Chapter 16

[General POV]

Julius Haynes entered his hotel room and tossed a file on the bed with a sigh. 

The meeting with a potential business partner had not gone the way he had hoped. For reasons unknown, the business partner from Korea didn't seem at all thrilled with his proposal and showed little to no interest in any of the presentations his company had prepared. Mr. Park was anything but enthusiastic about investing in the new branch of Motion Industries he was planning to build in Seoul. 

To be honest, it bugged him. 

Julius Haynes was always confident in his abilities and in his business's performance. Over the years, he has shown what he could achieve and no project of his has ever failed. However, recently, things haven't been great within the company. 

Investors have unexpectedly pulled out their investments in various projects, top managers and company directors have decided to quit, and HR has been bombarded with complaints regarding pay grades and wages. Julius didn't know what was wrong. He always made sure that he paid his workers with what they deserved and he always ensured that his company never missed a payment of wages. He didn't know why his company directors suddenly left nor why investors were pulling out. 

There was something wrong. 

There was something going on in the company that he was not privy to. 

'There is someone behind this.'

Julius was almost ninety percent certain. Bad things like this didn't just happen out of nowhere unless there was a crisis in the market but as far as he could tell, the market was stable and had little to no fluctuations as of recently. The company's reputation was still very much intact and there was nothing wrong with the financial reports. It had to be something else. 

Someone was pulling the strings and Julius needed to find out who. 

'Could it be Janeson?'

His first suspect was his old business rival; Nicholas Janeson. That guy had always had it out for him ever since their university days. Janeson was obsessed with beating him in anything and everything and couldn't stand it whenever Julius came first. It was, however, a one-sided childish rivalry that Julius honestly didn't care about. 

'No. It couldn't be him. Nicholas is competitive, yes, but he is not someone that does things from behind.'

Janeson was many things but if there was one thing to note about him, it was that he was always upfront and straightforward. He didn't hide his moves and stayed behind the scenes to manipulate everything. That wasn't the kind of person he was. 

His second suspect was Ludos Francois.

Julius sat on the bed and loosened his tie, glaring at thin air. Just the thought of that bastard's name made him want to punch something in anger. 

Ludos Francois, the CEO of PK Enterprises. He was a snake that loved pulling underhanded moves to get what he wanted. Even going as far as to kill people to hide his tracks. He was good at that and he enjoyed it. 

He was the person that Julius hated most in this world. 

He was the man that slept with his ex-wife. 

In other words, Ludos was the father of Lynette - the girl who was currently living in his manor. 

In fact, Julius had long suspected that Ludos was up to something. A man who stole his wife and impregnated her and bragged about it was nothing if not despicable. Julius had longed to get revenge on that bastard ever since it was confirmed that his wife had an affair with him. That was the real reason he decided to take Lynette in. 

She was the key piece to getting revenge on Ludos. 

Once Julius was able to prove that Ludos was behind the bad luck his company was facing - had been facing - he was going to use Lynette to exact his revenge. 

'I feel bad for using an innocent girl like a pawn piece but...'

For the sake of his, the company's, and his sons' suffering, he was going to do what had to be done. 

——————[oo]——————

[Lynette's POV]

When I arrived home at the manor, I could hear shouting coming from the main living room. 

Puzzled, I walked past the foyer and took a peak behind the wall separating the living room from the main foyer. It was unusual to hear any sort of shouting in the manor since everyone mostly kept to themselves. 

I was rather shocked to see the twins standing face to face in front of the couch, in a shouting match with each other. Both looked extremely angry and their faces had turned bright red. Cassius, in particular, looked as though he wanted to punch Marcus in the face as the other began swearing at him. 

"Why can't you just fucking mind your own damn business for once?!" spat Marcus shoving a finger at his brother. "Every fucking time, you just have to stick your nose where it doesn't belong! We may be twins but I have my own life dammit! I don't have to be the same as you all the time!"

Just what on earth was going on...

Cassius slapped his finger away and growled at him, "That's not what I'm talking about! Fuck Marc, you fucking failed two of your subjects! TWO of them! I told you at the start of this year to not fuck around and you completely ignored me! We're graduating this year you dumbass and dad is expecting both of us to be accepted into prestigious universities! What do you think he's gonna say when he sees your report card?!"

My eyes widened in surprise. 

Marcus failed two subjects? Wasn't he like...really smart or something?

"It's just two subjects and it's only the mid-semester tests! I don't see why you're so worked up!" Marcus gritted his teeth. "And why the hell do I have to listen to you? You're not dad - heck - you're the younger twin! If anything, you should be listening to me!"

From my position, I could barely make out Cassius' darkening face. 

"I'm telling you because you're my brother you shithead!" Cassius shouted. "I legit warned you multiple times to cut back on the partying! You can't be messing around like you have in the last few years!"

"Oh, like you do the same?" Marcus scoffed, crossing his arms, "You play around too you know. Just as much as I do!"

"I used to," Cassius retorted. "I've literally only been to one party this year. I haven't had a girlfriend in months and I haven't been sleeping around. I'm not doing this because it's fun but because our futures are on the line here!"

"Futures? Ha! As if dad won't let us work at the company once we graduate," Marcus rolled his eyes. 

Hearing his words, I realized that Don had said a similar thing. The fact that these rich kids already had their future careers prepared on a silver platter for them seemed to be a common trait. It also seemed to be the number one reason why many of them didn't bother taking their studies seriously. 

But I honestly hadn't expected such a thing from Marcus, the son of a man who seemed like the kind of person who would place high expectations even on his own children. 

I guess things are not always what they seem...

"You don't get it," Cassius shook his head. Glaring at his twin, he said, "You don't understand a thing. But I should've expected it from you - an asshole that only cares about his own dick."

...Ouch.

My mouth fell open when Marcus suddenly pulled back his arm and punched Cassius in the face. Had I not covered my mouth in time, I would've let out a loud gasp that would've attracted their attention. 

Strangely enough, Cassius didn't retaliate and only stood there, holding his cheek. He glared at Marcus and said, "Same old Marcus. Can never control his temper and lets his instincts take over instead of using his brain. Fuck you."

Ending on that note, Cassius stalked off towards the kitchen, no doubt to grab an icepack. 

Marcus was left standing alone in the living room. There was guilt written all over his face but he made no move to go and apologize. Instead, he headed towards the stairs and left. 

I stepped out of my hiding spot and stared at the living room with a curious gaze. 

That...was certainly interesting.