2 – The Heir of Goldstein
Well, that was completely unexpected, Hamir thought to himself, looking at the beautiful woman with blazing eyes in front of him. He had wondered if she would recognise him – but he had no idea that he would be recognised at first sight.
Papa was certainly not joking about the capability and intelligence of this young woman, he thought wryly. Papa had warned him to be careful, and Papa had even suggested that he change his full name – but Hamir had foolishly thought that merely removing the title of Goldstein from his name would be enough!
He was wrong, and he could admit it gracefully.
He had changed his last name to his mother's maiden surname especially for this trip to J Country. Besides, his father had assured him that he had never spoken of his children to his favourite employee. Besides, Qaya had never seen any of the Goldstein children!
Hamir had spent most of his life shuttling between S Country, Z Country and F Country, and his time in J Country had been rather limited. No one in the company except his father and his father's personal assistant – both currently in C City in Z Country – knew that he was the President's eldest son. Hamir had never intended to take up his father's mantle. He had worked hard to be a cardiologist, and was a summa cum laude and top graduate of the Star Medical University in Z Country, which was notoriously difficult to get into, no matter how rich you were, and it was often said that anyone with an IQ of less than 180 had no chance to clear the extremely difficult entrance exam of Star Medical University. The doctors who graduated from Star Medical University were considered elite and the best of the best even as fresh graduates, and medical corporations and hospitals all over the world fought to hire them even before they graduated. Hamir had chosen to set up his own heart hospital upon graduation – naturally, there was more than enough money in his trust fund for this. The children of the Goldstein family were born with an individual trust fund to be at their disposal upon graduation – and this had billions and billions, not just liquid cash, but assets of various kinds. While Hamir Goldstein had always been rather low key – very few people, even in his own hospital, knew that his first name was Hamir – Dr. Goldstein and his hospital were very famous, and he was rumoured to have magic hands which could pull a patient from the jaws of death. With such a reputation, it was no wonder that the hospital itself raked in immense profits. So, even without relying on his family wealth, Hamir was a bona fide billionaire!
Overall, he was a child any parent would be immensely proud of – and his Papa was no exception.
Having a fulfilling career of his own, Hamir had no interest in his father's business empire. It had always been the twins – his younger half-siblings Diana and Daniel – that had been interested in business management. Last year, however, Daniel had suddenly declared his intentions to be a sommelier and gone off to L Country. He had even emptied his trust fund to acquire a vineyard recently. Almost immediately after Daniel's departure, Diana had taken on a couple of modelling assignments for fun, and had decided to move to the world of glamour rather than business. Papa had been heartbroken, but he had not objected to his children's pursuit of their dreams. No one had known exactly how stressed he had been until he had collapsed two months ago. As a cardiologist, Hamir was the one that understood his father's position the best. So, the "dutiful son" (as twins called him) had taken a temporary leave of absence from the hospital to aid his father. Papa was back on his feet now, but he had pleaded with Hamir to visit the M City office to investigate the truth behind the rumours of Qaya's potential departure from Colossus. Papa's unreasonably sentimental attachment to this particular employee annoyed Hamir, and he didn't even know the truth behind her "rescue". But Hamir had not objected, and he didn't mind visiting J Country. After all, his late mother had been from J Country, and even though she had passed away when Hamir was barely three years old, he remembered her exquisitely beautiful face and the soft fragrance of roses that always surrounded her.
Perhaps Papa was sentimental about their branch in J Country and this unusual female CEO because of his late mother, Hamir thought to himself, but he would never say it out loud to his father. Even though he didn't know the details of his father's rescue of this woman, he knew that Papa had always treated her like a favourite niece or goddaughter. This Qaya was just a year or two younger than Hamir himself, and in the last ten years, he had heard many stories about her from his father.
He could admit that he was a little curious about this young woman.
"And what do you want me to do if she is actually planning to leave?" Hamir had demanded of his Papa in Y City, where Hamir's hospital was, just a few days ago.
"Stop her," Papa had said quietly. "We cannot afford to lose her now."
"Did she say she's going to quit when she visited you?" Hamir demanded.
Papa shrugged. "Not in so many words, but she was acting a little strange. She may be in trouble," he said softly. "That child doesn't know how to ask for help; she will try to deal with everything on her own, I'm afraid."
"Perhaps you are simply thinking too much," Hamir muttered. "Maybe she was just concerned about you."
Papa shook his head vehemently but refused to utter another word.
Defeated, Hamir had flown back to C City with his Papa, collected the requisite papers from Thomas, his father's assistant, and boarded a flight to M City.