant to marry, you came back, insisted you were getting a divorce and that Lucias should marry you. Yet you failed to tell our parents you were already married and pregnant. Then when Lucias insisted on staying married to me, you demanded that you deserve to be married to him because of how rich he is."
Lisa's face was now red and her eyes were glaring daggers.
"You intentionally created a rift between me and our parents by insisting I come out to them when we were younger. You did nothing when I was forced to bow my head and act like a good boy whilst you were spoiled rotten."
"There will never be a relationship between us. You wanted the spotlight, you wanted all the attention and you didn't care who you hurt to get it. Mandy, can you call security to escort her out please and make sure they know not to allow her up anymore? Thank you."