Five Years Later…
Tick-tock. Tick-tock.
A tic in Damien Shaw's jaw clenched in time with the rhythm of the clock, while the skin over his knuckles turned white as his fist squeezed tighter. Tension rose in his stiff shoulders, and he had to remind himself to breathe in deeply and let the strain of it all go away.
Tick-tock.
It was the only sound echoing off the walls of the large living room of the penthouse which was in the heart of the great city of Los Angeles and with each pass of the pendulum, Damien's anger grew.
It was also like this the last time they set up a meeting with Keith Jordan, Dahlia's fiancée. Dahlia Stone was Melissa's only sister, and she was seated across from Damien in the living room, tapping her feet against the linoleum floor.
She was a twenty- six-year-old woman of great beauty. With big owlish eyes and dark blonde hair. She was in a maxi red dress that hugged her curved well, with a pair of heels to match. She was the soon-to-be wife of Keith Jordan, the CEO of KJ tech.
"He's not here yet?" Damien raised his head to see Melissa walking into the room with a cup of tea in her hand. She carefully placed it on the ottoman next to Damien's chair.
Melissa was smiling as usual and Damien had always thought she smiled too much. She was unreadable and would never crack under any pressure. While Damien and Dahlia were unable to hide their contempt, Melissa continued to hold that smile on that full lips of hers.
Melissa pushed her long dark hair backwards, before walking across the room to take a seat next to Dahlia, her sister.
Damien's jaw clenched as he reached for the cup of tea. "If we're going to become family, he should at least know some of us have real business to take care of." he spat.
Dahlia and Melissa knew not to say anything whenever Damien was angry. They knew that the only reason he was being this patient with Keith was because this marriage was going to be beneficial to both parties.
IMU was the leading tech company in the world after the launch of Edge-N became a success, but KJ Tech was next to it. And it was only a matter of time before KJ tech overtook IMU. Before that would happen, Damien had already been planning to convince Keith to work with him, merge KJ tech with IMU and Keith's marriage to Dahlia was the easiest way Damien could think of.
But now, Keith had stood them up for the second time and Damien's patience was starting to wear thin. Who the heck did he think he was?
Damien's phone began to ring, breaking the awkward silence in the room. He glanced at Dahlia, then at Melissa before dropping the cup of tea on the ottoman and reaching for his phone. It was a call from his secretary, Joe Greene.
"Talk to me!" Damien snapped immediately he answered the call.
"The investors want to see you before proceeding to sign any paperwork. We need you to be here, sir." Joe's voice came from the other end of the line.
Damien shrugged. "Sure. I'll be there soon."
The call ended abruptly and Damien's gaze fell on Dahlia, who was clearly agitated. She stared at her phone screen for a moment, then adjusted in her seat before meeting Damien's gaze.
"Keith can't make it. He says he's caught in traffic." Dahlia said, her voice cracking a little.
Keith's desperate excuse made Damien's fists clench again, nearly splitting the tight skin across his tense knuckles, and instantly his suit felt like it was suffocating him. No one had pressed his buttons this much in a while. Keith was slowing down his huge business vision by dragging these wedding plans all out.
His ignorance was going to be the death of him, Damien thought.
Damien rose to his feet, loosened his collar, and walked towards the door. "Trust me, Dahlia, if this marriage wasn't going to be beneficial to IMU, I wouldn't spend a minute waiting for that entitled trust fund kid. This is the second time he's canceled plans to meet with your family. Does he not want to marry you?" Melissa tried to speak in Dahlia's defense, but she remained still when Damien stared daggers at her. Damien continued. "Does Keith Jordan think we're some kind of pushovers? You might as well just give up on him and look for another groom that'll not only be beneficial to IMU, but also isn't as self-absorbed as Keith Jordan!!"
And with that, Damien stormed out of the living room. Melissa wanted to go after him but decided not to. Now was not the right time. She understood that Damien's anger was justified. How hard would it be for Keith to just meet with the family of his fiancée?
He had proposed to Dahlia two months after they started seeing each other, and it was after then that Dahlia finally told Damien and Melissa about him. And now, they'd been trying to meet him for over a month now, but they hadn't been able to. Was Keith doing it on purpose?
"You do understand why Damien is so angry, right?" Melissa finally said as she turned to face Dahlia. She placed a hand on Dahlia's shoulder. "Keith will come around when he's ready. He loves you, right?"
"He proposed, isn't that proof enough?" Dahlia's eyes flushed a deep shade of red as she glared back at Melissa. "This is happening because your husband is trying to rush things! If Keith ends up backing away from me because of your greed, I won't forgive you!"
Dahlia shook Melissa's hand off her shoulder like it was a snake before rising to her feet and storming towards the hallway to her room.
Melissa watched her, an ache in her chest. Dahlia was her only family, and she never wanted her sad. They had both grown up in an orphanage together, and she had loved her more than anything. She hated seeing Dahlia like this, and she knew she had to do something about it.
There had to be something stopping Keith from proceeding with the wedding even after proposing to Dahlia. Was another woman in the picture?
Melissa's insides tightened. She had been able to secure a better life for herself by all means. It was time to secure a future for her sister too, and if there truly was another woman in the picture, she was going to get rid of her. Just like she did with Harriet.